Key points
- AI already replacing humans
- Entrepreneurship could be new engine of prosperity
- Job construct no longer sustainable: expert
ISLAMABAD: The story of India’s middle class is touted as the story of India. However, in the rapidly evolving AI landscape that is fast transforming nearly every sector, things seem set to drastically change.
According to a NDTV report, Saurabh Mukherjea, founder of portfolio-management services firm Marcellus Investment Managers, believes this cherished Indian story might be coming to an end.
According to Mukherjea, the hardworking middle-class people will be replaced by automation and artificial intelligence (AI).
“I think the defining flavour of this decade will be effectively the death of salaried employment, the gradual demise of salary employment as a worthwhile avenue for educated, determined, hardworking people,” Mukherjea was quoted as saying by NDTV.
Job construct
He said the job construct that built India’s middle class is no longer sustainable.
“The old model where our parents worked 30 years for one organisation is dying. The job construct that built India’s middle class is no longer sustainable.”
He pointed out that AI has already replaced humans in several job avenues.
The old model where our parents worked 30 years for one organisation is dying. The job construct that built India’s middle class is no longer sustainable.” – Investment Managers founder Saurabh Mukherjea Marcellus
“Much of what was supposed to be done by white-collar workers is now done by AI. Google says a third of its coding is already done by AI. The same is coming for Indian IT, media, and finance,” he said.
He also mentioned that mid-level career options are now facing an existential crisis due to the rapid advancement of technology.
Predicting the demise of salary employment, Mukherjea noted that entrepreneurship could be the new engine of prosperity.
Prosperity
“If applied with the same intellect and grit we brought to corporate careers, entrepreneurship can be the new engine of prosperity,” he said.
He also advised that the Indian society needed to change its philosophy associated with stability and salaries.
“We’re a money-obsessed society. We define success by paychecks. That has to change,” Mukherjea said. “We should be solving for happiness and impact-not just monthly income.”
“Families like yours and mine must stop preparing kids to be job-seekers. The jobs won’t be there.”
