AI Disrupts India’s IT Jobs Engine

India built one of the world’s largest technology-services industries by pairing a vast pool of English-speaking graduates with lower-cost outsourcing. The IT and business-process services sector employs more than 6 million people and contributes nearly $300 billion to the economy, led by Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and Wipro. Generative AI can increasingly perform coding, software testing, customer support and summarisation, challenging a labour-intensive model that created a pathway into the middle class for millions.

India’s Economic Survey 2025-26, released on Jan. 29, 2026, said employment growth had begun decoupling from output in AI-exposed services. Using the US Professional, Business and Information Services sector as a leading indicator, it identified a structural break after generative AI went mainstream in December 2022. Tata Consultancy Services cut more than 12,000 jobs in 2025 as the shift accelerated. The survey proposed an AI Economic Council to assess labour effects and steer adoption while supporting reskilling and employment.