Business Today

"Firms that can re invent themselves are not constrained by demand"

Francisco DSouza, CEO of IT services major Cognizant, still writes code. There is a reason. "Not because I'm billable but because you got to know," he says. The world of technology services is changing and employees are in an era of "life long learning". If they don't learn, they become obsolete. DSouza, however, remains an optimist. He tells Business Today's Goutam Das that the demand for technologists and services work is not ebbing despite automation and a growing chorus of protection in key markets for Indian IT.

Q: We are in an era of deglobalisation. How is Cognizant, and the IT industry, coping?

A: It is much more critical to make sure that you balance two things. We work with governments around the world to balance our activities on the one hand, it has to be good for local workers, and on the other hand, it has to be good for local businesses. What does that mean? It means you have to be committed to hiring, training and developing the local workforce as actively as you can. We have to be committed to training that expands the supply. The fact is that there is a shortage of talent in many parts of the world. The second part is that while this transition is taking place, governments cannot lose sight of the fact that there is a shortage of talent. To starve businesses of technology talent

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