Tata Group firms engaged in over 100 Gen AI projects: N Chandrasekaran
TCS chairman N Chandrasekaran announced over 100 Gen AI projects within Tata Group, showcasing tangible business impact in customer experience, productivity, and efficiency.
These projects are demonstrating tangible impact in terms of greater customer experience, productivity, and efficiency, he told shareholders of India’s largest software services firm at its annual general meeting here.
In ecommerce, GenAI is being used to generate product catalogues, deliver conversational shopping experience, and provide personalised offers, Chandrasekaran said.
In manufacturing, GenAI is enabling shopfloor workers to troubleshoot complex equipment by asking questions in their native languages, thereby making the availability of the infrastructure high and improving productivity, he said.
Companies are also utilising GenAI to analyse large documents such as tender documents to significantly reduce sales cycle, Chandrasekaran said.
Artificial intelligence (AI) and GenAI will cause job loss in certain areas but will create employment opportunities in other domains, he said.
Stating that every industry will be impacted, the TCS chairman highlighted that the consumer industry’s impact will be most visible because consumers will feel the power of AI through personalisation and better delivery with experience.
Recently, TCS chief executive K Krithivasan wrote to its employees that the company has built one of the largest and most artificial intelligence-ready workforce in the world.
Chandrasekaran said there is no decline in IT spending. But the spends are getting staggered, he said.
Technology spends for all corporations will only increase due to megatrends such as digital, AI, modern supply chains, secured networks and drug discovery…all of which will require significant tech spend, he said.
The world is going through a geopolitical crisis or inflation, which will have short-term IT budgeting impact, the Tata Group chairman said.
Addressing multiple questions on sexual harassment, he said TCS is a large organisation operating in global environment and it encourages a culture for employees to express themselves. And in the process, if people experience harassment, they should raise their voice and when they raise (these issues), the numbers will go up. “In a company of this size, this number of harassment is expected to happen. Main thing is how do we deal with these cases with zero tolerances,” he said.
Moreover, Chandrasekaran said: “I don’t think that we can go remote-working to solve this problem. Company takes these calls in terms of having an in-person working based on a number of factors. We are not trying to create (just) jobs. We are trying to create careers. This company is about building an institution.”
On questions about the 2014 Epic Systems lawsuit, for which TCS has made a provision, the company chairman said, “The case has been closed, but the interest charge is still sub judice. So, the $11.5 million is a provision in the subsidiary and it will be decided by the court in future.”
Regarding the BSNL data centres project, he said about 10,000 sites have been rolled out and more will be rolled out. “Our intent is to finish this project this fiscal.”
Chandrasekaran said TCS has 601,546 employees on its payroll and 30,312 more on contract, globally.
Speaking of the negative impact of AI, he said any technology will be misused by those who want to and that is being watched out. “That is why regulations are necessary. This industry has to be regulated. There is no question about it. The governments in the world are aware of this and regulations will come more and more as you move into the future.”
On likely job losses due to AI, Chandrasekaran said while there will be some impact as AI and GenAI automate stuff and improve productivity, but in other areas, it will require a lot more capabilities. “More jobs will be created in areas like data management and so on… It’s a mixed bag and we need to handle this, proactively embrace this, so that we are able to reskill people, prepare people for the change,” he said.
TCS spent Rs 2,650 crore on capital expenditure last fiscal. “This is lesser than the normal because we had stopped some of the projects during Covid,” Chandrasekaran said. “But those capital projects are beginning. So, we would see capex going up in the coming years.”
Dividends
On comments that TCS should be giving additional dividend for the 20th year, the chairman said it is “plainly unreasonable”. He pointed out that TCS has been paying dividends every quarter since it went public and also has been paying an annual and special dividend every other year.
Responding to shareholders’ disappointment over falling share prices and returns, Chandrasekaran pointed to the share price itself rising about 37 times since the IPO. “So, for every rupee you would have invested, you would have got 37 times more and on top of that the dividends and buybacks have been pretty significant. In the last five years it has been 100%, and even before it has been significantly higher,” he said.
