Tata Chairman N Chandrasekaran Warns Of Continued Supply Chain Disruptions For IT Sector

Global environment around the world continues to go through significant shifts as the pandemic resulted in supply chain shocks due to economic slowdown especially in developed markets. As initial signs of stability began to emerge, the further intensifying of military conflicts in West Asia this year continues to impact the global supply chains, said N Chandrasekaran, chairman of Tata Sons and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd.

"After two years of recessionary fears, persistently high inflation, and unprecedented monetary tightening, the global macro-outlook looks relatively better now, with improving growth, disinflation, and monetary easing in sight," the chairman said in an annual report.

Across industries globally, there are multiple mega trends that are shaping priorities of businesses, like artificial intelligence, new energy, supply chain and talent, Chandrasekaran noted.

Chandrasekaran addressed what these disruptions mean for the IT services industry and how TCS is preparing for them.

As enterprises globally prepare to respond to these mega trends, "we see multiple opportunities for your company", he said. "Every industry is embracing these trends and their business is being shaped for the future."

GenAI technologies will impact almost every sector and country going forward. Enterprises have already invested in cloud, data infrastructure and large processing power, which will aid AI/GenAI. GenAI will not only improve productivity, but also create impact which has not been seen or imagined, he said.

Global energy transition is accelerating, and businesses are making clear commitments towards a sustainable future. The energy requirement of our fast-changing world is enormous. Key is to lower the cost of energy while also transitioning to renewables. This transition requires large investment in technology, electric mobility, renewable power, hydrogen and sustainable fuel, according to the chairman.

In FY24, TCS consolidated AI and Cloud expertise with the creation of the AI.Cloud unit, the report said.

Each of the business groups are developing domain-specific AI/GenAI offerings relevant to the industry value chain. Over 3,00,000 employees have been upskilled on GenAI technologies in FY24. TCS' products and services are also being enhanced with AI capabilities, Chandrasekaran said.

To partner with customers on their energy transition agenda, TCS is investing in research on green hydrogen, biofuels and developing digital platforms to help customers reduce Scope 1/2/3 emissions, he said. "Our proprietary ESG framework enables enterprises to build transparency into operations and simplifies compliance reporting."

Employees are actively leveraging experiential and personalised learning on a wide range of emerging technologies, clocking over 51 million learning hours in fiscal 2024, Chandrasekaran said.

"TCS continues to build strong talent supply chains with deep partnerships, with leading educational institutions, shaping the curriculum for new skill needs for the future," he said.