India's AI Economic Council a ‘brilliant idea’ to guide AI’s impact on jobs, says Cognizant CEO

Cognizant

• Cognizant CEO backs proposal for an AI Economic Council to guide AI's job impact
• Company trains 260,000 employees in AI, increases entry-level hiring
• Survey urges phased AI adoption to protect jobs and socio-economic stability

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Cognizant Technology Solutions chief executive Ravi Kumar S has backed the proposal to set up an AI Economic Council in India, calling it a “brilliant idea” to guide the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on jobs and manage the pace of adoption in a labour-rich economy.

Speaking during the company’s post-earnings interaction, Kumar said large technology transitions tend to disrupt jobs faster than new roles are created, making policy intervention critical to smoothen the shift. He said an AI Economic Council could help steer AI towards augmenting human productivity and wages, rather than accelerating displacement.

The comments come days after the Economic Survey 2025–26 proposed the creation of an AI Economic Council to calibrate the pace and sequencing of AI adoption, with a sharp focus on employment outcomes, skilling readiness, and socio-economic stability

Kumar said the challenge was not the availability of AI tools, but the complexity of integrating them into enterprise workflows, operating layers, and human labour. He argued that productivity gains from AI need to be deliberately channelled back into the workforce to support long-term growth and social stability.

The Teaneck-headquartered company pointed to its own delivery model as an example of how enterprises and service providers are adapting.

The company said it has been investing heavily in reskilling and training to prepare employees for AI-assisted work, with around 260,000 employees now trained in generative AI, and more than 30 percent of code being AI-assisted across projects.

It has also been hiring aggressively at the entry level and moving fresh graduates into production faster using AI tools and automation.

Also, read: Cognizant plans to hire about 25,000 freshers in 2026 as AI boosts productivity

The Economic Survey has argued that unchecked automation could have destabilising effects on India’s labour market and has recommended a phased approach to AI adoption rather than blanket deployment.

It said the proposed AI Economic Council should work with the private sector to map jobs likely to be automated or augmented, identify geographies most exposed to disruption, and develop a 10-year roadmap for AI deployment

The Survey has positioned the AI Economic Council as distinct from a governance or regulatory body, instead envisaging it as a coordinating institution aligned with education, skilling and labour market readiness.