The View | Why AI disruption isn’t a major threat to India’s booming office market
Tech disruption is unlikely to spoil India’s commercial real estate party. If anything, the world’s hottest office market is too hot
The shares of software-as-a-service (SaaS) firms, which make their money from applications that can be purchased over the internet, have borne the brunt of fears about AI disruption.
In the real estate industry, worries over demand for office space – which were rife during the acute phase of the Covid-19 pandemic but abated in response to stricter return-to-office mandates in several countries – have resurfaced as speculation mounts that AI-driven displacement of entry-level jobs will reduce office-based employment.
While the impact of AI on employment and office space in the United States has come under scrutiny, India is the country to watch. The nation’s world-renowned information technology (IT) services and outsourcing industry is a juggernaut, accounting for more than 7 per cent of economic output. Exports, mainly to the US and Europe, comprised 80 per cent of the sector’s revenues last year.