News DeskIndia is positioning itself as a powerhouse in the field of artificial intelligence, fueled by a surge of ambitious upskilling initiatives and investments from major technology giants. The country’s commitment to nurturing AI prowess has put it at the forefront of the global race to develop a highly skilled workforce capable of driving innovation in this transformative technology.
While India boasts an impressive relative skill penetration rate of 3.2 for AI, more than three times the worldwide average, challenges remain in cultivating the niche talent required to spearhead core AI engineering projects from the ground up.
“The supply of senior AI engineers who can build products and services from scratch is extremely limited in India,” said Rohit Prasad, vice president and head scientist of Alexa AI at Amazon. “We’re seeing an abundance of engineers trained on AI applications, but a shortage of those with skills for core AI development.”
Recent reports estimate there are fewer than 2,000 active senior AI engineers currently in India’s pipeline. Bridging this gap has become a top priority as the nation aims to solidify its standing in an AI race alongside China, the United States and other global leaders.
Major Indian IT services firms have doubled down on upskilling, with Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and Accenture conducting extensive AI training programs. However, critics argue many of these initiatives prioritize generalized, entry-level courses over the specialized curricula needed to arm India’s workforce with cutting-edge skills.
“The training in India has predominantly focused on more theoretical, mass-market aspects of AI,” said Anand Vishwanath, a computer science professor at the International Institute of Information Technology in Hyderabad. “To raise the caliber of talent, we need to concentrate on practical, industry-specific applications that match what leading AI labs are working on.”
India’s push into AI skilling is about more than just technological supremacy, it’s an economic imperative as well. Employees listing AI skills on their resumes in India have seen potential salary boosts of up to 54 percent, underscoring the lucrative career prospects in a field projected to witness meteoric growth in the years ahead.
As Western nations grapple with AI skill shortages of their own, India has an opportunity to leverage its position as an IT powerhouse and relatively low labor costs to court companies seeking affordable, high-quality AI talent. The country’s AI training ecosystem continues to broaden, with new educational institutes and online platforms constantly emerging.
With an entrenched gender gap persisting in science and technology fields, India is also making strides in empowering more women to acquire AI expertise. At 2.0, India’s rate of females listing AI skills on resumes doubles the worldwide average.
“Ensuring gender parity and diversity is critical if India wants to maximize its AI talent pool,” said Debjani Ghosh, president of India’s IT industry trade association NASSCOM. “The possibilities with AI are endless, but only if we tap into the full innovative potential across all segments of our society.”
Challenges notwithstanding, India’s ambitions in the AI sphere show no signs of waning. From the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology to code academies popping up nationwide, building AI skills is quickly becoming a national priority. Bolstered by a tech-savvy youth population and supportive government policies, India is actively laying the groundwork to emerge as an AI powerhouse on the global stage.
