Noida conclave: Nageswaran says AI could automate entry-level roles

Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran told a management education gathering in Noida that AI could remove many of the routine jobs through which young professionals learn their trade.

Addressing the 16th Indian Management Conclave, Nageswaran said automation of routine and codified work may weaken the on-the-job apprenticeship model that has traditionally helped people develop judgement over time. “The bottom rungs of the ladder are being sawn off,” he said.

He said adding a single AI elective would not prepare management students for workplaces where machines increasingly handle analysis. Instead, institutions should prioritise judgement, decision-making and critical thinking, including through case studies and decision-making exercises.

For future managers, he said, the task will increasingly be to decide which questions should be asked and whether an AI-generated answer can be trusted. Nageswaran described this as a long-term challenge for management education over the next two to three decades.