BENGALURU: India will have a surplus of talent with over one million highly skilled tech professionals by 2030. However, there are valid concerns about the quality of their skill sets and expertise in the industry and to meet the demand for AI skills, it is imperative to develop and cultivate AI talent through various operating models, says a report titled 'Advancing India’s AI Skills: Interventions and programmes needed,' released by Deloitte India in partnership with Nasscom.
These models should encompass re-skilling the existing workforce and fostering new talent through academia and industry collaboration, ensuring a robust pipeline of skilled professionals ready to drive AI-led innovation, the report says. The Indian AI talent demand is expected to grow from 600,000–650,000 to over 1,250,000 over 2022-27 at a 15% CAGR. However, the AI market is expected to grow at a rate of 25–35% CAGR, potentially signalling a demand-supply gap in the talent pool and a need for upskilling existing talent.
Most Indian IT companies have already started training their workforce on AI and related technologies. During 2023–24, TCS trained 350,000 employees, while Wipro trained 220,000 of its staff on AI. Microsoft has also agreed to provide AI skilling opportunities to 2 million people in India by 2025 to empower the country’s workforce with future-ready skills.
Infosys has initiated a comprehensive in-house AI training programme to upskill its existing workforce. The report says there are five core segments that need to be targeted with different learning paths, ranging from generic to specialised:
i) AI informed: Focused on general AI literacy
ii) AI users: Focused on using AI to improve productivity and be AI first in the respective discipline
iii) AI integrators: IT workforce integrating AI tools and technologies into existing workflows
iv) AI builders / developers / architects: Workforce that will develop AI-related software and applications
v) AI experts: Top-tier talent focused on new-age research and who have the skill and capability to develop AI models from scratch
Road ahead for India
The report states that it is crucial to develop a skilled workforce and foster an enabling environment for innovation and growth. To advance India's AI exports, the following steps need to be taken:
* Invest in upskilling initiatives to equip professionals with expertise in AI, including programming languages, AI frameworks and domain-specific technical skills.
*Foster collaborations between industry and academia to bridge the skill gap and align educational offerings with industry requirements.
* Implement specialised training programmes, mentorship opportunities and on-the-job project experiences to nurture fresh talent for the AI workforce.
* Establish data and AI labs in collaboration with technical training institutes to provide vocational AI training.
* Explore models, such as online learning platforms and boot camps, to cater to diverse learning needs and enhance accessibility to AI.