Wipro, India’s third largest software services company, on Wednesday announced a spending plan of US$1 billion (about Rs. 8,231 crore) to train all its 2.5 lakh employees in artificial intelligence and integrate the technology into its product offerings.
Spending over the next three years also involves bringing together 30,000 employees from the cloud, data analytics, consulting and engineering teams to incorporate the technology into all internal operations and solutions offered to customers.
In a statement, the company said it “will train all 250,000 employees in AI fundamentals and the responsible use of AI over the next 12 months and will continue to provide ongoing, customized training for employees in AI specialist roles.” Artificial Intelligence has the potential to create trillions of dollars in value across the economy. Generative AI applications such as ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot, Stable Diffusion and others have captured the imagination of people across the world.
The latest Generative AI applications can not only perform a number of routine tasks such as rearranging and sorting data, but also the ability to write text, compose music and create digital art.
Wipro will develop a curriculum that maps the complete AI journey for different roles. Completing the curriculum will culminate in employee accreditation through the Decentralized Identity and Credentials Exchange (DICE) platform.
Wipro will also run hackathons and challenges on its crowd-of-talent platform, Topcoder, for continuous employee improvement.
“The $1 billion investment will help further enhance Wipro’s AI, capabilities and data and analytics foundation, R&D and platforms, enhance the FullStride Cloud, and create new consulting capabilities to help customers adapt to change and unlock new value through AI,” he said.
Wipro will also accelerate investments in cutting-edge startups through Wipro Ventures.
In addition, the company will launch a GenAI Seed Accelerator program, which will provide select GenAI-focused startups with the training they need to become enterprise-ready.
Wipro said it is launching Wipro ai360, a comprehensive AI innovation ecosystem that builds on the company’s decade-long investments in AI with the goal of integrating AI into all platforms, tools and solutions used internally and offered to customers.
“Along with the launch of Wipro ai360, the company has also committed to make a $1 billion investment in advancing AI capabilities over the next three years,” he said.
The Wipro ai360, powered by this new investment, will help unlock a new era of value, productivity and business opportunity through the application of AI and generative AI.
“Artificial intelligence is a rapidly evolving field,” said Thierry Delaporte, CEO and Managing Director of Wipro Limited.
“Especially with the emergence of generative AI, we expect fundamental change ahead, for all industries. New business models, new ways of working and new challenges as well. This is exactly why Wipro’s ai360 ecosystem puts responsible AI operations at the heart of all our AI work. It aims to empower our talent pool and be ubiquitous in all our operations and processes, as well as our customer solutions. We are ready for the AI-powered future!” With responsible AI at its core, Wipro ai360 will bring together Wipro’s 30,000 AI and data analytics experts with Wipro’s technology and consulting ecosystem from four global business lines.
Cloud resources and partnerships; data, analytics and AI; design and consultancy; cyber security; as well as engineering will be leveraged to develop new solutions and incorporate AI into all processes and practices.
Wipro’s new global line-of-business model will enable new levels of agility, speed and depth of delivery.
Its Lab45 innovation hub will be a key part of the Wipro ai360 ecosystem, providing customers with the talent, training, scale, as well as research and co-innovation capabilities needed to accelerate AI adoption, the announcement added.