Infosys chairman Nilekani says GenAI has enormous potential, plays down risks

Bengaluru: Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) has enormous potential that can simplify human life and make individuals more productive, Infosys chairman Nandan Nilekani said, as he played down risks associated with the fast-emerging technology.

In the software exporter's annual report for the financial year ended March 2024, Nilekani said that fears about the rise of AI causing human extinction have come down, as there is greater clarity on the technology now than 18 months ago.

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“People have accepted that, like any other general-purpose technology, be it electricity, nuclear energy, the internet or even a discovery like fire, GenAI has enormous potential for good when explored and advanced within the guardrails of responsibility,” said Nilekani in a letter that's part of Infosys’ FY24 annual report.

A different AI

The Infosys co-founder said consumer AI would differ from enterprise AI, as the former could be packaged in ways that would simplify human life and make it more productive.

“Not unlike the smartphone that brought the magic of apps and touchscreen to billions, consumer AI will push the envelope of usability, convenience, and accessibility for everyone,” said Nilekani in his letter.

Enterprise AI, on the other hand, would lead to a challenge as enterprises would have to arrange data within their systems so that it is consumable by AI, said Nilekani, adding that the data output would also have to be managed to ensure factual responses and insights.

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Nilekani’s views on Gen AI mirror those of Tata Sons chairman N. Chandrasekaran, who in TCS’s annual general meeting held on 31 May 2024, said that Gen AI would have an impact on every industry.

While Nilekani presented a broader picture of GenAI and its impact and challenges on enterprises, Infosys Ltd chief executive Salil Parekh threw light on the company's GenAI projects.

He said that the company was engaged in projects pertaining to software engineering, process optimization, customer support, advisory services, as well as sales and marketing.

Fourth best paid

Parekh, who is now in his second term as the company’s chief executive, after he was reappointed on 1 July 2022 for a five-year term, earned $7.9 million ( ₹66.25 crore) for the financial year ended March 2024, making him Indian IT industry's fourth-highest paid CEO.

According to Infosys’ annual report for FY24, Parekh’s salary was 16% higher than $6.8 million he earned as remuneration in FY23.

For homegrown Indian IT firms, Parekh's FY24 remuneration follows the likes of Wipro Ltd’s former CEO Thierry Delaporte, who earned upwards of $20.4 million for the year ended March 2024, and HCL Technologies Ltd’s C Vijayakumar, who is expected to earn $10.6 million for the said period.

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However, Nasdaq-listed Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp CEO Ravi Kumar Singisetti bagged the biggest salary among Indian IT bosses, taking home $22.6 million in the year ended December 2023. Cognizant follows a January-December accounting year, whereas Indian software exporters follow an April-March financial calendar.

Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, India’s largest IT company, paid $3.1 million to CEO K. Krithivasan for the financial year ended March 2024.

Parekh’s salary made up 0.04% of Infosys' revenue of $18.6 billion in FY24.

Paid in shares

Accenture Plc, which is more than thrice the size of Infosys, paid $31.55 million in remuneration to chair and CEO Julie Sweet. This implies that Sweet’s remuneration is 0.05% of the $64.1 billion in revenue at Accenture, which follows a September-August fiscal year.

Indian IT companies’ chief executives earn hefty compensations because a large part of the money they take home is on account of the shares awarded to them. Infosys is no different. The Bengaluru-based IT company granted 4.23 lakh shares to Parekh in the year ended March 2024, compared to 3.5 lakh in the financial year ended March 2023. 

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As a result, the CEO’s salary as compared with the median remuneration of the employees, goes up. Salil Parekh’s salary was 677 times that of the median salary of his company’s employees in the year through March 2024, which is 50 times higher than the previous financial year.