New Delhi: According to a new report, 94 percent of business leaders in India expect artificial intelligence (AI) to change some office jobs, and more than 83 percent expect these roles to be replaced .
The report from the British Standards Institute (BSI), a business improvement and standards company, comes amid widespread optimism about the positive impact of AI tools on productivity and recognition.
The report examines the potential impact of AI on work, drawing on 932 business leaders across nine countries. It showed that 86% of Indians believe businesses will be at a competitive disadvantage if they do not invest in AI.
Around 78 percent of Indians believe that AI tools should be adopted even if some jobs change or are lost as a result, and around 80 percent agree that innovation is more important than protecting existing jobs.
“AI alone won’t replace jobs, but AI combined with robotics or other technologies could have a huge long-term impact, potentially reducing reliance on people for repetitive tasks , labor-intensive and often risky on construction sites, in factories and warehouses or even restaurants,” said Theuns Kotze, Managing Director of BSI Group India Private, BSI.
In India, 98% of business leaders are more likely to see AI as an opportunity than a risk, while 65% expect AI to be used in the next five years to improve productivity and efficiency.
“AI-based technologies have the power to transform the way we work across industries, and we can expect them to shape the way businesses hire, manage performance, train employees, and much more. At the same time, it is essential that we think about ways to preserve human creativity, ingenuity, critical thinking and collaboration,” Kotze said. “We can use AI to improve efficiency and productivity, and if we combine it with human insight, empathy and compassion, we can strengthen organizational culture and drive greater innovation,” Kotze added. Manual roles are also expected to be shaped by AI, with 82% of respondents expecting some to be replaced, likely by AI and robotics together.
The report examines the prospects for using AI in management, job redesign, training and recruiting. It reveals that even today, 83% of people in India say their organization uses AI tools to support the candidate recruitment process and a higher proportion (89%) know their company uses AI. AI to support any aspect of performance management.
Despite this, HR is not among the functions expected to be most impacted by AI, with only 33% saying they expect it, compared to 67% for marketing, 65% for finance and 57% for operations .
