Writing code will not be main goal in AI era: Infosys Chairman

Infosys Chairman Nandan Nilekani said artificial intelligence will fundamentally change software development, making coding no longer the primary task for tech professionals. He said firms must focus on institutional change, new skills and AI adoption amid rising concerns over industry disruption

Bengaluru: Nandan Nilekani, Co-founder and Chairman of Infosys, said on Tuesday that artificial intelligence (AI) will fundamentally change how software is built and deployed, adding that writing code will no longer be the primary job of technology professionals.

Addressing the Infosys Investor Day, Nilekani described the AI transition as a “root-and-branch” change that requires firms to rethink customer journeys, business processes and organisational structures rather than merely adding a new layer of technology.

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“Talent will have to deal with a world where writing code will not be the goal, but actually making AI work,” he said, adding that it will change the nature of jobs and operating models.

Nilekani said enterprises will require new skills in AI engineering, agent orchestration and managing non-deterministic systems, where one prompt can generate different outcomes each time.

He warned that companies will be forced to deal with long-deferred issues such as legacy systems and technical debt, which limit their ability to adopt AI effectively.

“The technology is far ahead of its deployment. Model performance is going up, but progress in implementation is not really there because implementing this is hard. Fundamentally, it is about organisational change, business change, retraining your people and changing your data so it is no longer in silos,” Nilekani added.

The comments assume significance as the technology sector saw heavy selling last week, sending the Nifty IT index down 5.51 per cent in just one day. Investors were worried about AI-led disruption that could replace traditional services that generate large revenue streams for Indian IT firms. The launch earlier this month by US-based AI company Anthropic of “Claude Cowork”, an AI assistant with a new automation layer, has created concern among traditional IT services firms.

International broker Jefferies described the product launch and the resultant meltdown in NASDAQ as “SaaSpocalypse”. Some strategists warned of potential revenue deflation of up to 40 per cent if agentic AI displaces traditional services already facing margin pressure.