Sholay days of IT are over': CP Gurnani says TCS layoffs shows focus towards outcome, not headcount

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CP Gurnani, IT industry veteran and former CEO of Tech Mahindra, said layoffs at TCS imply that the period of judging Indian IT firms based on their headcount will soon be over, and instead, an output and outcome-based business model should likely be under focus.

While speaking to CNBC-TV18, Gurnani said, "The focus on the Sholay dialogue 'Kitne aadmi the' or judging the Indian IT industry based on headcount - that period will be over."

"We will have to rewire ourselves to focus on output and outcome-based business models, outcome-based pricing, and more importantly what it does for business and customers, instead of looking at IT and systems in isolation," he said.

Speaking on the job cut, Gurnani said that while some roles may be cut, may more will likely be created as a result of artificial intelligence (AI). "If you see the job openings at these companies, they have only increased since the previous year. This is because they need more AI engineers, more data scientists, prompt engineers and people who can collapse few functions of an organisation," he said. "There is no point of having an HR organization. Ultimately, it will become how do I serve my employee. That means it is a data centric organization, with a human touch," he added.

Gurnani said that the move reflects the humanization of AI, which means that while some routine jobs may be cut, new jobs may be created.

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Ganesh Natarajan, Executive Chairman of GTT Data Solutions, said that over a million jobs will get redundant in the coming days as result of AI. These would include roles related to testing, documentation, programming and more. However, he also feels that several more roles will be created simultaneously.

"We have to be prepared for a few years of churn. We have been telling people to move from transitional AI to game changing AI. So, this 'game changing AI' means game changing for the organization. So, we have to be prepared for the future focused model, and the [churn] is not going to stop here. It will take place over the next two-three years. I think we should tighten our seatbelts and be prepared for lots of changes," he said.

Also Read: MeitY monitoring TCS layoffs, urges industry-academia focus on re-skilling

TCS is letting go 2 percent of its staff, or roughly 12,000 employees in a bid to become more agile and future-ready, Moneycontrol exclusively reported. "Industry and academia will also have to address skilling and re-skilling related issues. We are keeping a close eye on all of this," a source told this website.

The IT giant's move comes amid rapid disruptions in technology. However, the firm's CEO K Krithivasan told Moneycontrol that the move was not a fallout of the adoption of artificial intelligence, but to address skills for the future.

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Moneycontrol News

first published: Jul 28, 2025 01:28 pm

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