HYDERABAD:
India’s IT sector
is sitting at the edge of the next big inflexion point with the
AI revolution
all set to take off. But the country could fall woefully short of the manpower needed to cash in on this opportunity if it doesn’t beef up its
AI talent pool
many times over.
A joint report by
Nasscom and Deloitte
, exclusively accessed by TOI, says India’s AI talent pool is expected to grow to over 1.25 million by 2027 from around 6 lakh to 6.5 lakh currently.
But the AI market is expected to grow at 25%-35% CAGR, resulting in a significant gap in terms of skilled manpower.
The report titled ‘Advancing India’s
AI skills
: Interventions and programmes needed’ says the global AI market for products and services is expected to reach $500 billion by 2027. The estimated market potential for AI services for India could be in the range of $25 billion. The global AI market stood at $120 billion in 2023 with AI services accounting for 24% at around $29 billion.
At the same time, India’s software product exports, which stood at only around US$15 billion in FY24, could hit $100 billion by 2030 driven by higher penetration of deep tech such as AI and GenAI, Blockchain, and AR/VR.”Even this significant growth in AI skilled workforce may not be enough to keep pace with the growth of AI demand as skills are growing at about 13% while the AI market demand is growing at a CAGR of anywhere between 25% to 35%. There is a significant demand-supply gap which needs a huge effort in terms of skilling,” Sathish Gopalaiah, president, tech and transformation, Deloitte South Asia, told TOI.Sangeeta Gupta, senior VP & chief strategy officer, Nasscom, said, “We are seeing the AI revolution as the next big inflexion point just like we saw with the Y2K or the digital wave or cloud. Today it’s all about infusing AI into just about everything one is doing. That’s the one big shift that we at Nasscom are excited about. But much will depend on skilling and quickly filling up the huge demand and supply gap.”
India’s IT sector, which stood at around $250 billion in FY24 including exports of $200 billion, has been a significant contributor to the country’s economy with an over 7% share of the GDP in 2023. In the time to come, advancing India’s AI exports offers the next big opportunity for the country’s digital economy, the report points out.
“As India sets its eyes on this ambitious goal, it is crucial to develop a skilled workforce and foster an enabling environment for innovation and growth. To advance India’s AI exports, it needs to take up a slew of measures such as investing in upskilling initiatives, fostering collaboration between industry and academia, setting up data and AI labs among others,” the report said.
