Reacting to Tata Consultancy Services' (TCS) decision to lay off around 12,000 employees, Former Tech Mahindra CEO Chander Prakash Gurnani used an iconic dialogue from the Bollywood movie Sholay to hint at a major shift in how Indian IT firms operate.
The IT veteran spoke to CNBC-TV18, claiming that the layoffs signal the end of evaluating IT companies on the size of their workforce and a shift in focus to growth driven by artificial intelligence (AI).
“The focus on the Sholay dialogue 'Kitne aadmi the' or judging the Indian IT industry based on headcount, thank god that period will be over. All of us will have to rewire ourselves to start looking at output and outcome-based business models, outcome-based pricing, and look at what it does for business and customers, instead of looking at IT and systems in isolation," he said.
“I am actually quite excited because we, as in the Indian IT industry, have a chance to prove that we will build platforms and accelerate innovation, and we will rule the world focusing on the application cycle,” he added.
However, the former CEO dismissed fears of AI causing job cuts and said that while some roles may be chopped, AI integration will soon create new types of jobs.
{{/usCountry}}However, the former CEO dismissed fears of AI causing job cuts and said that while some roles may be chopped, AI integration will soon create new types of jobs.
{{/usCountry}}“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 a few functions of an organisation,” he added.
Earlier, TCS confirmed that it would slash its workforce by about 2%, laying off 12,000 employees, throughout this year. Citing change in technology and client expectations, the company claimed that it was realigning its strategy. The move will affect mid-level and senior roles across the firm.
Recently, overall hiring in India’s IT industry has dipped. According to data quoted by the Economic Times, from April to June 2025, India's top six IT firms added only 3,847 employees, compared to 13,935 in the previous quarter.