White-collar anger can train wreck AI, warns Infosys chairman Nandan Nilekani

Infosys chairman Nandan Nilekani has warned that artificial intelligence could face major resistance if white-collar workers begin to see it as a threat rather than an opportunity.

Speaking during a fireside chat with Anthropic co-founder Dario Amodei, Nilekani drew a comparison with the disruptions caused by globalisation. “The resentment of the blue-collar worker led to the train wreck of globalisation. The resentment of the white-collar worker is going to lead to the train wreck of AI,” he said, stressing the urgent need to demonstrate meaningful and impactful AI applications.

He noted that while AI holds enormous promise, its early visible effects — such as deepfakes or rising energy and computing costs — could shape negative public perception if not balanced with clear societal benefits. Nilekani emphasised that developers and policymakers must focus on real-world use cases that improve daily life, including boosting farmers’ incomes, strengthening education and healthcare, and making technology accessible across languages.


“In AI, there is a race upward and a race downward, and the downward trend often moves faster,” he said. He urged stakeholders to accelerate efforts to ensure AI is deployed in ways that serve humanity broadly, warning that failure to do so could trigger widespread backlash.

Nilekani also said India is uniquely positioned to lead the global effort in scaling AI adoption, drawing on its experience with large-scale digital public infrastructure such as Aadhaar and UPI. He explained that bringing technology to billions of people requires more than innovation — it demands strong institutions, effective policymaking, trust-building, and careful coordination between incumbents and emerging players.

“Diffusion is both an art and a science,” he said, adding that ensuring AI delivers value to society will depend on creating pathways that make the technology accessible and useful to everyone. He reiterated his belief that India should aim to become the world’s “use-case capital” for AI.

Highlighting the importance of inclusion, Nilekani said AI must be designed so that people from all backgrounds can benefit. He pointed to the importance of language accessibility, enabling users to interact with AI systems in their native languages and dialects. He also emphasised the role of AI agents that can assist individuals directly, making the technology more relevant and empowering.

Amodei, for his part, noted that AI could deliver especially strong economic gains in the Global South, including India, given its technical talent and openness to adopting new technologies. However, he added that ensuring AI systems remain safe, reliable, and under human oversight will be critical as adoption accelerates.