Technology be adopted to evolve businesses: Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan

The Hindu

16 hours ago

Kris Gopalakrishnan, Chairman of CII CIES, Co-Founder of Infosys, and Chairman of Axilor Ventures, during an interaction with entrepreneurs here on Monday, advised young entrepreneurs and start-ups to adopt technology to give a boost and evolve in their business.
Technology, a disruptor in almost every sector, was also an important driving factor for upgradation, he added.
Though it could be a challenge for the start-ups to bring in the money required for the upgradation, it has become an indispensable change that has to be adopted, Mr. Gopalakrishnan stated.
'But the out of box thinking like roping interns and experienced retirees to get the technologies incorporated into the businesses could be considered. Building a network with the colleges can help address the demand,' he suggested.
Commenting that the academics and industries have not worked together as an ecosystem, he said that except for hiring students through placements, a dialogue between the two large sectors was missing.
He asked the education institutions to adopt the idea of Indian Institute of Technology to allocate vacant space for the industries to set up their units at the institution.
By that way, both the students and the company could benefit from each other.
'As close to 25 lakh engineering graduates come out of colleges every year and with the recent dip of employment in Information Technology sector innovative ways are required to fill the gap in education and employment,' he added.
The Karnataka government, to upskill both students and teachers to adapt to the changing needs of the market, has planned to conduct a mass workshop to train teachers on Artificial Intelligence (AI), he pointed out.
'Though students are being updated on the latest technologies, teaching faculties, following their employment, stops learning,' Mr. Gopalakrishnan said.
Adopting new systems like dedicating a semester to internships for students and allowing a sabbatical for teachers to improve their industrial knowledge could give leverage in the knowledge acquisition and hiring process, he suggested.
With rapid intrusion of AI into the sectors, there was a fear afloat that it would replace humans, but the same fear prevailed when computers were first introduced into banking sectors in 1980s, he noted.
Rejecting the fears, he said once the sector grows, employment will eventually grow.
Speaking on the academic challenges in inculcating business interest in students, he said in Kerala and Gujarat, the State governments have allocated a separate fund to encourage students to develop and start a business as part of their curriculum.
It would not only motivate the students but would also help them think of businesses as an alternative option to job seeking, he noted.
'Only by running a business, we can learn about business,' he said.
The CII (Madurai zone) had hosted an exclusive interactive session for the Start-ups, MSMEs and incubation centres. CII (Madurai zone) chairman Ashwin Desai and others spoke.