Another job AI could take over and replace? THIS industry will be revolutionalised, believes TCS CEO K Krithivasan

livemint.com:

artificial intelligence has the potential to significantly alter the landscape of call centres, within a short timeframe, the Financial Times reported. Krithivasan thinks AI could have a transformative impact on the industry, and foresees a scenario where call centres would get minimal incoming calls due to the proactive capabilities of AI technology. Explaining the role of generative AI in this shift, Kirthivasan said that wider adoption of such technology among multinational companies (MNCs) could revolutionise customer service operations, traditionally reliant on call centre assistance.

"In an ideal phase, if you ask me, there should be very minimal incoming call centres having incoming calls at all. We are in a situation where the technology should be able to predict a call coming and then proactively address the customer’s pain point," he told FT in an interview. Krithivasan said the tech is moving towards chatbots becoming capable of analysing customer transaction histories and performing tasks typically handled by call centre agents.

But he did acknowledge that this transition may take around a year to materialise fully. The potential ramifications of advancing AI technology extend beyond call centres. There is much anxiety about its impact on various white-collar professions, including call centre agents and software developers, prompting global policymakers to take notice.