Wanted: Techies with AI skills to man new tasks

Hyderabad: The IT job landscape is changing and the winds blowing in the direction of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has gathered pace. However, there is a shortage of trained hands to man the new tasks. 

Sundeep Kumar Makthala, president, Telangana Information Technology Association (TITA), said, “AI will impact the industry for the next five years. It is taking the centre stage. There is an immediate need to up the skills.”

Several industries like healthcare, banking and finance and construction are switching over to AI. Even a few dating apps are now AI-based. Techies are going to spend less time on redundant and monotonous jobs like maintenance and tracking. When the technology transition takes place, it impacts certain jobs. These disruptive technologies are the primary reason for the current layoffs in the IT industry.

While the companies reorient, they train only a selected few. Techies need to be proactive in gaining knowledge. IT giants and leading companies, which boasted of their headcount, are changing the way they operate.

Mr. Sundeep added, “Not all members will be trained; only a selected few. AI and automation are impacting people in both good and bad ways. The market has a lot of vacancies for AI. But the number of trained hands is less. There is a huge requirement. Using the disruptive technologies, the companies can reduce the project cost.”

High-level training centres on AI are lacking in Hyderabad. Universities like IIIT-Hyderabad are conducting courses, which demand compulsory classroom training.