Wipro's CTO says AI is an opportunity, not a threat

By Haripriya Suresh

BENGALURU, Feb 23 (Reuters) - India's Wipro expects accelerated AI adoption to boost alternatively than shrink request for bundle work providers, a apical ‌executive said, countering concerns that the exertion threatens the industry's outsourcing model.

The $283 ‌billion assemblage has been deed by a crisp marketplace selloff amid capitalist fears that AI tools could upend ​its traditional, labour-intensive operating model.

"When you look astatine the full gamut of things that's possible, it truly appears similar a ample accidental for us," Hari Shetty said successful an interview, adding that helium expected AI to make much jobs than it displaces.

"What you're seeing ‌today is fundamentally task automation. ⁠What we are truly talking astir is autonomous enterprise, which is simply a wholly antithetic shot crippled that volition necessitate IT services companies ⁠to enactment profoundly with clients to really person them."

Calling AI "probably the azygous biggest opportunity" for the manufacture and comparable to the find of energy oregon the internet, helium said existent ​debates ​focus excessively narrowly connected automation portion missing a ​broader structural shift.

Citing World Economic ‌Forum estimates, helium said AI could make 170 cardinal jobs globally portion disrupting astir 92 million, adding that India's IT assemblage volition spot beardown request for skills specified arsenic exemplary training, information curation, and liable AI.

"The superior differentiation present is radical who cognize AI and radical who bash not cognize AI," helium said.

Shetty argued that, overmuch similar ‌cloud computing, AI volition broaden alternatively than diminish ​the responsibilities of work providers.

Wipro continues to spot ​strong request for younger, "AI literate" engineers, ​he said, countering predictions that the industry's accepted staffing pyramid volition ‌hollow out.

What companies request are partners who ​understand their domain ​processes profoundly capable to assistance them modulation to "autonomous enterprises," a displacement helium expects volition signifier the adjacent decennary of exertion spending.

"We intelligibly deliberation AI is simply a ​dominant force, astatine slightest for ‌the adjacent decennary to 2 decades, successful presumption of the benignant of ​business that it volition drive," helium said.

(Reporting by Haripriya Suresh successful Bengaluru; ​Editing by Dhanya Skariachan and Ronojoy Mazumdar)