Large Companies May See More Job Losses, Says Nandan Nilekani
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Large companies could become the biggest source of job losses in the coming years as artificial intelligence (AI) and automation make it easier to reduce tasks and roles, according to Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani.
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Speaking at the NCAER India Policy Forum 2026, Nilekani said large, well-structured organisations could be more vulnerable to job displacement because their work is often divided into clearly defined tasks that can be automated.
Small Businesses May Drive Future Job Creation
Nilekani believes India’s future employment growth could increasingly come from millions of small businesses rather than a few large corporations.
He said smaller businesses are more difficult to automate at scale because of the variety and complexity of their operations. As a result, they could prove more resilient to AI-led job displacement and create new employment opportunities.
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According to Nilekani, India’s employment model may gradually move away from the traditional expectation that a few large companies will hire hundreds of thousands or millions of people. Instead, job creation could come from a large number of small enterprises, with each business adding a few employees.
He also suggested that India could reach one million startups by 2035, compared with around 1.5 lakh currently.
Need to Rethink India’s Job Creation Model
Nilekani called for a change in the way India thinks about employment and entrepreneurship. He said the traditional model of a person joining one company and remaining there for decades is changing as the nature of work evolves.
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He highlighted the need for portable benefits and portable credentials, particularly as more workers move between companies and participate in the gig economy.
For small businesses and entrepreneurs to become stronger employment generators, Nilekani also stressed the importance of reducing regulatory burdens and improving access to capital and markets through digital public infrastructure.
Platforms such as the RBI’s Account Aggregator and ONDC could help small businesses operate more efficiently.
AI Could Also Improve Productivity
Nilekani’s comments come amid a broader debate over AI’s impact on employment. While automation is expected to eliminate some roles and tasks, he has also argued that India could benefit significantly from AI-led productivity gains and greater inclusion over the next decade.
A recent Nomura report similarly suggested that AI adoption in India may be creating more jobs than it eliminates, pointing to the emergence of new roles alongside reductions in some traditional jobs.
The changing employment landscape therefore may not simply be about fewer jobs. Instead, the bigger shift could be where jobs are created, what skills workers need and how businesses organise work.
For India, Nilekani’s view puts the focus on entrepreneurship and smaller businesses as an important part of the country’s future employment strategy.