New Delhi: In a bold prediction at the India AI Impact Summit 2026, Indian-American venture capitalist Vinod Khosla warned that traditional jobs could become obsolete by 2050, thanks to the relentless march of artificial intelligence.
Khosla, a Silicon Valley heavyweight, painted a stark picture of the future. ‘By 2050, people might not need conventional jobs at all,’ he declared. AI’s rapid evolution, he argued, will reshape every sector, making current employment models irrelevant.
He pointed to telltale signs emerging as early as 2025. White-collar roles, particularly in IT services and BPO industries, face imminent extinction. ‘Outsourcing firms could vanish within five years,’ Khosla cautioned, urging India to wake up to AI’s disruptive force.
India’s IT sector, long the backbone of economic growth, isn’t immune. Many remain in denial, but Khosla insists technology will upend these pillars. He also critiqued the culture of lifelong loyalty to single employers, saying it breeds inflexibility in a fast-changing tech landscape.
Yet, optimism tempers his warnings. Khosla praised India’s AI initiatives, highlighting the summit’s massive participation of over 300,000 registrants. He advocated for ‘sovereign AI’—homegrown systems for critical areas like cybersecurity and defense—revealing his investment in Servm to bolster India’s ambitions.
As AI accelerates, Khosla’s vision challenges workers and policymakers to adapt or risk obsolescence. The question remains: will India lead the AI revolution or lag behind?