Imagine clocking into work and being greeted not by a sleepy colleague, but by a tireless AI employee—always alert, never requesting time off, and able to perform tasks 24/7.
This scenario, once the realm of science fiction, is fast becoming reality. AI-powered agents are increasingly embedded across knowledge work, customer service, and business operations.
But beneath the productivity gains lie important human, organisational, and ethical questions: Are we truly ready for digital employees who never sleep?
AI adoption in India is accelerating at a remarkable pace. Recent surveys show that 92 per cent of Indian knowledge workers already use AI or generative AI tools in their daily work, and over 94 per cent believe AI skills are essential for future career growth.
Organisations are rolling out reskilling programs and aligning work strategies with AI integration. Indian HR leaders, in particular, expect the adoption of agentic AI systems to grow by 383 per cent by 2027, signalling a significant shift in how work is done
AI employees offer compelling advantages in today’s fast-moving, digital-first workplace, like:
Unbroken workflows: They handle repetitive tasks like scheduling, summarisation, and auto-replies without fatigue or downtime, increasing consistency and throughput.
Scalability: Digital employees scale seamlessly, enabling smaller teams to maintain high responsiveness across channels and time zones.
Human relief: By offloading routine tasks, AI employees allow human workers to focus on empathy, strategy, and creative thinking areas where human intelligence excels.
In India’s thriving IT and BPO sectors, where efficiency and scale are vital, these capabilities could reshape entire operating models.
Despite the benefits, the rise of tireless AI employees brings several challenges into focus:
Trust and algorithm aversion: While Indian professionals tend to be more open to automation than their Western counterparts—in part due to collectivist norms and familiarity with tech—trust dips when AI systems begin to act autonomously or make decisions without human input. Transparency and explainability become key in building confidence.
Job anxiety and displacement: Though AI employees are designed to augment, not replace, human work, there is growing anxiety around entry-level job displacement, particularly in task-heavy functions like customer support or data processing. While reskilling is vital, 75 per cent of Indian organisations reportedly lack structured transition plans for AI integration.
Ethical oversight: Digital employees raise questions about bias, privacy, and accountability. India has recognised this gap, launching the IndiaAI Safety Institute under the IndiaAI Mission to shape ethical frameworks, guidelines, and safety standards for AI in the workplace.
The question of readiness goes well beyond installing AI tools. It’s about systems, governance, and human alignment.
Globally, only 15 per cent of companies have comprehensive strategies for managing AI agents. In India, the figure is even lower.
IT teams will need to adopt HR-style responsibilities: monitoring, evaluating, and refining the performance of digital employees.
HR leaders, meanwhile, must collaborate with technology, operations, and ethics teams to ensure trust, skill-building, and responsible deployment.
India’s social fabric may influence a more optimistic adoption trajectory. Collectivist values and jugaad-style innovation foster openness to tools that benefit the group, reduce workload, or offer adaptive efficiency.
Surveys show India has the highest global confidence in workplace tech, with 44 per cent of workers expecting net job creation due to AI.
There’s a general belief that AI tools democratise opportunity—especially in tier-2 and tier-3 cities—rather than threaten livelihoods.
India’s workforce is undeniably enthusiastic and resilient. Professionals are embracing AI tools, investing in upskilling, and viewing AI employees as enablers rather than threats.
Yet, organisational and systemic readiness is uneven. Structured approaches to training, governance, and ethical safeguards remain limited. Without intentional frameworks, there’s a risk of over-relying on AI employees in ways that may dilute collaboration, weaken human judgment, or reduce workplace empathy over time.
After all, AI employees don’t rest, but humans must. Without well-defined rhythms, boundaries, and oversight, there’s potential for imbalance and erosion of human agency.
AI employees who never take a break are no longer theoretical; they are entering Indian workplaces in tangible ways. Workers are adapting fast, but the true test lies ahead: aligning digital systems with human-centred design, thoughtful governance, and ethical foresight.
When AI employees are integrated within environments that protect dignity, promote fairness, and build trust, they have the potential to boost both productivity and purpose. But if introduced without care, they risk undermining the very qualities that make organisations thrive. Readiness is not just about adoption, it’s about intention.
The author is the India Business Operations Head of Supervity, a software firm that develops multimodal AI agents.
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