Gen AI single most transformative force of 2024: TCS' N Chandrasekaran

TCS Chairman Chandrasekaran calls Gen AI a civilisational shift and outlines four strategic vectors to lead in an AI-first world, including a human-plus-AI delivery model

Tata Sons and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) chairman N Chandrasekaran singled out generative AI (Gen AI) as the most transformative force in 2024, achieving near-human reasoning capabilities and redefining analytics, customer experience, and marketing.

 

“Gen AI is not just another tech cycle, it is a civilisational shift. Its widespread adoption is accelerating, powered by parallel advances in semiconductors, Cloud computing, quantum technologies, robotics, and energy innovation,” he wrote in a letter to shareholders as part of TCS’ latest annual report.

 

TCS is looking at four vectors to establish itself as a leader in AI. That includes establishing a large pool of AI agents which work along with its employees and deliver solutions through a human+AI model. It also plans to invest in AI data centres, and Cloud infrastructure, and forge industry-best partnerships with hardware providers, solution innovators, and startups.

 

“This integrated approach will help us bring the best capabilities to every customer, ensuring they are future-ready, resilient, and competitive. We remain steadfastly committed to leading the industry with purpose, innovation, and responsibility,” he added.

 

Companies across the technology ecosystem and broader businesses are putting in place AI adoption strategies and cleaning up their proprietary data to better harness the results. They are also looking for ways to integrate AI and AI agents in their systems to improve efficiency and reduce cost.

 

Chandrasekaran cautioned that to lead in this new world, defined by AI, the IT industry needs to evolve. 

 

Many traditional business services in IT are now being rapidly automated, such as coding and testing, which are evolving the software development life cycle.

 

Agentic AI is also being embedded deeply into enterprise systems.

 

“TCS is proactively leading this change. We have systematically infused AI across our offerings and built intelligent agent solutions throughout the value chain. In 2025, we will have the largest AI-trained workforce in the industry and have launched our enterprise-grade GenAI platform — TCS WisdomNext,” he said.

 

Earlier this week, TCS said it will split its AI.Cloud business into two separate units as it aims for higher growth in the AI Cloud business.

 

The company is actively hiring AI experts from the market while also enhancing internal capabilities by updating training programmes for existing employees.