Infosys Ltd chairman Nandan Nilekani dismissed fears that automation could render traditional tech services obsolete. Instead, he argued that the shift to AI tools has increased the company’s relevance as it seeks to modernise its clients’ technology to keep up with AI demands.
“More than 3 years after the launch of Generative AI, we can unequivocally say that Infosys is more relevant than ever, and we have a bright future in front of us. The shift from predictable machines to probabilistic ones is as consequential as the speed of adoption, and it is reshaping what the work now requires,” said Nilekani, in his 22 May address to shareholders, as part of the company’s annual report.
His comments come on the back of new rollouts by AI-native firms including Anthropic and OpenAI almost on a bi-weekly basis. Earlier this month, both companies entered into partnerships with private equity firms to venture into the tech services space.
This led investors to further question the relevance of the country’s $315 billion IT sector, as they continued to dump IT shares since the start of the year. Infosys’s shares are down more than 28% since the start of the year.
Nilekani’s optimism came in response to such growing concerns surrounding the relevance of IT services companies.
“Given that AI is a much larger and disruptive technology transition than ever before, the questions, and even doubts, are louder and more insistent. Moreover, the existential question asked of us: If coding becomes automated, then why are we needed at all?” added Nilekani.
Infosys ended last year with $20.16 billion in revenue, up 4.6% on a yearly basis. A third of its incremental revenue came from manufacturing companies, which accounted for a fifth of its business.
Nilekani saw opportunities in the software development life cycle, adding that solutions need to be tested and validated, and IT systems must be designed for speed, scale and resilience. He said that cybersecurity must be prioritised and that the company must modernise the IT systems of its large customers to keep up with the pace of AI innovation.
For this, the company’s workforce would have to prepare new mental models and learn afresh.
“We are well prepared for this challenge. We will completely prepare our talent for this new age and redistribute those released by productivity to grow new accounts and offerings,” said Nilekani.
Infosys ended last year with 328,594 employees, up by 5,016 from the year ago.
Nilekani’s views echoed those of Tata Consultancy Services Ltd chairman, N Chandrasekaran.
“As AI scales, key aspects of trust, security, and data sovereignty will be non-negotiable. Enterprises will need an AI Operating System. This Operating System will be a foundation of infrastructure, data, models, context, agents, and governance. Building it demands deep industry expertise, partnerships, and a clear understanding of enterprise context,” said Chandrasekaran in his address to shareholders as part of TCS’ FY26 annual report.
On the other hand, Nilekani said blending new AI models and old tech systems would create opportunities.
“While the new capabilities bring intelligence, simplified user experience and extreme automation, the highly scalable and reliable transaction systems of yore are still highly relevant. This will also create a large set of opportunities,” said Nilekani.
The country’s second-largest IT services company even bundled all its AI offerings under an umbrella, called Infosys Topaz AI Next. The company absorbed its software products arm, EdgeVerve, into this AI Next platform. Infosys had acquired EdgeVerve in 2014 for $80 million.
It even disclosed that AI revenue made up 5.5% of its third quarter (October-December 2025) revenue of $5.1 billion, or $280 million. The company has not disclosed its AI financials since.
The Bengaluru-based company expects 1.5-3.5% revenue growth in constant currency terms in FY27, higher than the 0-3% it estimated in April 2025. Last fiscal, the company grew at its fastest pace in three years.
Chief executive Salil Parekh’s salary jumped 2.4% from the previous year to ₹82.6 crore ($8.7 million). In contrast, TCS chief executive Krithivasan’s salary jumped 6% to ₹28.11 crore.
