Both AI and GCCs are new ways of growth and not a threat: Nandan Nilekani
Infosys chairman Nandan Nilekani said both Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Global Capability Centres (GCCs) are not a threat to IT services firms and that they are new ways of growth.
Answering a shareholder's query on which is a greater threat to an IT service firm- AI or exponential growth of GCCs, Nilekani at the company's 44th Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Wednesday said the current wave of GCC is not about cost arbitrage, it's about innovation arbitrage. "Quite a few companies are setting up research centres, AI/Machine Learning centres, GCCs, and we're helping many of them in this regard. This means that GCCs are no longer our competitors, they're critical clients for us," he said.
On AI, he said it is there in every part of the company's client conversations, and that they are seeing strong business traction, mainly driven by Infosys Topaz.
Nilekani also answered shareholders on how the company is mitigating business risks considering the present macroeconomic uncertainties. He said, "Infosys is the leader in AI, cloud, data and digital for our clients. Despite macro challenges, we are confident of our positioning both on cost takeout and discretionary spend."
He added that the company is continuously investing in reskilling and upskilling its employees in AI. "As of today, we have over 275,000 employees who are trained in AI at different levels of proficiency," he said.
Infosys CEO and MD Salil Parekh said India is a strategic market for the company and that it is growing well. "India is a critical geography for us, we work with different Indian entities, for example, with the government on income tax, GST. We are doing work with LIC on next-gen digital capabilities, working with the majority of the banks in India. So, for us, it's a strategic market," he said.
He also added that clients are prioritizing strategic AI partnerships using good traction for AI/Gen AI work, which is in software engineering, process optimisation, customer support, advisory services and sales & marketing. Senior executives also mentioned how the company is actively moving to tier-2, 3 cities to enable and attract more talent.
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