Artificial intelligence will fundamentally reshape the nature of work rather than eliminate employment, Microsoft India and South Asia President Puneet Chandok said on Monday, predicting explosive growth in the sector over the next three years.

Speaking at the “AI for Disaster Management: Anticipatory, Hyperlocal, Scalable” session during the AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi, Chandok said the pace of advancement in AI models over the past few months alone demonstrates how rapidly the technology is evolving.

“There is still debate on whether we are getting better with AI or not. I believe models are definitely getting better. You can see the change in the last six months. What you have seen today is remarkable,” he said. “In the next three years, there are thousand X are coming in the AI sector.”

AI To Reshape Work, Not Replace It

Addressing concerns that artificial intelligence could lead to widespread job losses, Chandok stressed that the technology will transform roles rather than make humans obsolete.

“AI will not kill jobs, but will unbundle jobs,” he said, suggesting that tasks traditionally grouped under one role will increasingly be broken down and handled collaboratively by humans and machines.

He added that workers will need to adapt by developing new skill combinations. “AI will end the charade. You and I have to bundle ourselves. If you are not learning AI today, you are not learning anything.”

Chandok also noted that AI is already acting as a “digital colleague” in many organisations, assisting employees with routine tasks, analysis and decision-making.

“Digital colleagues through AI are becoming teammates in businesses,” he said.

Coding Emerges As The Biggest Use Case

Highlighting where AI is making the most immediate impact, Chandok identified software development as the leading application area.

“Biggest case in AI now is coding. The first use case is coding, and now it’s becoming very interesting,” he said.

AI tools are increasingly being used to generate code, debug programs and accelerate development cycles, fundamentally altering how software is built.

Chandok suggested that similar transformations will soon spread across other professional fields. “If AI can draft a legal document, your lawyer would not be needed,” he said, while emphasising the need to rethink organisational structures and responsibilities.

From Cloud First To AI First

Chandok said businesses worldwide are moving beyond cloud adoption toward AI-driven operations, where artificial intelligence becomes central to workflows and decision-making.

“The next generation of AI businesses will be built on AI, not just clouds,” he said.

He added that India is well positioned to benefit from this shift due to its large talent pool and growing digital ecosystem. According to Chandok, more than half of Indian businesses are already using AI agents in some capacity.

“What’s happening in India is quite interesting. Here, real talent is coming up, policies are coming up. Fifty-nine percent businesses in India use AI agents. We have a huge pool of talent,” he said.

Rapid Adoption Across Sectors

The AI Impact Summit, which brought together global leaders, policymakers and technology companies, underscored how artificial intelligence is moving from experimental use to large-scale deployment across industries.

Chandok said the world is entering a phase of exponential adoption driven by both technological breakthroughs and readiness among organisations to integrate AI into everyday operations.

“With AI, we have potentially the ability to grow and move on, and now the world is changing and ready to adopt it,” he said.

As governments and companies race to harness AI for economic growth, disaster management, governance and business productivity, Chandok’s message was clear: the future of work will not be jobless, but profoundly different.

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