Amid rising fears that AI could disrupt white-collar jobs in India, Infosys founder Narayana Murthy has urged youngsters not to panic. Here is everything he said about this in a recent interview.
A few months after his remarks on a 70-hour workweek sparked a nationwide debate, Infosys founder Narayana Murthy has offered a fresh message to young Indians. This time on AI and the growing fear that machines could replace white-collar jobs. As anxiety mounts across global and Indian markets over how quickly AI tools are advancing, Murthy has urged youngsters not to panic, but to prepare.
Master AI or miss out: Narayana Murthy’s advice to India’s youth on career
It is against this backdrop of uncertainty that Murthy likely addressed concerns around AI and employment. Speaking about his own use of generative AI, the Infosys founder argued that technology does not automatically level the playing field. Instead, it rewards those who think better and learn faster. “My own experiments with using generative AI for productivity have shown me that a smarter mind will get better quality and better level of productivity from using these assistive technologies,” Murthy told Money Control.
He added that young people should not see AI as an enemy, but as a tool that must be understood and used wisely. According to Murthy, the responsibility lies with individuals to master these technologies, use them in an assistive manner and combine them with discipline, hard work and continuous learning. “Therefore, there is no need for youngsters to get worried,” he said.
The discussion around AI-led job losses has sharpened in recent days following a series of high-profile launches by US-based AI firm Anthropic. The company has been rolling out workplace-focused tools under its Claude platform that allow organisations to automate tasks across areas such as legal work, finance, human resources, engineering and operations. These tools can plug into widely used software, carry context across documents and assist in complex workflows that traditionally required large teams.
The rapid pace of these developments has unsettled investors. Software and IT services stocks have been under pressure amid concerns that AI could eat into long-running consulting and modernisation work. That unease came into sharp focus earlier this week when IBM shares fell sharply in a single session, which were their steepest one-day decline in over two decades.
