Vinod Khosla Says IT and BPO Will Disappear in 5 Years Due to AI
At the India AI Summit 2026, tech billionaire and venture capitalist Vinod Khosla made a bold prediction that sent shockwaves through the industry: IT services and BPOs will "almost completely disappear" within the next five years due to artificial intelligence. The Sun Microsystems co-founder and Khosla Ventures chief warned that AI would eventually wipe out most expertise-based professions within 15 years, while potentially democratizing access to healthcare and education.
The End of IT Services As We Know Them
In a wide-ranging interview with Hindustan Times, Khosla argued that AI represents a fundamentally different kind of technological revolution compared to the internet or smartphones. "Previous technologies helped do various jobs. AI is creating human intelligence, where it's very likely in the next five years, AI will be better than most humans at most things," he said.
For India's $250 billion IT services industry, the implications are existential. Khosla was unequivocal: "IT and BPO services will disappear, almost certainly within the next five years." He urged India's 250 million young people to pivot from selling IT services to building and selling AI-based products and services to the world.
AI Will Replace Doctors, Lawyers, and Accountants
Khosla painted a picture of a near future where AI workers handle accounting better than accountants, serve as physicians, oncologists, mental health therapists, chip designers, architects, and sales professionals. "The first step is almost all expertise will be an AI," he explained. Before full replacement, AI will work as a junior assistant or intern to human professionals, he added.
Robotic Labor at $2-3 Per Hour
Beyond intellectual work, Khosla predicted a robotics revolution about five years behind AI's cognitive capabilities. "Most labor — whether it's cleaning dishes in your kitchen or working on an assembly line or working as a farm worker — robots will be doing those jobs," he said. Robotic labor will cost two to three dollars an hour, compared to twenty dollars for human workers, driving what Khosla describes as a "hugely deflationary economy by 2035."
The Good News: Free Healthcare, Education, and Legal Access
Despite the grim jobs outlook, Khosla highlighted significant upsides. "AI can make a doctor available to every Indian for almost no cost. AI can make a tutor available to every Indian child and adult for almost no cost. AI can make a lawyer available to every Indian so they can have their legal rights asserted," he said. Entertainment could also become essentially free, and governments could provide a much higher minimum standard of living.
India Must Think Like China on AI Strategy
Khosla emphasized the geopolitical urgency, noting that China adapted its five-year plan four to five years ago with winning in AI as a core objective. "India should be thinking in the same terms," he warned. He backed India's push for sovereign AI, noting his firm's investment in Sarvam, a company building Indian AI models. "Countries have to have sovereign models, definitely for national defense, but also for other purposes."
Trump's H1B Policies Will Cause Long-Term Damage
Khosla was critical of US immigration restrictions, calling the anti-H1B stance "a very silly, naive understanding." He noted that 40% of America's GDP growth comes from innovation, much of it driven by H1B visa holders. "Trump has mixed legal immigration with illegal immigration. Illegal immigration is not good for the country. Legal immigration is very good by contrast," he said, predicting the current backlash would eventually pass.
The Bottom Line
Khosla's predictions may sound extreme, but he has a track record of being ahead of the curve — he co-founded Sun Microsystems in the 1980s and has been backing transformative technologies for decades. His core message to India: stop planning for IT services jobs that won't exist, and start building an AI-native economy before it's too late. The window for action is measured in years, not decades.