Nasscom president Rajesh Nambiar said on 6 November 2026 that artificial intelligence is already taking over basic coding and software testing, the work that has long given Indian engineering graduates their first jobs. Speaking to Nikkei Asia, he warned that students could leave college with obsolete skills if the curriculum does not change quickly.

The warning lands as Indian IT employers shift from large delivery teams toward AI-assisted work, a change earlier flagged in an IIT Madras study on how AI costs fall hardest on entry-level roles.

What Nasscom said about AI and Indian freshers

“From a fresher’s point of view, it is a concern, (and) I will not sugarcoat it any differently,” Nambiar told Nikkei Asia in an interview published on 6 November 2026. He said companies are using AI for the straightforward coding and application testing that used to be the first rung on a software career.

“If our education system is unable to make that transition very quickly, students will come out with skill sets which may be very obsolete already,” he said. On the scale of change needed in computer science and engineering courses, he added: “The level of transformations required in the curriculum has never been this significant.”

Why the Nasscom AI freshers warning matters for colleges

India had 5,903 engineering and technology colleges in the financial year ended March 2026, with enrolments close to 2.6 million, according to official estimates cited with his remarks. That pipeline has long treated a campus IT offer as the prize; Nambiar’s point is that the prize is changing faster than the syllabus.

The government has begun teaching AI to children as young as eight and says 1.3 million people have completed online courses in AI, data analytics and cybersecurity. Those steps help, he suggested, but degree-level computer science still needs a deeper overhaul. A BCG assessment of how AI could reshape $200 billion of IT services work by 2030 found firms can redeploy people only if they retrain them for applied AI, not routine production work.

How AI is changing India’s IT services model

Nambiar said AI is taking on more of the infrastructure, maintenance and everyday operations work that once supported large Indian delivery teams, while clients want to pay for results rather than headcount. He called this a period of “rebalancing” until newer AI-led services replace labour-heavy ones, and named cybersecurity, AI consulting, and AI implementation and maintenance as the growth lanes.

That matches the direction already visible at the large firms, where AI now accounts for more than 10 percent of revenue at TCS and Infosys. Buyers remain cautious: a recent TCS enterprise AI study found that only 10 percent of firms let AI agents act on their own, so the new work is about people who can design, check and run AI systems.

He said he has little doubt the industry will survive, but expects only 80 to 85 percent of businesses to make it through. “You need to disrupt your own business, otherwise you’re not going to get into the new world,” he said. Nasscom’s public positions are on the industry body’s official website.

Key takeaways

• Nasscom president Rajesh Nambiar said on 6 November 2026 that AI is automating the basic coding and testing that has long been Indian engineering graduates’ first job.
• He warned that students could graduate with obsolete skills unless computer science curricula change quickly.
• He sees IT services rebalancing toward cybersecurity, AI consulting and AI implementation, and expects 80 to 85 percent of businesses to survive.

FAQ

What did Nasscom say about AI and freshers?

He told Nikkei Asia on 6 November 2026 that AI is taking over entry-level coding and testing, and that graduates could arrive with outdated skills if colleges do not update their courses.

Which jobs does Nasscom say AI is automating first?

He pointed to basic coding and software testing, the tasks that have long given engineering graduates their first roles in Indian IT firms.

What new work did he say can replace older IT services?

He named cybersecurity, AI consulting, and AI implementation and maintenance.

Featured image: Official portrait of Rajesh Nambiar, president of Nasscom. Photo: Nasscom media kit.

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