'End of middle class...': Atomberg founder warns AI will hit white-collar jobs in India

Atomberg founder Arindam Paul has issued a stark warning about India's looming AI crisis. “Almost 40-50 percent white collar jobs that exist today might cease to exist,” Paul wrote on LinkedIn, adding that if this happens, it will mark the end of India's middle class and its consumption story. 

His comments follow similar concerns raised by Zoho co-founder Sridhar Vembu, who has also sounded the alarm on the future of India’s software jobs in an AI-dominated world.

“I don’t think most people, including our leaders, still understand how big a threat AI could be to our economy,” Paul wrote, calling out the deep risks India faces as artificial intelligence takes over tasks traditionally handled by white-collar workers.

“Our manufacturing is nowhere close to where it should be when it comes to generating jobs that pay 3-6 lakhs per year,” Paul added, pointing to India’s failure to build a robust industrial base that could cushion the blow from shrinking white-collar employment.

Taking direct aim at India's flagship IT and BPO sectors, Paul warned that they will see a "big reduction in manpower and in many cases in their business." While he believes companies like Infosys "will survive and some might even thrive," he was blunt in saying, “they won’t be employing nearly as many people as they do.”

“Almost 40-50 percent white collar jobs that exist today might cease to exist,” Paul reiterated, underlining that such a shift would "mean the end of the middle class and the consumption story."

He also criticized corporations for being short-sighted in their celebration of AI-driven efficiency. 

“While all corporates are today happy that AI will reduce manpower and increase efficiency and improve bottomline, they forget that without jobs and money in consumer hands, there will be no topline,” he wrote.

While hoping his predictions don’t materialize, Paul said, “I hope none of this happens and we continue to grow our GDP both at an absolute level as well as at a per capita level, but I also think this is the most probable scenario for India unless we really double down on manufacturing.”

Paul’s post echoes Zoho’s Sridhar Vembu, who recently wrote on X that he is “pessimistic about the software job market, even before accounting for AI.” Vembu warned about “massive over-capacity” in the IT sector and “multiplied inefficiencies” in outsourced services, adding that AI could eventually devour much of the boilerplate code that drives large IT projects.