The world immediately is within the midst of speedy, multifaceted technological evolution that’s altering how we stay, work, talk, commute and work together. Few tech leaders have the vantage place of such a time that Revathi Advaithi, CEO of Flex, instructions. The know-how firm works throughout industries – knowledge centres, automotive tech, shopper tech and well being care – laying foundations on which different firms construct their merchandise.
“My thesis is, AI is an assistant to people. The controversy of whether or not AI takes jobs away, after all, has relevancy to an organization like ours which has a big worker base however I feel it’s someplace within the center. I feel it’ll have a internet zero impact when it comes to employment total. That’s controversial as a result of lots of people don’t imagine that,” mentioned Advaithi, in a digital session on the twenty second Hindustan Instances Management Summit.
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However it isn’t simply AI as we all know it, however a looming spectre of AGI, or synthetic basic intelligence, which is meant to be even smarter.
“It (the talk) is loads about AGI that’s going to exchange people. I feel the productiveness increase that AI will deliver will most likely not scale back jobs instantly, however redistribute them jobs and up-skill the workforce total,” she added.
Advaithi emphasised the significance of “co-pilots” – AI-based assistants customised for specialised workflows throughout industries.
“I agree with the co-pilot idea of AI brokers. It’ll all be about empowering people, not changing them,” she mentioned, drawing from her strategy in the direction of understanding folks and “what makes us tick”.
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The implementation of AI at Flex illustrates her strategy. The corporate has constructed their very own occasion of an AI device that workers throughout use. “We had to do this fairly shortly as a result of folks have been starting to make use of instruments similar to Anthropic or ChatGPT.”
This AI device finds deep integration inside their infrastructure and programs, and may help with a wide range of workflow duties together with drafting emails, transcribing conferences—the kind of duties one would anticipate from a generative AI device.
For Flex, the size means they’ve to weigh implementation inside their programs. The tech firm has greater than 140,000 workers worldwide, that presence unfold throughout 30 international locations with greater than 100 services.
The idea of Advaithi’s strategy in the direction of know-how and the way it have to be deployed stems from the quite distinctive selection she made, at the very least for that point, along with her training on the Birla Institute of Know-how and Science (BITS), Pilani. “I ended up turning into a mechanical engineer in Pilani, which was an odd selection, as a result of women actually don’t find yourself turning into a mechanical engineer. I loved the hands-on side of engineering, ended up on the manufacturing unit ground as a result of I simply beloved how issues are made,” she mentioned.
It’s that spotlight to element which has maybe made the distinction for Flex Ltd., at a time when tech firms are searching for methods to chop prices and discover new avenues for income. Within the quarterly numbers for Q2 2024, the corporate reported income of $6.5 billion, alongside a 40% development year-on-year of their knowledge centre portfolio. Their companies embody growing options throughout industries together with well being care and automotive tech.
Flex’s group firms embody Infinex that focuses on semiconductors and Irumold that builds for healthcare and pharma industries in addition to Anord Mardix, which builds crucial energy options for design and manufacturing processes.
Advaithi had an inkling, as she places it, that the “world was going in the direction of laptop science and AI understood the heartbeat and pulse of how issues have been getting made”.
On India’s position in AI, manufacturing and knowledge centre capability, Advaithi sees vital potential.
“Infrastructure enchancment, streamlined processes, decreased paperwork, and incentive schemes like Digital India and PLI have helped construct total manufacturing functionality. Right now, we make iPhones in India, unthinkable 5 years in the past. India has benefited from geopolitics and provide chain redistribution, and deservedly so,” she mentioned.
The investments and insurance policies emphasising on growing a semiconductor ecosystem, which is resource- and time-intensive, ought to maintain the nation in good stead for additional inroads into the AI area.
“Constructing a semiconductor ecosystem just isn’t straightforward. I’d say, from a design functionality, India has a whole lot of very ready folks to assist with that. When it comes to really manufacturing fabs, there’s a major position that India can play,” Advaithi defined.
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For Advaithi, there could be only a few compromises. Know-how innovation, provide chain resilience and sustainable manufacturing stay non-negotiable priorities.
Is the world at one other pivotal second in time, like a number of years in the past, when cloud computing gave know-how firms a brand new trajectory to work with? Has synthetic intelligence made clear the significance of ramping up compute energy?
“It’s much more vital than that,” mentioned Advaithi.
“If you concentrate on the expansion that’s occurring with knowledge centres, numbers are staggering. In simply the previous couple of weeks, round $300 billion of capital funding has been dedicated into knowledge centres. I feel the expansion is projected at round 19% CAGR, which is important. The toughest half is, after all, the facility required to be driving all of this. That tends to be the lengthy pole within the tent,” she mentioned.
