Editorial : Who’s afraid of AI and automation? not TCS

Kudos to Team TCS for its crossing the milestone of $100 billion in market capitalisation(पूंजीकरण), becoming the first company from India and only the 64th in the world to manage the feat(करतब/साहसिक कार्य). The latest surge in market value came on the back of 5.71% increase in consolidated(संयुक्त/सम्मिलित) net profit, and a price-earning ratio that is over 26%, which is a shade higher than that for the 30-stock Sensex, but significantly(काफी/अर्थपूर्णता से)lower than that for many shares that have been snapped(छीन लिया/बोले) up in recent initial public offers. It is a vote of confidence in the Indian IT industry as a whole. Clearly, the rise of artificial(कृत्रिम/बनावटी) intelligence(बुद्धिमत्ता/सूचना) (AI)

and automation(स्वचालन) are not expected to pose an existential threat to companies such as TCS that have, in the past, been ridiculed(उपहास करना/ठिठोली करना) as suppliers of cyber coolies for doing the grunt work shunned by more sophisticated(जटिल/विवेकी) information technology workers in the industrially advanced countries. Grunt work is susceptible(भावुक/प्रभाव पड़ने योग्य) to automation. Clearly, TCS and other Indian IT companies are seen as adapting to a more demanding ecosystem.

TCS, in fact, crunches the data pushed out by myriad sensors in GE’s jet engines as they propel airliners around the world, to help the company carry out predictive maintenance and save on downtime. Other Indian IT companies, too, are making the digital transition, and increasingly(तेजी से/विस्तार से) are led by consulting.Stocks find it relatively easy to ride a wave of global liquidity, created by Quantitative Easing. That liquidity is going to be sucked back in, sooner rather than later. To retain its value, TCS would have to focus on steep increases in revenue(आय) per employee, calling for drastic(कठोर/उग्र) changes in the quality and training of recruits and HR practices. India’s engineering education will have to measure up, too, shifting focus from quantity, to quality, to provide the manpower 21st century IT needs.

Important Vocabulary

1.Snapped(छीन लिया/बोले)
Synonyms: click, crack, fracture, pop, crackle
Antonyms: combine, fix, free, liberate, loose

2.Consolidated(संयुक्त/सम्मिलित)
Synonyms: build up, cement, centralize, concentrate, develop
Antonyms: decrease, discourage, disperse, dissuade, hurt

3.Feat(करतब/साहसिक कार्य).
Synonyms: accomplishment, adventure, deed, exploit, performance
Antonyms: defeat, failure, forfeit, loss, cessation

4.Ridiculed(उपहास करना/ठिठोली करना)
Synonyms: deride, humiliate, lampoon, mock, scoff
Antonyms: approve, compliment, flatter, praise, be serious

5.Increasingly(तेजी से/विस्तार से)
Synonyms: more, more and more, progressively, with acceleration
Antonyms: decreasingly, less

6.Drastic(कठोर/उग्र)
Synonyms: dire, forceful, harsh, radical, desperate
Antonyms: nice, calm, collected, easy, mild