New Delhi, September 10, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Infosys Chairman Nandan Nilekani on Thursday said India’s strongest defence against job disruption caused by artificial intelligence could lie in enabling millions of small businesses to grow rather than relying primarily on a handful of large corporations.
Speaking at the Global Fintech Fest (GFF), Nilekani said large companies adopting AI to improve efficiency and reduce headcount could make a broader base of small enterprises increasingly important for employment generation and economic resilience.
“If you want to create an economy that’s generating jobs, it’s not necessarily done by having a few big companies. It’s going to come from having millions of small companies,” he said.
Nilekani said employment generated by smaller businesses could be “safer” and help “AI-proof an economy”.
He also highlighted how AI and digital infrastructure could give small enterprises capabilities that were previously largely available only to large corporations.
“You can have a small business with a 24/7 agent, the best analysis on the Internet, a token that talks to itself and a marketplace, and sell it or give a loan against it,” he said.
According to Nilekani, technology can help level the playing field by making it easier for smaller businesses to access markets, financial services and advanced digital capabilities.
“If you want businesses to have access, you should be able to make it easy for a small business to participate as if it’s a large business,” he said.
Nilekani also stressed that digital systems should be designed with inclusion at their core so that their benefits reach a broad section of society.
“We must build systems that can reach everybody. It’s not for a few that we do this,” he said.
Discussing the infrastructure required to create global markets for tokenised assets, Nilekani said such systems should be built “on a public chain”. He also emphasised the need to carefully design the ecosystem around regulated assets, their use and the creation of sufficient liquidity.
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