Indian tech giant Wipro will invest $1 billion in AI, including training all staff

By Michelle Toh, CNN

Hong Kong (CNN) — Wipro, one of India’s top providers of software services, wants everyone on staff to know how to use artificial intelligence.

The IT giant announced Wednesday it would spend $1 billion on improving its artificial intelligence capabilities over the next three years, including training its entire staff of 250,000 people across 66 countries in the fast-moving technology.

Wipro (WIT) said it plans to run workshops “on AI fundamentals and responsible use of AI over the course of the next 12 months, and will continue to provide more customized, ongoing training for employees in AI-specialized roles.”

Wipro is one of India’s biggest outsourcing firms, specializing in IT and consulting services. Its move comes as generative AI, the technology that underpins popular platforms such as ChatGPT, has taken the world by storm.

“With the emergence of generative AI, we expect a fundamental shift up ahead, for all industries,” Wipro CEO Thierry Delaporte said in the statement.

The company added it was launching an interconnected software system to integrate AI into every platform and tool used internally and offered to clients, as it capitalizes on its existing efforts in the space that started about a decade ago.

Businesses are increasingly using AI to either bolster or replace tasks usually carried out by humans.

This week, the CEO of an Indian startup made headlines for laying off about 90% of his support staff, saying the company had built an AI-powered chatbot that could process customer service requests faster than employees.

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