Wipro's AI push frees capacity equivalent to 20,000 workers, CTO says
· CNA · JoinRead a summary of this article on FAST.
Get bite-sized news via a new
cards interface. Give it a try.
Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST
FAST
BENGALURU, Sept 10 : Wipro's AI initiatives have increased productivity equivalent to the output of 20,000 employees, who have since been redeployed within the Indian IT firm, its chief technology officer said.
The comments come as India's $315 billion software services industry grapples with adoption of AI, which is reshaping hiring, software development and contracts.
Wipro, with about 243,000 employees in June, is shifting to a "human-AI operating model," with more than 100,000 employees receiving advanced AI-related training and certifications, Sandhya Arun said in an interview.
"It could be the same engineer managing a bunch of agents, deployed on other projects or being trained for some other role. It doesn't necessarily mean person-to-person replacement by an agent."
CNA Games
Guess Word
Crack the word, one row at a time
Buzzword
Create words using the given letters
Mini Sudoku
Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser
Mini Crossword
Small grid, big challenge
Word Search
Spot as many words as you can
Show More
Show Less
Arun's comments underscore Wipro Chairman Rishad Premji's views from last week.
India's largest software services exporter, Tata Consultancy Services, had said in June that IT firms would slow down hiring as the company moves towards having an equal number of employees and AI agents in its workforce.
TCS plans to build a team of up to 8,900 forward-deployed engineers, and Infosys about 6,000 over the next few years. These engineers embed with clients to accelerate AI adoption.
Wipro is also expanding its pool of forward-deployed engineers. While Arun declined to provide a specific target, she said Wipro's forward-deployed workforce would likely be in line with peers.
Arun cautioned against focusing too much on the role, saying the broader challenge was ensuring all engineers develop the skills needed to work effectively with AI systems.
"The shift has to be from productivity to outcomes," Arun said, arguing that AI should be evaluated on whether it improves customer experience, creates new revenue opportunities and helps deliver business goals.
Wipro is the only IT company among India's top four that does not reveal its AI revenue.
The firm is still in the earlier, cost-absorbing phase of AI monetisation relative to peers and the real test would come when these deals start converting to revenue and margin recovery, said Manoj Chandra Jha, principal analyst at Nord-IQ Research.
The company's investment intensity across AI-related training and ecosystem partnerships is comparable with peers including TCS, Infosys and HCLTech, but Wipro trails in commercialization maturity, he added.
Newsletter
Week in Review
Subscribe to our Chief Editor’s Week in Review
Our chief editor shares analysis and picks of the week's biggest news every Saturday.
Sign up for our newsletters
Get our pick of top stories and thought-provoking articles in your inbox
Get the CNA app
Stay updated with notifications for breaking news and our best stories
Get WhatsApp alerts
Join our channel for the top reads for the day on your preferred chat app