Infosys founder Narayana Murthy on the impact of AI on India’s IT sector: What will happen in the future is our programmers will … |
Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy has dismissed fears that artificial intelligence will eliminate jobs, arguing instead that the technology will create new types of employment opportunities while dramatically boosting productivity across India’s IT sector.Speaking to MoneyControl, the 78-year-old tech veteran emphasized that companies should view AI as an assistive tool rather than a replacement for human workers. “This whole fear that technology will take away jobs is not right. It will create a different kind of job,” Murthy stated, drawing parallels to the introduction of computers in banking decades ago.
History shows job growth, not loss
Murthy cited the banking sector’s transformation in the 1970s as evidence that technological advancement creates rather than destroys employment. “Everybody said when computers came to the banking sector, ‘No, no, no, jobs will go away.’ No — jobs have multiplied by a factor of 40 to 50 in the banking sector,” he explained.The Infosys founder revealed his personal experience with ChatGPT has revolutionized his work efficiency, cutting lecture preparation time from 25-30 hours to just five hours. “I improved my own productivity by as much as 5 times,” he noted, highlighting AI’s potential to enhance rather than replace human capabilities.
Future workforce will focus on complex problem-solving
Looking ahead, Murthy envisions a transformed IT landscape where professionals tackle increasingly sophisticated challenges. “What will happen in the future is our programmers and analysts will become smarter and smarter in defining better and better requirements — more complex requirements. They will solve bigger problems, more complex problems,” he predicted.He emphasized that the key to leveraging AI effectively lies in asking the right questions and defining requirements precisely. “The smartness is in providing the requirement definition… The smartness is in asking the right question,” Murthy observed.His optimistic outlook comes as India’s IT industry grapples with concerns about AI’s impact on employment, with Murthy firmly believing that “AI will only enhance the growth rate of our industry” when used appropriately.
