Tech Mahindra's outgoing CEO: AI cannot replace these IT Pros

One of the fears associated with generative AI is the elimination of jobs. While CEOs of tech companies like Google and OpenAI have agreed that AI will replace some jobs, they have also highlighted that the technology will create jobs but of a different kind. Tech Mahindra's outgoing CEO CP Gurnani also believes that the technology can create more jobs than it is expected to eliminate.

“The use cases of Generative AI are still being defined, which means that it has the potential to create more job opportunities in the future. Undoubtedly, the possibilities are just opening, and there is more to come,” Gurnani told news agency Reuters.

No replacement for skilled people
Gurnani, who is one of the longest-serving CEOs in the technology sector, noted that skilled people will not be replaced.

“New jobs will also get created. The market will expand,” he said, echoing the words of Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy, who said that coders losing jobs to Gen AI tools such as ChatGPT will “never happen.”

The talks of AI eating up jobs boomed when OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Bard took the world by storm with their human-like responses. Over the past few months, these chatbots can write articles, poems and even complex computer code.

Gurnani, who is set to retire on December 19, also urged young engineers to adapt to the changing world and invest more time in learning new skills.

“Infosys or Tech Mahindra setting up learning campuses, those days are over,” said Gurnani, pointing out a shift in IT companies’ operational model. Traditionally, companies hired graduates from campuses and provided training before deploying them on projects.

In October, Infosys revealed plans to abstain from near-term campus recruitments.

Gurnani recently supported Murthy’s 70-hour workweek remark by saying that “anybody who wants to excel should know that there is no shortcut to hard work.”