Wipro: AI generates productivity equivalent to 20,000 employees

Indian IT services group Wipro estimates that its artificial intelligence initiatives have generated productivity gains equivalent to the work of 20,000 employees. This capacity has been redeployed within the company, Sandhya Arun, Wipro’s global technology head, told Reuters on Thursday, September 10, in Bengaluru.

Wipro, which had approximately 243,000 employees in June, is gradually transitioning to a model that combines human workers with artificial intelligence. More than 100,000 employees have already received advanced training or certifications related to AI, according to Sandhya Arun.

The executive clarified that the reported productivity gain should not be interpreted as the mechanical replacement of 20,000 people with machines. The engineers involved can manage multiple AI agents, be assigned to other projects, or undergo training for new roles.

This trend extends beyond Wipro. The Indian software services sector, valued at around $315 billion, is reorganizing in response to generative tools and autonomous agents. Tata Consultancy Services, for instance, plans to build a team of up to 8,900 engineers deployed directly with clients, while Infosys aims for approximately 6,000 comparable profiles in the coming years.

At Wipro, the adoption of AI is already measurable on a large scale. Microsoft reported in June that over 100,000 employees had licenses for Microsoft 365 Copilot, with a monthly usage rate exceeding 95%, generating about 7.5 million queries each month and saving more than 250,000 full-time equivalent days per quarter. The group also had over 29,000 AI agents created by its users and more than 60 agent-based solutions deployed across the enterprise.

An acceleration of investments in AI

Wipro has also strengthened its partnership with Google Cloud at the end of August to integrate Gemini Enterprise and autonomous agents into its operations. The company announced plans to equip more than 10,000 certified AI specialists, including 1,500 engineers deployed with clients, with advanced capabilities to automate or accelerate tasks in software development, human resources, compliance, and business intelligence.

Sandhya Arun believes that the main challenge is no longer just to account for hours saved, but to measure the impact of AI on customer experience, revenue, and project execution. However, Wipro remains the only one of the four largest Indian IT service groups that does not publish specific revenue figures related to AI, according to Reuters.

The group states that it employs over 240,000 employees and partners in 65 countries. In its arrangement announced with Google Cloud on August 27, it plans to establish a dedicated team of more than 1,500 engineers tasked with supporting companies from the pilot stage to large-scale AI deployment.