Gen AI more of an assistant: Salesforce India CEO

NEW DELHI: Artificial Intelligence and generative technology is more of an assistant rather than a self-functioning unit, and it is difficult to say if it will work on its own in the future, Salesforce India CEO Arundhati Bhattacharya said on Friday. Speaking at a media roundtable, the American technology company's India Chairperson said at present, there is always a human involved in AI operations. ''It's more of an assistant right now. We have not reached the point where we can allow it (to operate independently)... will it be totally on its own at some point, is very difficult to say now,'' she said.

She added that Gen AI brings in affordability, and unlike blockchain and crypto, it has specific use cases to solve problems. Addressing data concerns for cloud in regulated industries like Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI), Bhattacharya said data localisation and compliance changed the ambit of operations for Salesforce.

''Before 2020, we did not get into the regulated industries, which changed after we started data localisation. The second thing we have done is strengthen our compliance function, so that we are able to give comprehensive answers to all queries of chief information security officers of various organisations,'' she said. The former SBI top boss also lauded the Digital Personal Data Protection Act.

The company's India unit is at par with its US operations in terms of developers and employees, which is highest in terms of any other country it operates in, she said. Salesforce is looking to expand its 9,000-people workforce, present in six centres across India -- Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Pune, Gurugram, and Jaipur -- she said.

''There are hiring plans for India, but whether it is in Gen AI or other areas, it is difficult to say at this point. We know the plans are there, and definitely we will be hiring,'' she said. In March, Salesforce strengthened its investment in the country and set up a Centre of Excellence in Hyderabad. Bhattacharya, however, said she does not expect any large mergers and acquisitions in India at this point. Salesforce on Friday released its State of IT report, which surveyed 4,325 decision-makers -- director or higher -- from 29 nations and six continents.

Conducted between February 28 and April 5, 2023, the survey generated 300 responses from IT leaders in India. While 87 per cent of IT leaders in India said AI's role in their organisations is well-defined, this figure is poised to grow with 95 per cent of the survey pool believing generative AI to soon have a ''prominent role'' in their workplace. About 82 per cent of IT professionals are concerned about generative AI's ethics, it said. The report also pointed out that 74 per cent of Indian IT organisations have trouble keeping up with demands from the business, with only 40 per cent of such organisations able to support all app development requests they receive.