India has recently installed the AI supercomputer 'AIRAWAT' at C-DAC, Pune, which is ranked 75th globally, positioning the country among the leading nations in AI supercomputing. The government has consistently highlighted the potential disruptive impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on India Inc., particularly in relation to the country's already

fragile job market. However, the influence of AI poses significant challenges for workers across all skill levels and could potentially impede sustained economic growth.

The answer to this billion-dollar question has two sides. On one side, monotonous job roles, such as data entry and various documentation tasks, have already been replaced by Robotic Process Automation (RPA). On the flip side, this shift has created opportunities for more creative tasks and job roles. The global RPA market is projected to grow by $16,628.29 million from 2022 to 2027, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 35.83 percent. Similarly, the Artificial Intelligence market is expected to reach $407.0 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 36.2 percent.

A few months ago, CEO Insights magazine conducted a LinkedIn poll on the topic: “Are You Worried That AI Will Replace Your Job?”. The poll results indicate that 55 percent of participants are not worried about AI replacing their jobs. Meanwhile, 28 percent expressed concerns about AI replacing their jobs, 10 percent believe AI may replace their jobs in the future, and 7 percent are unsure. It appears that the majority of respondents are optimistic that AI will not replace jobs. This special annual issue of CIO Insider delves deeper into the hyper automation landscape in India. I welcome your thoughts on this matter.