Wipro to spend $1 bn to train entire staff in AI

Wipro Ltd, India’s third-largest software services company, on Wednesday announced a USD 1 billion spending plan to train its entire 2.5 lakh employees in artificial intelligence and integrate the technology into its product offerings.

The spending, over the next three years, also involves bringing 30,000 employees from cloud, data analytics, consulting and engineering teams together to embed the technology into all internal operations and solutions offered to clients. In a statement, the company said it “will train all 250,000 employees on AI fundamentals and responsible use of AI over the course of the next 12 months and will continue to provide more customized, ongoing training for employees in AI-specialized roles.”

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Artificial Intelligence has the potential to create trillions of dollars of value across the economy. Generative AI applications such as ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot, Stable Diffusion, and others have captured the imagination of people around the world. The latest Generative AI applications can not just perform a range of routine tasks, such as the reorganization and classification of data but also have ability to write text, compose music, and create digital art. Wipro will develop a curriculum that maps out the complete AI journey for different roles. The completion of the curriculum will culminate in the credentialing of employees through the Decentralized Identity & Credential Exchange (DICE) ID platform.

Wipro will also run hackathons and challenges on its talent crowd platform, Topcoder, for continuous upskilling of employees. “The USD 1 billion investment will help further advance Wipro’s AI, data and analytics capabilities and foundation, R&D and platforms, enhance FullStride Cloud, and build new consulting capabilities to help clients adapt to change and unlock new value through AI,” it said. Wipro will also accelerate investments in cutting-edge startups through Wipro Ventures. Additionally, the company will launch a GenAI Seed Accelerator program, which will provide select GenAI-focused startups with the training needed to become enterprise-ready.

Wipro said it is launching Wipro ai360, a comprehensive, AI-first innovation ecosystem that builds on the firm’s decade-long investments in AI with the goal of integrating AI into every platform, every tool, and every solution used internally and offered to clients. “Along with the launch of Wipro ai360, the company also committed to making a USD 1 billion investment in advancing AI capabilities over the next three years,” it said. Wipro ai360, fuelled by this new investment, will help unleash a new era of value, productivity, and commercial opportunities through the application of AI and generative AI.

“Artificial Intelligence is a fast-moving field,” said Thierry Delaporte, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Wipro Limited. “Especially with the emergence of generative AI, we expect a fundamental shift up ahead, for all industries. New business models, new ways of working, and new challenges, too. This is exactly why Wipro’s ai360 ecosystem places responsible AI operations at the heart of all our AI work. It’s meant to empower our talent pool and be ubiquitous across all our operations and processes, as well as our solutioning for clients. We are ready for the AI-driven future!” With responsible AI at its core, Wipro ai360 will bring together the 30,000 Wipro experts in data analytics and AI with Wipro’s technology and advisory ecosystem from four global business lines.

Capabilities across cloud and partnerships; data, analytics and AI; design and consulting; cybersecurity; as well as engineering will be leveraged to develop new solutions and embed AI into all processes and practices. Wipro’s new global business line model will enable new levels of agility, speed, and depth in delivery. Its innovation hub Lab45 will be a core part of the Wipro ai360 ecosystem, providing clients with the talent, training, scale, as well as the research and co-innovation capabilities needed to accelerate AI adoption, the release added.