TCS is significantly investing in building AI capabilities: N Chandrasekaran

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is significantly investing in building artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities that include products and platforms that are AI-powered, according to TCS chairman N Chandrasekaran.

This comes days after rival Infosys launched Topaz — an AI-first set of services, solutions and platforms using generative AI technologies.

"In the past decade, there has been a rapid evolution of digital technologies, bringing about a transformation across every industry. Now, the advancements in AI have made AI transition a central focus," Chandrasekaran says in a letter to shareholders.

The impact of AI and Machine learning is going to be profound, he says, adding that there is a transition already underway from predictive AI to generative AI.

"Majority of the businesses are still adopting predictive AI and are on the journey of capturing large volume of data, harnessing the power of cloud and IoT. There are varying levels of adoption in companies across sectors," he says.

According to the TCS chairman, leveraging generative AI would further require technology innovation and investments.

"Over the last few years, TCS has leveraged partnerships to design and orchestrate a completely indigenous software-defined 4G/5G network stack. 5G technologies along with IoT, edge and AI will enable new digital transformation opportunities across industries, both industrial and consumer," Chandrasekaran says.

"We will also invest in research areas important for the future, in collaboration with our global academic partners and start-up ecosystem," he adds.

"We work with large enterprises on transformation initiatives to build a digital foundation for the future, enable strategic leverage of data and artificial intelligence (AI) and reimagine customer and employee experiences," says the chairman of India's IT bellwether.

There is another important area that companies need to focus on – building talent for the future, writes Chandrasekaran. "The energy, supply chain and AI transitions are going to require companies to reskill/upskill existing talent base, hire and integrate new talent and invest in research. Our technology strengths make us well-placed to respond to the global demand and scale up our talent base," he says.

"As the future of work is evolving, enterprises globally are also assessing their approach to talent. Today, companies can tap into talent anywhere and leaders need to learn how to harness the global talent pool effectively. Technology and tools are facilitating collaboration and enabling virtual and hybrid models of work. Harnessing this talent will need an approach that leverages technologies like AI and cloud to enable effective employee engagement and collaboration," Chandrasekaran explains.

TCS reported a 14.8% year-on-year jump in its consolidated net profit at ₹11,392 crore for the quarter ended March 2023. Revenue of India's largest software services firm rose 17% year-on-year to ₹59,162 crore in the fourth quarter of 2022-23. The company's operating margin for Q4 FY23 stood at 24.5% while net margin came in at 19.3%. The IT giant announced a final dividend of ₹24 per share. From a talent perspective, the employee strength grew to over 614,000 workers with 35.7% women associates.

Meanwhile, veteran investor and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett compared the advancement of technology to the atom bomb, saying that humanity won't be able to "un-invent" AI.