TCS Predicts AI Agents Will Surpass Human Employees Within Three Years

Artificial intelligence could become as large a workforce as humans at Tata Consultancy Services within the next three years, Chairman N Chandrasekaran said on Tuesday, signalling a shift that could reduce the industry’s hiring intensity as the company scales up its AI business, which has already reached an annualised revenue run-rate of $2.4 billion. “I predict that over the next three years, TCS will have as many AI agents as human employees,” Chandrasekaran said at the company’s annual general meeting, held virtually. “Will it lead to decrease in hiring? Absolutely. The company will not be hiring the kind of numbers it used to hire.” Putting a number to the company’s AI ambitions, Chandrasekaran said that if TCS has around half a million employees, “the day is not far when the company has half a million AI agents”. He said parts of the work currently performed by employees would increasingly be undertaken by AI systems, changing the industry’s traditional people-led delivery model. However, he ruled out workforce reductions, saying TCS would continue to invest in talent and reskilling. “There is no downsizing of staff. That is not planned at all,” Chandrasekaran said, adding that the focus would be on enabling humans and AI agents to work together. He also said AI would create new categories of jobs and opportunities over time. The comments come at a time when investors are debating the long-term implications of generative AI for the IT services industry. Chandrasekaran said that every major technology disruption has historically expanded technology spending and created new opportunities for technology companies rather than reducing demand. The company’s annualised AI revenue run-rate reached $2.4 billion in the fourth quarter of FY26, growing at a compound quarterly growth rate of 22.4%, he said. “On an annualised basis, I expect the AI revenues to grow 100%,” Chandrasekaran added. According to Chandrasekaran, AI represents the most significant opportunity TCS has encountered in its history. He said the technology would increasingly become embedded across the company’s services and solutions. “By 2028 to 2030, 100% of the revenue will have an AI component,” he said in response to shareholder questions. To support that transition, TCS is investing in talent, proprietary assets and what Chandrasekaran described as an AI operating system that will combine industry-specific AI agents with tools capable of integrating new AI applications into enterprise technology environments. The company is also investing in AI data centres and sovereign cloud infrastructure, areas that are outside TCS’ traditional asset-light operating model. Chandrasekaran said such investments were necessary to support emerging customer requirements. “This is not to say that the company’s philosophy is to go away from the asset-light model. The company will continue to pursue the asset-light model but will make the necessary exceptions,” he said. On acquisitions, Chandrasekaran said TCS had both the financial capacity and board support to pursue large deals where strategic merit exists. “There is absolutely no hesitation on the part of the board or the company to allocate funds for large acquisitions,” he said, while adding that the company would remain disciplined in evaluating opportunities. Beyond AI, Chandrasekaran said geopolitical tensions and conflicts could disrupt global supply chains and increase the focus on resilience among enterprises. He reiterated TCS’ ambition to return to double-digit growth, said the US would remain the company’s largest market, dismissed concerns around employment visas, and maintained that operating margins of around 25% remain sustainable over the long term.