Wipro and Infosys leaders warn employees about disruptions that can impact the IT industry

Wipro Chairman Azim Premji and Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka have sent out letters to their respective employees cautioning them about serious dangers facing the world and the IT industry. Globalised industries like IT services, are at risk due to the recent political and social developments pose huge risks. Premji suggests that the following four principles should be taken into consideration in the quest for a better world: finding a common ground; having concern and respect for others; staying connected as a society; and committing to values such as integrity and honesty. “It’s not that only people in public life can play a part, but each one of us in our own roles can make a difference, and we as a company can make a substantial difference,” Premji said in his letter. Recalling a recent visit to a school in Sirohi in Rajasthan, he spoke about a young girl who had asked him about his achievements. Premji said the question made him feel really happy and fulfilled. “It is not as though this question has not been asked of me before. But that moment and the question, was suffused with the child’s genuine curiosity and pure heart, and so became a moment of great clarity and insight for me. The greatest fulfilment is in knowing that the work that we are doing at the Foundation has some role in shaping confident, thinking, caring and ethical human beings like her.” On the other hand Sikka wants his employees to embrace automation and be innovative to survive the fast changes in the world of technology. He believes that difficult times lie ahead for the Indian IT industry if it continues to depend only on costs and work as reactive problem-solvers. “We will not survive if we remain in the constricted space of doing as we are told. By standing still instead of moving forward decisively, we will face the brunt of the disruptive forces, as our industry has already started to see,” Sikka said. He also said that a majority of work that came to Infosys and to others in the IT industry can be done with AI (artificial intelligence) systems. “So as I think about all this…we need to harness the dual forces of automation and innovation,” he said. Like Premji, Sikka also mentioned about political and social issues like Brexit, Donald Trump’s victory, demonetisation, terrorism and the migrant crisis. However, he believes the biggest disruption is the one that has been proceeding irreversibly and unstoppably in our times, the accelerating force of technology and digitisation.