Tata group chairman N. Chandrasekaran said on Friday that the diversified group’s companies have more than 100 generative artificial intelligence projects in the works. Artificial intelligence could also have negative impacts, said Chandrasekaran, pointing to potential job losses and privacy concerns as areas we need to focus on.
Addressing the 29th annual general meeting of the group’s information technology (IT) services arm, TCS, here, Chandrasekaran said that all the projects have benefited the group and that genAI will have a significant impact on almost every sector in the country in the future.
However, the impact will be felt more in consumer-facing sectors rather than B2B companies, he said, maintaining that both types of businesses will adopt AI and reap its benefits.
“At the Tata Group, we are implementing over 100 genAI projects. All of these projects demonstrate a very material impact on the business in terms of customer experience, productivity and efficiency,” he said.
In e-commerce, genAI helps Tata Group companies generate product catalogues, provide conversational shopping experiences and deliver personalized offers, he said, adding that in manufacturing, genAI helps by enabling shop floor workers to solve problems.
Tata Group companies also exploit genAI to analyze enormous documents such as tender documents, which shortens sales cycles, added Chandrasekaran.
genAI will not only improve productivity, but will also have an impact that has never been seen or imagined before, he said, and the addition of artificial intelligence will enable every employee to work at higher levels of productivity.
He called genAI a “mixed bag,” saying there could be job losses due to automation, but quickly added that more jobs would be created in areas such as data management.
“We need to be proactive about this so we can reskill people and prepare them for the change,” he said.
Chandrasekaran, who headed TCS as CEO before becoming the Tata group chairman, advocated for regulation of artificial intelligence, adding that governments across the world are aware of it and will put some rules in place.
The chairman of the Salt to Software group said the world has enormous energy demand, but energy demand estimates do not fully take into account the additional energy that will be required to power the development of genAI and related data center infrastructure.
“The key is to reduce the cost of renewable energy while switching to renewable sources,” he added.
In addition to artificial intelligence and modern energy, supply chain, secure networks and talent are key trends shaping enterprise priorities, he said.
The pandemic, which caused shocks in supply chains, was followed by an economic slowdown, especially in developed markets, he said, adding that the global economy was expected to grow by 3.2% in 2024 and 2025.
“India is doing very well in this situation and can do very well,” he added.
