Call center jobs at risk as AI advances, TCS CEO K Krithivasan warns

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) CEO K Krithivasan has forecasted a big shift in the call center industry, with Artificial Intelligence (AI) said to dramatically reduce the need for traditional call centers within a year or so. In an interview with Financial Times, Krithivasan talked about the transformative potential of AI, particularly generative AI, in changing customer service operations across Asia and beyond.

While acknowledging that there have been no immediate job reductions, Krithivasan highlighted the inevitability of AI's impact on the customer service landscape. He predicted a future where incoming call centers become obsolete, replaced by proactive AI systems capable of predicting and addressing customer queries before they even arise.

"In an ideal phase, if you ask me, there should be very minimal incoming call centres having incoming calls at all. We are in a situation where the technology should be able to predict a call coming and then proactively address the customer’s pain point,” he told Financial Times.

According to Krithivasan, advancements in chatbot technology will enable these systems to analyse customer transaction history and perform tasks traditionally handled by human agents. However, he also tempered expectations, noting that this transformation may take up to a year to fully materialise.

Despite the anticipated disruptions, Krithivasan warned that we shouldn't get too excited about the immediate benefits of generative AI. He said people are talking a lot about it right now, but its real impact will take time and might actually bring new chances for jobs instead of just replacing old ones.

In response to concerns about job losses, Krithivasan expressed confidence in the growing demand for technology talent, particularly in countries like India. He suggested that AI's evolution would bring more skilled professionals, ultimately contributing to job creation rather than contraction.

On the contrary, a report by McKinsey Global Institute titled "Generative AI and the Future of Work in America" revealed that all jobs requiring some kind of automation, such as data collection and repetitive tasks, will be replaced by AI to make work more efficient. Employment sectors that will be impacted more by this AI transformation will include office support, customer service, and food service employment.

"We estimate that demand for clerks could decrease by 1.6 million jobs, in addition to losses of 830,000 for retail salespersons, 710,000 for administrative assistants, and 630,000 for cashiers. These jobs involve a high share of repetitive tasks, data collection, and elementary data processing, all activities that automated systems can handle efficiently," the report stated when it was released a few months back. In the coming years, we will have a better picture of what will be the future of such jobs. You can stay tuned to India Today for latest updates.