Kamal Ghorui
At the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2026 in Davos, Dubai business magnate Hussain Sajwani sounded a stark warning about the future of global employment: artificial intelligence is not just a productivity tool, it is a job-market revolution and economies dependent on outsourced work could be especially vulnerable. Sajwani’s comments have sparked wide debate over how AI adoption might reshape international labour markets, particularly in India’s massive outsourcing sector.Sajwani, Founder and Chairman of developer Damac Group, said that AI is poised to change the world “10 or even 100 times more” than the Internet did and that countries which do not embrace it, risk being “left behind”. He predicted that nations heavily reliant on outsourced labour would face significant disruption as automation replaces roles historically filled by human workers.
Why India’s outsourcing sector is seen as vulnerable
India has long been the world’s outsourcing hub, with millions of jobs in IT services, business process outsourcing (BPO), call centers and back-office functions feeding its economic engine. A 2025 industry analysis suggests that AI-driven automation could reshape this very sector. Tata Consultancy Services’ decision to cut 12,200 staff has been interpreted by analysts as the start of broader downsizing, potentially affecting up to half a million jobs over the next few years if traditional tasks continue being automated.These kinds of jobs including routine programming, manual testing, customer support and administrative work are easy targets for AI systems that can perform them faster and cheaper. Sajwani echoed such concerns in Davos, asserting that in future “AI is going to take 80 per cent of accountant jobs, nurses and so on and so forth,” thereby reducing demand for outsourced services.While BJP-aligned commentators on social platforms argued that this transformation is inevitable and that India must pivot toward innovation and new AI-related opportunities, many workers worry about what it means for livelihoods built around outsourcing.
Global AI leaders vs traditional job markets
Sajwani cited a widening global AI adoption gap, arguing that countries like China, the United States, the UAE and Saudi Arabia are making massive investments and accelerating their AI capabilities while regions that hesitate or over-regulate risk losing competitive ground. He even compared AI resistance to historical technological setbacks like the Ottoman Empire’s rejection of the typewriter.
During my interview on @skynewsarabia at the @wef, I discussed DAMAC Group’s strategic expansion into data centers, driven by the rapid acceleration of digital demand and artificial intelligence, alongside our growing investment footprint across the US, Europe, and Asia. I also… pic.twitter.com/0IaTLAhYM5— Hussain Sajwani (@HussainSajwani) January 22, 2026
