Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar proposes taxing digital labor — TIME
Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar S said that digital labor should carry overhead costs similar to those of human labor if artificial intelligence is used to replace it. He said this in an interview with TIME.
Kumar stressed that he is not proposing to introduce such an approach universally. In his view, this issue arises when technology is positioned as a tool for eliminating human work rather than enhancing workers’ capabilities. He also questioned why human labor is taxed while digital labor does not carry similar overhead costs.
AI and company structure
According to the Cognizant chief’s forecast, the spread of AI will contribute to the emergence of more modular, flexible, and smaller teams. Managers will be expected to be more practically involved, he said, while the path to professional expertise will become shorter as access to knowledge becomes easier. At the same time, he named interdisciplinary skills as humans’ key advantage.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Cognizant, which has more than 350,000 employees worldwide, recently announced the hiring of 20,000 graduates for entry-level positions. The company also announced plans to spend $270 million on severance payments. Kumar said that the company’s overall headcount is still growing.
Education and the risk of a bubble
Kumar also spoke in favor of transforming school education. He believes that basic skills should be taught in AI-free classrooms, while students could complete homework using such tools. In his view, the current situation is contradictory: using AI at school can lead to punishment, while refusing to use it at work can harm an employee.
Commenting on investments in artificial intelligence, the Cognizant chief said that technological capabilities already exist, but their practical value in production does not yet match those capabilities. He suggested that a bubble could burst if funds invested in the development of the technology do not reach industries that use it in end products and services.
