Most of the outsourced coders in India will be out of business after 2 years
Most outsourced programmers in India will see their jobs wiped out in the next year or two, said Stability AI CEO Emad Mostake.
Mostak, speaking to analysts at UBS, said most of the country’s outsourced programmers will lose their jobs as the impact of artificial intelligence means software can now be developed by far fewer people.
“I think it affects different types of jobs differently,” Mostak said on a call with analysts at the Swiss Investment Bank last week.
“When you’re doing work in front of a computer and no one can see you, it’s very impactful because these models are like talented graduates.”
According to Mostak, however, it will not affect everyone equally.
This is due in no small part to different rules and regulations around the world. Countries with stronger labor laws, such as France, would be less likely to see such an impact, for example.
In India, Mostak said, “outsourced programmers up to the third level will disappear in the next year or two, while in France you will never fire a developer.”
“So it affects different models in different countries in different ways in different sectors.”
According to a Bloomberg report, India is home to more than 5 million programmers who are most at risk of exposure to advanced AI tools like ChatGPT.
Asia’s second-largest country is a great place for companies to outsource back-office and other roles overseas. Silicon Valley tech giants, Wall Street banks, airlines and retailers are all clients of Indian outsourcing companies.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), an Indian multinational IT services and consulting firm, is the country’s largest outsourcing provider. Others include Infosys and Wipro.
TCS has made a big bet on generative artificial intelligence, committing to train more than 25,000 engineers on the technology through Microsoft’s Azure Open AI service to “help customers accelerate adoption of this powerful new technology.”
In an interview with CNBC on Thursday, TCS CEO N. Ganapathy Subramaniam said the company began using a “machine-first” approach to project delivery about four years ago, and it showed how artificial intelligence will have “a tremendous impact on how we are working.” and the way we do things.”
Generative AI, Subramaniam said, “has just advanced a few years.”
Mostak reiterated his previous statement that in five years “there will be no more programmers,” but he said he meant programmers in the traditional sense.
“Why do you need to write code where a computer can write code better? When you deconstruct programming from bug testing to unit testing and ideation, AI can do that, only better,” Mastak said.
“But it won’t do it automatically, it will be AI co-pilots,” Mostak said. “That means fewer people are needed for classical programming, but are they needed for other things? It’s a question and it’s a balance that we have to understand because different areas are also affected in different ways.”
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