The Spectre of AI Is Staring India's IT Sector in the Face

AI-powered coding may shift needs from junior staff to those with specialized knowledge

- Jas Bardia

The advance of artificial intelligence (AI) may shrink some business and lead to a reshuffle of employees, but it will also create new revenue streams, Hexaware Technologies Ltd chief executive officer (CEO) Srikrishna Ramakarthikeyan said.

His comments came after Hexaware slipped two places in the Indian information technology (IT) pecking order to No. 10, ending the June quarter with $382 million in revenue, up 2.8% sequentially.

"On the negative side, I think there will be some compression in IT operations when new deals are done or when deals are renewed. There's some compression in software development as a consequence of AI," Ramakarthikeyan said on Friday.

Still, he said AI is going to create new revenue, even as the negative impacts are not "significant enough." "On the other hand, I think AI is going to unleash a number of new revenue opportunities for our business. The first and foremost is data," he added.