TCS pushes AI adoption, even at cost of short-term revenue: CEO Krithivasan

New Delhi — Tata Consultancy Services has urged its employees to actively embrace artificial intelligence to deliver work faster and more cost-effectively, even if doing so impacts near-term revenues.

Speaking at the Nasscom Technology and Leadership Forum in Mumbai, TCS CEO K Krithivasan said associates are being encouraged to tell clients whenever tasks can be completed more quickly and at lower cost using AI tools—despite the possibility of revenue cannibalisation.

Krithivasan stressed that employees should lean into AI-driven efficiencies rather than resist technological change, adding that the company does not see AI as a threat to jobs. Instead, he said the technology is likely to create new opportunities, with those who adapt standing to gain the most.

His remarks come amid growing investor concerns that AI could disrupt the labour-intensive business model of India’s IT services sector. These worries have weighed heavily on market sentiment, with the Nifty IT falling about 21 per cent this month, marking its steepest monthly decline in nearly 23 years. Around $68.6 billion in market value has reportedly been wiped out from IT stocks in February alone.

TCS’s stance aligns with views expressed by rival Wipro. Wipro’s Chief Strategist and Technology Officer Hari Shetty recently said that rapid AI adoption is more likely to boost demand for software services than shrink it, and could ultimately create more jobs than it replaces.

In an interaction with IANS, Shetty described AI as one of the most significant technological shifts in history, likening its impact to breakthroughs such as electricity, the steam engine and the internet. He said AI represents a powerful, multi-dimensional opportunity that is set to reshape industries and economies worldwide.

With inputs from IANS