Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) expects hiring across the information technology sector to moderate as artificial intelligence becomes more deeply embedded into business operations, Chairman N Chandrasekaran said at the company’s Annual General Meeting on June 9.
Addressing shareholders, Chandrasekaran outlined a future in which AI agents work alongside human employees at scale, predicting that TCS could eventually operate with a workforce comprising an equal number of employees and AI-powered agents.
“If the company has half a million employees, the day is not far when it could have half a million AI agents,” he said, describing a future where humans and AI systems collaborate to deliver technology services.
The comments come amid growing debate over the impact of generative AI on India’s IT services industry, a sector traditionally built on large-scale talent deployment. Investors have increasingly questioned how automation and AI-powered software development tools could affect the labour-intensive business models of major outsourcing firms.
Chandrasekaran sought to reassure stakeholders that AI should be viewed as an opportunity rather than a threat. While acknowledging that automation would alter workforce requirements, he said TCS does not plan to reduce employee numbers as part of its AI transition strategy.
Instead, the company expects hiring growth to slow as AI agents begin taking over selected tasks and workflows. He noted that the transformation would extend beyond TCS, affecting the broader technology industry and workforce globally.
“Some of the work being done today will move to AI agents,” Chandrasekaran said, adding that the shift would require organisations, industries and economies to adapt to new operating models.
At the same time, he argued that AI adoption would generate fresh business opportunities and create new categories of jobs. According to Chandrasekaran, enterprises increasingly need support in areas such as AI deployment, governance, cybersecurity, infrastructure modernisation and process transformation.
TCS is already seeing significant momentum in its AI-related business. The company reported that its annualised AI revenue surpassed $2.3 billion in the quarter ended March 2026, highlighting growing demand from clients investing in AI-driven initiatives.
Looking ahead, Chandrasekaran said he expects artificial intelligence to become embedded across all areas of the company’s business. He predicted that every revenue stream at TCS would incorporate an AI component before the end of the decade.