As the CEO of Cognizant, which employs more than 350,000 people around the world, Kumar isn’t just helping other companies figure out how best to use this technology. He's also testing his theories across a large global workforce. Since becoming CEO in January 2023, Kumar has been a prominent voice in the debate on AI, offering his views on which jobs will last, how work will evolve, and how society should best take advantage of the technology.
Kumar joined The CEO Moment, TIME’s interview series, to discuss AI’s potential and where it is currently falling short. How is AI going to change how companies are structured?You’re going to see more modular, agile, small teams. Managers are going to be expected to be player-coaches…They're going to be more hands-on.
The path to expertise is going to be much faster. The asymmetry between individuals and institutions is no longer going to be expertise. Expertise is going to be at your fingertips.
The asymmetry is going to be interdisciplinary skills. You recently celebrated 20,000 entry-level grads hired at Cognizant. At the same time you announced a plan for spending $270 million on severance.
How many jobs has Cognizant eliminated because of AI adoption? The net addition of people is still positive for the company. Do you find that new employees who used AI in college lack curiosity or resilience?
Somebody asked me this question saying, how do you keep that curiosity if you're outsourcing everything you would like to do to a machine? I think we need massive transformation in K-12 schools. It's funny, if you use AI in schools, schools will fire you.
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