Wipro places big bet on automation

Company's use of automation would lead to a 30% reduction in its headcount in three years

Wipro, India's third largest information technology services company, is trying to delink revenue growth from headcount by rolling out a cognitive platform, Holmes, with features like human-computer interaction, knowledge extraction, semantic mapping, machine learning and pattern recognition.

"Wipro is pitching this against IBM's Watson, but it also resembles some features of IPsoft's Amelia platform. Holmes is built with open source tools and will feed Wipro's generic cognitive computing platform that enables development of artificial intelligence applications," Tom Reuner, managing director for infotech outsourcing research at research and advisory firm HfS, said in a recent report.

"Specialist consultants like GenFour and VirtualOperations are bundling artificial intelligence platform Celaton with typical robotic process automation tools to get close to such scenarios. In combination with its Base and ServiceNXT platforms, Wipro is on course to build one of the most comprehensive process automation approaches," Reuner said.

He, however, warned time might be crucial, as IBM discovered in its attempt to develop Watson into a commercially viable platform.

Wipro's drive to hyper-automation is driven by a shift in the global marketplace. During a meeting with analysts at Frankfurt last month, TK Kurien, Wipro's chief executive officer, said the company's use of automation would lead to a 30 per cent reduction in its headcount in three years. According to insiders, this may not mean retrenchment but slower hiring.

"Having been coy so far to discuss innovations around autonomics, Wipro is stepping up its communication with the market. The messaging went beyond a breakdown of technical capabilities and TK Kurien discussed his expectations that these new technologies would lead to a 30 per cent reduction in headcount over the next three years," said Reuner.

"A bold statement that could further place process automation centre stage in setting the strategic direction of the infotech services market for the next several years," he added.

In a recent round of restructuring, Wipro created a new business line called Wipro Analytics to deal with new technologies like AI, machine learning, advanced analytics and big data.