What Nilekani said about unleashing AI for enterprises

Unlike AI uses for consumers, the next generation technology for enterprises will unfold over several years and the biggest challenge is to unleash AI for next wave of productivity for businesses, Infosys chairman Nandan M Nilekani said on Wednesday.

While speaking at 43rd annual general meeting (AGM) of Infosys, Nilekani said the initial AI doomerism has quietened down and people have accepted that, like any other general-purpose technology -- electricity, nuclear energy, the internet etc, gen AI (generative artificial intelligence) has enormous potential for good when advanced within the guardrails of responsibility.

"World is at very early stage of AI development. Unlike consumer AI which will roll out quickly...enterprise AI will take several years to unfold.

"Infosys is well positioned for that.

"The pace at which everything around us is evolving is dizzying.

"A big challenge of our time is to unleash AI for the next wave of productivity for enterprises.

"We have had a head start on that journey and are keen to share the learning and value with our clients," Nilekani said.

He said that the rise of powerful open-source AI models has also accelerated the  deployment of AI to solve tough business and societal challenges.

"As we move into more use cases, a thousand flowers will bloom," Nilekani said.

Infosys claims to have trained 2.5 lakh employees in the area of generative AI.

Nilekani said the manifestations of consumer AI will make life easier and more productive for millions of people while enterprise AI, on the other hand, is a lot more complex.

"It (enterprise AI) will require a root and branch surgery of the multi-generation technology that lies within firms.

"The challenge will also be to orchestrate the extensive data inside the corporation in a way that it is consumable by AI.

"The quality of output will need to be managed to ensure factual responses and insights with no hallucinations," he said.

Nilekani said that while there are concerns around AI, there is no global initiative on responsible AI.

He said that Infosys, however, is committed towards becoming responsible and take gaurdrails seriously at the time of software development.

"We have created 23 AI industry blueprints to solve industry-specific challenges.

"We are currently working on over 225 generative AI programmes for our clients.

"Key to executing complex transformation is talent," Nilekani said.