'Future of jobs & shopping will grow together, not collide'

After Amazon on Wednesday announced its plans to invest over $ 35 billion in India by 2030, Samir Kumar, Amazon India country manager, speaks to Yarughullah Khan & Rishi Raj on the company's future trajectory in the country. He said that fears over job losses from AI are misplaced, as technology has historically expanded employment. He said the same principle applies to quick commerce, which is just an extension of e-commerce rather than any risky bubble. Excerpts:

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There's concern that AI adoption at Amazon will trigger job losses. Should people worry?

History shows the opposite. When ATMs were introduced, there were predictions that bank tellers would disappear. In reality, banks ended up hiring more staff. Technology changes how work gets done, but it also creates new tasks and new types of roles. I see AI expanding the scope of what people can do rather than replacing them.

Do you expect your own workforce to grow or shrink?

I can't predict exact numbers. Automation will increase productivity, but I also expect growth in creative and human-centric roles. Human skills will be deployed in new ways as technology evolves.

Some have warned of a quick-commerce bubble. Your views?