Nandan Nilekani bets on India for scaling AI, says IT service demand will continue to grow

Nandan Nilekani, Infosys co-founder and chairman of the Task Force on Examination Reforms for NT, believes that India has an opportunity to lead, but not by building the most powerful AI models, but by making AI accessible and useful to millions of people at scale.

Speaking at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum, Nilekani said, “Everyone is saying AI is a General Purpose of Technology,” highlighting that AI is bigger than any one model or company, and that no single player can control the entire AI ecosystem. “You cannot bottle this technology,” he said, as more chips and computing capabilities become available, allowing more players to develop and deploy AI.

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Nilekani’s comments come at a time when global leaders are warning that AI could significantly disrupt jobs and employment worldwide. His remarks come after IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva described AI as a “slow-moving tsunami” for global labour markets, and said it could influence around four in every ten jobs worldwide, highlighting that some roles could be automated, while others could change or become more productive with AI.

Nilekani bets on India’s IT service demand

Nilekani rejects concerns over AI impacting sectors like IT with AI replacing traditional software development. He believes demand for their services will grow as companies undertake broader business transformations, noting that predictions of an inevitable decline fail to account for the work involved in adopting AI.

“Requirement for companies like Infosys is increasing. We are going to see more work coming our way. Predicting doom for such companies is just disaster marketing,” Nilekani said.

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“Business transformation is not just about coding, technology is only 30 per cent in technology project; the rest is governance, guardrails. New jobs will be in understanding client requirements,” he added.

“Once we unleash small business economy, a lot many jobs will be created,” Nilekani said.

Nilekani sees India's small businesses as a potential engine of job creation, particularly if they adopt technology more widely. He stated that if small businesses start using AI and other digital tools, they could improve efficiency, reach more customers and grow their businesses. That growth could create demand for more workers and services.

The real challenge is ensuring businesses grow enough to employ people and use technology in ways that support productivity and employment.