The head of IT giant Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) believes that the growth of artificial intelligence will soon kill India's call centre industry.In an interview with the Financial Times, TCS CEO K Krithivasan said that there will be a “minimal” need for call centres across Asia in as soon as a year.Krithivasan highlighted that while no job cuts have happened yet, the widespread adoption of generative AI among multinational clients is poised to revolutionise traditional call centre operations.“In an ideal phase, if you ask me, there should be very minimal incoming call centres having incoming calls at all,” he told FT. “We are in a situation where the technology should be able to predict a call coming and then proactively address the customer’s pain point.”The potential impact of generative AI on white-collar jobs, including call centre agents and software developers, has sparked concerns among policymakers globally.India, renowned for its back-office services, particularly faces significant implications, with over five million people employed in the $48.9 billion IT and business process outsourcing industry, according to nasscom.There are growing concerns about the impact of AI on jobs, particularly in India's over $250 billion technology sector, which contributes significantly to the country's overall GDP.TCS, a key player in India's technology landscape and a subsidiary of the Tata conglomerate, boasts a workforce of over 600,000 and annual revenues nearing $30 billion.However, Krithivasan cautioned against overestimating the immediate benefits of generative AI, asserting that the true impact would be more long-term.
He refuted claims of widespread job loss, arguing that the demand for technology talent would only increase, particularly in India.nasscom had previously projected that less than 20% of India's 1.5 million engineering students who graduate each year find work in the industry.“If we can go to maybe 50% of the colleges, we provide more employment, and more importantly, we will be able to address the technology demand the overall global industry is going to have,” he further told FT.
The head of IT giant Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) believes that the growth of artificial intelligence will soon kill India's call centre industry.In an interview with the Financial Times, TCS CEO K Krithivasan said that there will be a “minimal” need for call centres across Asia in as soon as a year.Krithivasan highlighted that while no job cuts have happened yet, the widespread adoption of generative AI among multinational clients is poised to revolutionise traditional call centre operations.“In an ideal phase, if you ask me, there should be very minimal incoming call centres having incoming calls at all,” he told FT. “We are in a situation where the technology should be able to predict a call coming and then proactively address the customer’s pain point.”The potential impact of generative AI on white-collar jobs, including call centre agents and software developers, has sparked concerns among policymakers globally.India, renowned for its back-office services, particularly faces significant implications, with over five million people employed in the $48.9 billion IT and business process outsourcing industry, according to nasscom.There are growing concerns about the impact of AI on jobs, particularly in India's over $250 billion technology sector, which contributes significantly to the country's overall GDP.TCS, a key player in India's technology landscape and a subsidiary of the Tata conglomerate, boasts a workforce of over 600,000 and annual revenues nearing $30 billion.However, Krithivasan cautioned against overestimating the immediate benefits of generative AI, asserting that the true impact would be more long-term. He refuted claims of widespread job loss, arguing that the demand for technology talent would only increase, particularly in India.nasscom had previously projected that less than 20% of India's 1.5 million engineering students who graduate each year find work in the industry.“If we can go to maybe 50% of the colleges, we provide more employment, and more importantly, we will be able to address the technology demand the overall global industry is going to have,” he further told FT.
