AI adoption will lead to more specialised jobs and need for newer skill sets

Disruptions caused by the pandemic have fast-tracked the adoption of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning across industry sectors, which in turn will have a lasting impact on employment over the next several years.

Experts said while the verdict is not yet out on the number of jobs created or displaced as a result of rapid adoption of AI and automation, it will lead to more specialised jobs and need for newer skill sets. “Across industries, the nature of work is transforming, and the change is happening at two levels — new types of jobs are being created, and roles are being reconfigured,” said Aditya Priyadarshan, Managing Director, Strategy & Consulting - Talent & Organisation, Accenture in India. “As AI and other intelligent technologies take the form of ‘coworkers’ by undertaking routine work, people have the opportunity to put their energies into more strategic and creative tasks.”

Covid disruptions enhanced the adoption of AI. “The pace of disruption due to the deployment of automation and AI is dramatically accelerated by virtual mode of work and massive increase in ecommerce and digital,” said Faridun Dotiwala, Partner, McKinsey & Company. “Globally, there would be a planned reduction in office space by 30% and 1 to 5x growth in ecommerce.”

In a global McKinsey survey of 800 executives, two-thirds claimed they were significantly stepping up investments in AI and automation. It also highlighted the high correlation between the use of AI and work arenas with high levels of human interaction.


“AI or any experiential technology has historically created more jobs than they destroyed,” said Anurag Malik, Partner, People Advisory Services, EY India. “Repetitive roles will get replaced by RPA (Robotic Process Automation) and AI 4-5 years down the line, while the quality of roles and work will improve.”

Mahindra & Mahindra has been focusing on industrial automation to build more capacity much before the pandemic. It is looking at intelligent technologies to improve customer experience and enhance employee productivity.

Others such as leading conglomerate RPG Group, which has been using AI across its various businesses, has fast-tracked adoption. FMCG major is considering the use of chatbots to engage with prospective candidates and of AI enabled CV analysis, said CHRO Amit Prakash.

Accelerated adoption of AI will also lead to the creation of newer kinds of jobs. “Key emerging jobs we can expect right now are in AI, ML, IoT, data, security and information security, privacy, cloud computing, signal processing — data analysts, data scientists, big data specialists, and people who can develop software at various levels,” said Anjali Rao, Senior Director - HR, Intel India.