When Artificial Intelligence (AI) emerged for the first time in the form of Large Language Models (LLMs), it marked a watershed moment for India’s large tech industry. Prior to the launch of ChatGPT, the last few decades had seen India becoming one of the major IT hubs in the world. With AI becoming accessible to the public domain, it indicated the coming of a massive shift and tech education was identified as a catalyst for the Indian youth, to drive personal and professional ambitions for the years to come.
Recent estimations project that Indian IT corporations’ demand for professionals with sufficient knowledge in AI will witness an annualised growth of 15% till 2027. Surveys have also found that in 2024, at least 420,000 IT professionals were employed for some form of AI function, the second highest in the world. This considerable penetration of AI as a primary employment opportunity has been made possible with upskilling, as India boasts of the highest skills penetration in AI globally, at least three times more than other nations. As in upskilling, Indians have registered a growth of 14 times since 2018, positioning the country in the top five globally and assisting the country’s tech industry to register a 15% growth in AI and ML jobs since 2022. Big Tech and Indian tech giants have played a key role in this aspect, with over 90% of the top 25 corporations operating in India having undertaken major GenAI upskilling operations.
As tech education becomes the focus of India’s bid to become the world’s Silicon Valley, it will act as the catalyst to position India’s talented youth on equal terms with the world’s best. With enhanced connectivity, modern pedagogy, digital learning and the emergence of new technologies, the role of India’s tech education is transforming rapidly as it positions itself to establish a robust supply chain of knowledgeable professionals aligning with industry requirements. It also prioritises the convergence of India’s diverse linguistic families under a united umbrella, helping students from different parts of India to learn new-age technology in a streamlined and methodical way. The objective of this shift is to supplement India’s booming tech and IT sectors, offering them the potential to scale and grow beyond imagination.
Transformative education
The emergence of new-age tech like AI and ML coincides with the school of thought to change how technology is perceived globally. To sustain this continuous development, modern tech education has been identified as the catalyst. In India, conventional tech education had been largely unchanged for a long time, however, the emergence of AI, ML and supportive technology offered a unique perspective. Driven by LLMs and advanced learning models, India’s tech education is transforming based on industry requirements. Leading Indian tech corporations have maintained their inability to fill in a significant part of their new-age employment opportunities like Prompt Engineers, AI researchers and others, owing to a lack of sufficient knowledge among candidates in recent years. This has prompted these companies to undertake upskilling initiatives internally, in a bid to position their existing workforce on equal grounds as compared to global professionals. This paradigm shift in establishing transformative education across levels has worked wonders, with similar initiatives being replicated in higher education curriculums.
While corporations began this transformative shift, educational authorities and institutions have furthered it, with support from policymakers. Initiatives like Digital India, National Skill Development Mission, NAREDCO Upskilling Initiative and others have created a robust ecosystem for the Indian youth to develop proficiency in AI, ML, Data Science and more. As these young aspirants begin their professional journey, it is indicating the establishment of a supply chain of talents, who are spearheading India’s bid to become a technology-driven nation.
Impact
The aftermath of modern tech education in supplementing India’s booming tech industry has been massive. In both the short and long term, it is offering India’s tech industry to not only become self-sufficient but also enabling them to infuse new ideas and innovations to drive advancements in AI, ML and automation. This aspect has become the driving force behind the establishment and sustenance of tech startups, which have witnessed significant growth in the last couple of years. As of 2024, over 6,000 AI startups were operating in India, a figure that is expected to witness considerable growth in the coming years. India’s revamped tech education has extended an olive branch to these startups, along with corporations, and the subsequent growth in employment opportunities has proved to be a mutually beneficial aspect — aimed at future growth.
Future Outlook
The importance of transformative tech education is expected to rise in the coming years. As technologies like AI and ML reshape the scope of work in the technology domain and drive India’s bid to become the world’s Silicon Valley, the impact of tech education will be subject to additional focus. This indicates a watershed moment for the talented Indian youth, as well as India’s booming tech industry, as both will mutually benefit from the favourable impact of a robust grassroots program aimed at supplementing growth and scalability.
