Bengaluru: HCLTech chairperson Roshni Nadar Malhotra addressed concerns about AI-related job losses at the company’s AGM on Tuesday, assuring shareholders that the technology is being used to boost employee productivity, not replace jobs. She emphasized that the company’s focus is on job transformation, not elimination. “AI is being introduced as a co-pilot to augment human capabilities, not replace them. While some roles may evolve or be redefined, our focus is on reskilling and upskilling employees to take on higher value tasks. We’re committed to a responsible AI adoption strategy that prioritises employee growth and job transformation over job reduction,” she said.Her comments come amid muted headcount growth in the IT sector. HCLTech’s workforce shrank by 4,061 employees in the 2024-25 financial year, following a modest net addition of 349 in the year-ago period. The trend reflects a broader industry shift, with major IT firms reporting that revenue growth is no longer directly linked to headcount expansion. Its CEO and MD C Vijayakumar echoed this view earlier this year at the Nasscom Leadership Technology Summit, stating that companies are focusing on niche skills and encouraging developers to work with AI-powered copilots to drive faster delivery. With increasing use of low-code and no-code platforms, he stressed the need for employees to proactively pursue reskilling.On the macro outlook, Malhotra noted the persistence of global uncertainty. “In the short run, we remain cautiously optimistic and believe that pockets of opportunities will continue to be available across our portfolio offerings. From a medium to long term perspective, we remain very bullish as technology cycles become shorter and enterprises need trusted partners like HCLTech to navigate these shifts,” she said. Despite challenges, attrition at HCLTech stood at 13% in the 2024-25 financial year, with senior leadership attrition under 1%, one of the lowest in the sector. During the year, over 217,000 employees completed 8.6 million hours of training, including 16,000 trained in digital skills, as part of the company’s broader workforce transformation initiative.