Zerodha Wont Lay Off Because Of AI: Nitin Kamath

Zerodha CEO Nithin Kamath on Friday said his company has introduced an internal artificial intelligence (AI) policy to give its workforce clarity on AI and tech-induced job-loss anxiety.

In his LinkedIn post, Kamath wrote Zerodha was not going to fire any of its employees because of the implementation of any new technology, including AI.

Recently, there has been phenomenal debate across the globe over use cases of AI technologies and its capabilities around replacing human jobs. In a recent Bloomberg interview, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said he could “easily see” nearly one-third of the company’s non-customer-facing roles being replaced in the next five years.

“Many companies will likely let go of employees and blame it on AI. In the process, companies will earn more and make their shareholders wealthier, worsening wealth inequality. This isn't a good outcome for humanity,” said Kamath.

The fears around AI-induced job losses are compounded by an enormous number of layoffs being observed worldwide currently as businesses streamline their teams to face tough market conditions and uncertainties. Almost all of these businesses are now looking at utilising AI to raise the productivity of the existing workforce and optimising their processes.

Last week, a social media platform for professionals, LinkedIn, also announced plans to lay off over 700 employees. It joined the ranks of large companies such as Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Meta, Amazon and many more by announcing its plans around job cuts. 

According to a report by Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc, the US technology sector alone has announced over 100,000 layoffs in Q1 CY2023. The number of job cuts this year grew by 38,487 per cent from the 267 cuts the sector saw in the first quarter of CY2022.

Kamath said he hoped governments worldwide would put some guardrails to protect against such steps. But opined that this was unlikely given the “deglobalization rhetoric”.

“No country would want to sit idle while another becomes more powerful on the back of AI,” Kamath added.

On the impact of AI on humanity, Kamath said it would take a few years to understand it. He emphasised that businesses with ‘financial freedom’ should be empathetic towards their teams that helped build their business and give them time to adapt.