Wipro CTO says AI can do work of up to 20,000 employees, staff being redeployed internally

Wipro's new AI initiatives reportedly have delivered productivity equivalent to the work of 20,000 employees, with workers being redeployed instead of laid off. The company is training more than 100,000 employees as it shifts towards a human-AI workforce.

In Short

• Wipro says AI has delivered productivity equivalent to 20,000 employees
• The workers have been redeployed internally instead of being laid off
• More than 100,000 Wipro employees have received advanced AI training

Wipro is trying to show what an AI-driven workforce could look like in India's IT industry. The name Wipro ranks among the top four IT companies in the country. Its chief technology officer (CTO), Sandhya Arun recently revealed that due to the company's AI initiative, the organisation saw a drastic increase in productivity that is equivalent to the output of 20,000 employees. But no layoffs. Instead, employees have been redeployed into other work within the company.

According to Reuters, Wipro is shifting to a "human-AI operating model,” with around 243,000 employees in June. And to make the employees AI savvy, the company has already provided more than 100,000 employees with advanced AI-related training and certifications.

How Wipro’s work culture functions

Wipro is not replacing every worker with an agent; rather, workers are now doing a sort of managing work. As Sandhya Arun put it, “It could be the same engineer managing a bunch of agents..." and "The shift has to be from productivity to outcomes”

Wipro is not alone in making this shift. India's IT industry is now preparing for a workplace where human employees and AI agents work side by side. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) had earlier revealed that IT companies could slow down hiring as AI becomes a bigger part of their workforce. TCS is also planning to build a team of up to 8,900 forward-deployed engineers, while Infosys is looking at around 6,000 such engineers over the next few years.

These engineers will work closely with clients and help them adopt AI. Wipro is also expanding its own pool of forward-deployed engineers, although the company has not revealed a specific target.

For Wipro, however, the bigger challenge is not simply getting employees to use AI. The company wants them to understand how to work with it effectively.

“The shift has to be from productivity to outcomes,” Arun said.

AI may already be helping Wipro do the work equivalent to 20,000 employees, but productivity alone does not automatically mean more money. Wipro is the only company among India's top four IT firms that does not disclose its AI revenue, according to Reuters.

Analyst Manoj Chandra Jha of Nord-IQ Research says Wipro is still in the earlier, cost-absorbing stage of AI monetisation. The company is spending heavily on AI training and partnerships, but the real test will come when those AI deals start turning into revenue and help improve profit margins.

- Ends