Davos 2026: Indian IT is not behind on AI, says Wipro chairman Rishad Premji

Indian IT services companies are moving fast enough on artificial intelligence and are not falling behind global peers, Wipro executive chairman Rishad Premji said during the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Speaking to Moneycontrol on January 21, Premji said the sector has been quick to recognise the scale of change AI is bringing and is actively adapting its business models to stay relevant. He argued that Indian IT firms understand that disruption is inevitable and are choosing to participate in it rather than resist it.

His comments come as large IT services providers face growing questions about how AI could reshape traditional outsourcing and delivery models. While concerns persist around automation-led job losses and revenue pressure, Premji said the transition should not be viewed as a zero-sum shift.

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According to him, AI does not necessarily translate into fewer jobs or shrinking revenues, but rather a redistribution of work across different areas of the value chain. He said companies are increasingly finding ways to deliver the same outcomes more productively while expanding into new areas such as data, advisory and model-driven services.

Premji noted a visible change in how clients are approaching AI. Enterprises are moving beyond proof-of-concept projects and are beginning to deploy AI in mainstream, production environments. While adoption is still at an early stage, the mindset has shifted from experimentation to execution.

At the same time, he cautioned that most organisations are currently applying AI to simpler and more contained use cases. More complex, business-wide transformation will take time as companies build confidence and capability.

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A major constraint to faster AI adoption, Premji said, is enterprise readiness, particularly around data. He stressed that AI initiatives can only succeed if organisations have well-curated, organised data and a clear understanding of how models fit into specific business workflows.

Context, domain knowledge and workflow integration are critical to unlocking value from AI, he said, adding that many companies are still in the process of building these foundations.

This complexity, Premji argued, presents a significant opportunity for IT services firms. As enterprises navigate AI adoption, they will need partners who can advise on strategy, prepare data, fine-tune models, identify use cases and manage large-scale deployment.

He said Wipro is investing in platforms and capabilities that support this full lifecycle, including agentic AI, model orchestration and continuous delivery. According to Premji, this positions services companies not just as technology implementers, but as long-term partners in enterprise AI transformation.