By Haripriya Suresh

MUMBAI, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Fears that new artificial intelligence tools could replace large IT services firms are "overblown" as clients still need help deploying and scaling the technology, Babak Hodjat, chief AI officer at Cognizant CTSH.O, told Reuters in an interview.

Automated AI tools from startups such as Anthropic have stirred concerns about disruption in the business models of software and services firms globally, including India's traditionally labour-intensive IT services industry.

Enterprises are far from being able to rely on a single, all-purpose AI agent, said Hodjat, adding that most clients still need help engineering, integrating, and governing AI systems.

"That mapping is our job, it does not come just automatically out of the box," said Hodjat, whose work helped power Apple's AAPL.O Siri voice assistant.

Nasdaq-listed Cognizant, which has more than 70% of its workforce operating out of India, forecast annual revenue above Wall Street estimates on the back of strong demand as businesses adopt AI into their workflows.

Rivals Tata Consultancy Services TCS.NS and Wipro WIPR.NS have also maintained that rapid AI adoption will boost, rather than shrink, demand for software service providers.

Hodjat's vote of confidence in the role of services companies comes despite AI-related job cuts already underway.

Shipping and logistics management software company WiseTech Global WTC.AX said it would lay off nearly a third of its workforce as it integrates AI into its customer software and internal operations. TCS announced 12,000 job cuts last year, but has since denied to local media that the layoffs were AI-related.

Cognizant, which generates about 30% of its code through AI and aims to reach 50%, is not worried about automation eliminating entry-level jobs. CEO Ravi Kumar S said during the company's earnings call earlier this month that it hired 25,000 fresh graduates in 2025, and expects to exceed that in 2026.

Almost all of Cognizant's clients have already tried to work with AI agents, Hodjat said, but have acknowledged that they need us to deploy it within their systems for returns.

(Reporting by Haripriya Suresh in Mumbai; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)

((haripriya.suresh@thomsonreuters.com))