The ongoing transition to an AI-driven world is irreversible, according to TeamLease EdTech Founder and CEO Shantanu Rooj. Speaking to PTI, Rooj likened AI-led disruption to 'climate change' and emphasized it should not be construed as 'a passing shower'. He stated that 'the world is not going to come back ever to a pre-AI era once this transition happens'. The CEO noted that cost considerations and regulations are the two important factors which will decide the future speed and depth to which AI is going to take shape in our day-to-day lives. As per Rediff Money Desk, Rooj emphasized that 'whatever is happening all around us because of AI, to my mind, is not a passing shower, it's (akin to) climate change'.
As AI adoption becomes mainstream, merely possessing AI skills will cease to be a differentiator, according to Rooj. He emphasized that domain expertise, understanding of markets and consumers, and the ability to deploy the frontier technology to generate business advantages will gain an edge. The CEO highlighted that 'people with domain skills, analytical skills and transformation professionals who can look at workflows, industries, inefficiencies, use AI to improve revenues, reduce cost or improve engagement will possibly gain a lot of favour'. He noted that AI agents becoming more active and interacting, competing with one another, are likely to bring a new set of challenges that were not seen in the past. As per Rediff Money Desk, Rooj observed that 'the jobs that exist today may not be the jobs that will exist tomorrow' and stressed that 'the only thing that you can make sure is that you're worthy of the future'.
Regulatory intervention will determine what AI should or should not be allowed to do, the CEO stated, adding that 'there will be intervention of regulations to say what should AI do, what shouldn't AI do, what limit should we allow AI to work with, in which industry, what type of functions and where we have to limit their capabilities'. Rooj noted that 'there has been a lot of discussion but I'm sure governments are also thinking around it. We expect regulations to come into AI' and warned that some form of 'barricading' or guardrails can be expected going forward. The comments assume significance given the intensifying debate over AI regulatory guardrails, with recent developments including Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei calling for slowing the pace of frontier AI capabilities and Sam Altman stating that OpenAI will not go public in 2026 due to safety concerns. As per Rediff Money Desk, the regulatory framework will determine 'what AI should or should not be allowed to do, the functions and industries where it can be deployed, and where limits need to be placed on its capabilities'.
Rooj argued that AI will transform jobs rather than simply take them away, though he acknowledged that certain entry-level roles are likely to disappear faster than higher-level ones. Jobs that are repetitive, follow a pattern or involve predictable inputs and outputs are particularly susceptible to automation. The CEO stated that 'jobs that are repetitive, follow a pattern or involve predictable inputs and outputs are particularly susceptible to automation' and emphasized that 'the jobs that exist today may not be the jobs that will exist tomorrow'. As per Rediff Money Desk, Rooj noted that 'so I think overall jobs are not vanishing but types of jobs are definitely changing' and stressed that 'people with AI fluency, an enterprising mindset and domain and industry skills will increasingly find favour with employers'. He observed that businesses themselves are uncertain about how AI, automation and robotisation will eventually reshape their models, and are consequently looking for people who are digital-natives, AI-fluent, adaptable and multi-skilled'.
Rooj cautioned universities against rushing to create specialized AI courses without adequately assessing future workforce needs. He observed 'there is 'herd mentality' and I've seen almost every university or college in this country launching a course in AI'. The CEO emphasized that the world will not need only AI specialists, but 'AI-enabled domain specialists' who can apply the technology to improve functions such as purchasing, warehousing and logistics, marketing and employee engagement. He called for universities to move away from a 'monolithic' degree structure towards education that is more modular and multimodal, envisioning a combination of online, on-site and on-the-job learning alongside stackable credits. As per Rediff Money Desk, Rooj noted that 'the worlds of academia and work can no longer operate in silos' and stressed that 'it is important for universities and colleges to ensure that they bring the concept of academic learning, workplace requirements, and real-time learning to build future-ready programmes'. He emphasized that employer expectations from fresh graduates are changing as work experience increasingly becomes an important part of the hiring equation.
