When electricity arrived, it didn’t just light homes—it rewired civilization. It reshaped every industry, redefined productivity, and became the invisible backbone of modern life.
According to Vala Afshar, Chief Digital Evangelist at Salesforce, AI is about to do the same—only faster.
And the world has less time than it thinks.
“In five years, AI will be as essential as electricity. Businesses will either be self-driving or on a declining path.”
— Vala Afshar, ET interview, San Francisco
Afshar’s message is clear: a new era of AI is here, and it will transform companies into autonomous, intelligent powerhouses—or leave them behind.
The Three Waves of AI Transformation
Afshar outlines a compelling timeline of AI evolution:
1. Predictive Analytics (Machine Learning)
This was the first wave—algorithms that could identify patterns, forecast trends, and support decisions.
2. Generative AI
This second wave gave machines the ability to create—text, images, code, insights—on demand. It empowered both professionals and enterprises to scale creativity and productivity.
3. Agentic AI — The New Frontier
Now, we are entering the most transformative phase yet:
“Agentic AI is different. It allows software to act on our behalf in complex tasks. It’s not just a tool anymore; it’s a digital colleague.”
Agentic AI is autonomous, decision-capable, and action-oriented.
Instead of merely responding to prompts, these agents:
- sense, understand, and respond to environments
- take multi-step actions without supervision
- collaborate with humans and other systems
- function like specialized employees
This is where Afshar sees the biggest disruption.
Businesses Must Become ‘Self-Driving’
Afshar draws a powerful analogy to autonomous vehicles:
Just as self-driving cars must sense the environment, interpret signals, and respond instantly, businesses powered by AI must:
- sense customer intent
- interpret text, speech, and behavior in real time
- trigger automated decisions across departments
Companies that fail to adopt this model will find themselves increasingly irrelevant.
Why India Is Poised to Lead the AI Revolution
Afshar calls India a critical player in the coming decade.
“India ranks third in unicorn startups globally, after the U.S. and China.”
He highlights four strengths placing India on the global AI fast lane:
- Largest mobile-first population
- 50% of global electronic payments
- A billion people entering the workforce
- World’s youngest middle class
India is no longer just a services nation—it is emerging as a global innovation hub.
And with the AI era requiring diverse perspectives to minimize bias, India’s massive talent pool becomes an enormous strategic advantage.
The Automation Fear: Will Companies Lose Their Identity?
One of the biggest concerns leaders face is the fear that full automation could strip companies of their soul or eliminate meaningful human work.
Afshar doesn’t dismiss this fear:
“I don’t want to work for a company where my work doesn’t matter. Leaders must ensure we don’t lose our human agency.”
His answer:
Trust, intention, and integrity must guide AI development.
AI agents should be built to elevate humans, not erase them.
The Developer Question: Will AI Replace Coders?
With AI now writing 30–50% of new code in many organizations, the question is inevitable:
What happens to traditional developers?
Afshar’s answer is optimistic and contrarian:
“This doesn’t mean fewer developers. It means more productive ones. Small teams can now do what large teams once did.”
AI is not shrinking the profession.
It is supercharging it—compressing years of engineering effort into weeks, and making innovation accessible for small, agile teams.
The Bottom Line: AI = Electricity
Five years is not a long time.
The companies that thrive will be the ones that:
- embrace agentic AI
- redesign workflows for autonomy
- prioritize trust, competence, and ethics
- invest deeply in human talent alongside machine intelligence
The ones that don’t?
They could face the same fate as businesses that ignored electrification.
Afshar’s message is not a warning—it’s a wake-up call.
AI won’t just support businesses.
AI will power them.
And just like electricity, the world will wonder how it ever lived without it.