No layoff at Infosys on account of AI, says CEO Parekh

Infosys is looking to acquire more companies operating in data analytics and software-as-a-service (SaaS), as generative artificial intelligence (AI) is fueling clients' strong interest, reported PTI, quoting Salil Parekh, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Infosys.

Mr Parekh said he does not foresee any layoff in the company because of this new-age technology (AI). 

Asked about more acquisitions that could be of scale matching in the tech industry, which came with a price tag of 450 million euros, he said: “I think those would be the size that we will look at in terms of scale, and given our structure we could do a few of those.” 

Acquisitions galore

In January 2024, Infosys announced a definitive agreement to acquire 100 percent of InSemi Technology Services, an Indian chip-designing company for nearly ₹280 crore..

Infosys, in April 2024, acquired a 100 percent stake in in-Tech Holding for nearly 450 million euros. The company deals with providing engineering R&D services and is headquartered in Germany, according to the report.

“We have very good business in engineering services already and then we did those two acquisitions, both of them in engineering services, one on the semiconductor side and one on the automotive side; we feel quite good about expanding that footprint,” said Mr Parekh.

PTI reports that the company evaluates several firms and eyes more acquisitions. “We have a good balance sheet and a good cash generation and now we are quite comfortable with the integration of acquisition in different areas. We have done engineering services, we will look at other areas, for example, data analytics. We may look at SAAS (software as a service) areas, and maybe at some other geographies in Europe, maybe the US as well,” said the Infosys head.

Going big on AI

Mr Parekh put his faith in the increasing GenAI adoption as companies benefit and the business outcomes from it improve. “We think this will accelerate as time goes on but we will wait and watch how it develops. It is a bit like, some years ago we started with digital or with cloud. These things start in a certain way, and then we see what benefits clients are getting. If they see benefits are substantial, more and more adoption will happen,” he said.

Infosys said earlier this year that the company was working on 225 generative AI client programmes and more than 2.5 lakh employees were being trained in generative AI, the PTI report noted.  

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