🚨 Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu says India should shut down business schools and focus on startup incubators instead.
He says the country needs founders and experimentation, not more MBA graduates.
BCG Report: IT Firms Lack AI Talent to Capture $200B Opportunity
(a) BCG evaluated 50,000 engineer profiles (b) Only 10% doing Applied AI work at IT firms (c) Urgent need to build Applied AI workforce (d) INSIGHTS for IT engineers:.
Market Is Ready; IT Firms Aren’t
a. Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has published an extensive report on how IT companies can build Applied AI workforce from the people they already employ.
b. Opportunity: BCG estimates in the next 4 years AI will add $400B of new revenue streams for IT services globally, but wipe out $200B of old revenue streams. So, the net gain is $400-$200 = $200B.
c. Problem: IT firms claim to offer “AI-first” services, but in reality they have not built an AI delivery model. These companies only have a fraction of talent needed to capture the vast opportunity.
d. IT companies tag their workforce as “AI engineers,” but in reality only 10-15% do Applied AI work. The rest merely use AI to do old work faster. At AI-native firms (“tech companies”) 90-95% do real Applied AI work.
Infused AI vs. Applied AI
a. Infused AI: It uses AI tools to do existing work faster. An IT engineer’s task is still fundamentally software development, which is now done faster with AI tools.
b. Applied AI: It involves building and operating AI agents that do the work. Examples: enterprise AI agents, agentic workflow automation, production AI platforms, and AI systems for end-to-end business processes.
c. Infused AI eliminates the need of humans for repetitive tasks. If previously 3 engineers worked for 8 hours to develop and test a feature, now only 1 engineer can do the same task. So, two-third of the workforce is gone.
d. Applied AI engineers create new sources of growth & revenue for clients by building and operating AI agents: new services, new products, new customer problems that can be solved economically, and new ways to increase productivity.
e. IT companies lack the capacity in Applied AI. BCG says time is running out, and market opportunity will be grabbed by firms that move fast to build massive “Applied AI” talent.
Applied AI Job Roles
BCG has identified 40 distinct Applied AI roles. Four categories, which IT engineers and IT firms should target are:
a. Forward-Deployed Engineer (FDE): Works closely with the client to design & deliver a working solution.
b. AI Engineer/AI Architect: Builds and scales enterprise AI and agentic systems.
c. Semantic Engineer: Develops data representations, vector embeddings, and knowledge structures that AI agents can use.
d. AI Ops Engineer: Monitors AI systems for performance, accuracy, drift, and bias.
In AI-native firms, 45% of the workforce comprises forward-deployed engineers (FDEs). In traditional IT firms, the share is less than 5%.
5 Questions IT Firms Must Answer
BCG wants IT companies to answer these five questions right now:
a. Has the company selected the AI use cases (agentic systems) it intends to build to solve client problems? Otherwise it may train people in general AI skills without knowing where those skills will be used.
b. Is there consistent role architecture across the company? A common architecture makes job roles, skill requirements, and career paths easier to compare across teams.
c. Has the company made deliberate hiring and training decisions for all 40 Applied AI roles? A blanket hiring and training policy won’t sustain for long.
d. Has the company assessed its existing workforce properly? Accurate assessment prevents the company from overestimating or underestimating its current capabilities.
e. Can the company’s pay and career structures survive competition from AI-native firms? Otherwise the company will lose existing talent or fail to attract top talent.
Endpiece: The Clock Is Ticking
BCG report’s final message is that building AI capability takes time. Winners will be those IT firms that begin early and enable their employees to develop skills and experience before the opportunity matures toward 2030.
Tech/IT Layoffs: A Survivors' Guide
AI-led layoff tsunami is real. Microsoft, Amazon, Meta have begun. Others will follow. AI has infinite payoff. Tech workers are an inefficient cost burden. Capitalism will get rid of you. Jungle Rules for Survival:.
You Are Your Only Friend
1. Be Self-Serving: Your employer pays for skills, not loyalty. Your employment relationship is merely a transaction, lasting only till it improves shareholder returns. The moment AI produces better ROI, your usefulness is over.
2. Stay Ruthlessly Prepared: Treat your job like a one-client business. Update your skills aggressively. Build your personal brand online. Create a strong network. Engage with ex-colleagues & recruiters when you don’t have to.
3. Know Your Exit Math: Read your contract: notice period, severance, RSU vesting, non-compete and moonlighting clauses. Don’t “resign” under pressure in a layoff. Don’t trust verbal assurances. Don’t sign release documents until you know what you are owed.
4. Keep a Private Log: Maintain notes of each project impact, each bottleneck resolution, each outcome. Record measurable gains in revenue, cost savings, and error reduction. Numbers have power. In a layoff, your records will be your edge for the next job.
5. Think the Unthinkable: Assume your access can be disabled tomorrow 6:00 am. Keep personal contacts, portfolio, tax docs, and other pvt info outside company systems. The day you're laid off: get into war mode, mobilize your network, and message 20 people.
6. Search While Employed: Don’t resign without an offer in hand. If there is no skill upgrade happening in your current role, find a new job before your skills become outdated. Do 2-4 job interviews every quarter even if you’re happy (but stagnant).
7. Be Market-Relevant: Keep reinventing yourself. Stay ahead of the curve. Master all three layers: (a) Base layer (b) AI layer (c) Domain layer. Set aside at least 1 hr/day for skills upgrade. Two demonstrable projects are better than 12 certifications.
8. Respect Your Identity: You are not your job title. AI does not reward overwork. It rewards high-leverage individuals. Divide your worries into “controllable” (skills, savings, health) and “uncontrollable” (unrealistic deadlines, stress at workplace). Focus only on the first list.
Endquote: Survival of the Fittest
Every morning in the jungles of Africa, a deer wakes up knowing it must run faster than the fastest lion, and the lion knows it must run faster than the slowest deer in order to survive.
The law of the tech jungle is no different: Run faster than others, or die.
@IndianTechGuide Not good situation. Need aggressive reforms here. Economic situation on ground needs to be improved on person level in turn contributing to country’s growth.
@rishibagree We have really started to do well in infra. Corporates are also doing well. Need some serious reforms in 100% Employment and small & medium business earnings on ground level. We are lagging many times over.