AI continues to reshape the global technology landscape at a rapid pace, and instead of shedding the human workforce, the country should prioritise training its workforce to handle modern AI tools with ease at an unprecedented scale, believes IBM\u2019s India head. <\/p>\n
According to Sandip Patel, Managing Director of IBM India and South Asia, India must urgently prioritise large-scale upskilling of its young IT talent if it hopes to capitalise on its unique advantages and emerge as a dominant leader in the global AI economy. <\/p>\n
With over half of its 1.4 billion people under the age of 30, India possesses a distinct demographic advantage in the tech sector. Speaking to Reuters, Patel stated that this young population provides a historic opportunity to construct one of the world\u2019s largest AI-ready workforces. He, however, warned that this demographic advantage alone will not suffice unless workers are systematically equipped to collaborate alongside evolving AI technologies. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat demographic dividend that\u2019s sitting here, unleashing that is a phenomenal opportunity,\u201d Patel said. <\/p>\n
He further predicts that if massive, nationwide skilling initiatives are successfully executed, India could ultimately build an AI-trained workforce of roughly 350 million people capable of serving both domestic and international markets. <\/p>\n
Shifting from routine tasks to advanced tech skills <\/p>\n
The urgency for reskilling the existing workforce comes as generative AI tools increasingly automate routine entry-level responsibilities in IT, such as basic coding, data processing, and customer support. While tech leaders maintain that AI is unlikely to eliminate jobs entirely, it is fundamentally shifting the nature of work and the core competencies employers look for when hiring. <\/p>\n
Currently, a major talent deficit remains a core obstacle. Patel revealed that only about 30 per cent of India\u2019s available technology workforce currently possesses the AI skills that modern businesses require. <\/p>\n
To bridge this gap and protect India\u2019s status as the world\u2019s leading IT services hub, the workforce must transition away from routine coding toward specialised high-value disciplines. Skills such as prompt engineering, machine learning, cybersecurity, cloud computing, and AI governance are rapidly becoming the new industry standard. <\/p>\n
Need for a coordinated framework and stronger safeguards <\/p>\n
To navigate this transition, Patel emphasised the need for a synchronised effort involving government bodies, the tech industry, and academic institutions for preparing workers for the next wave of employment. <\/p>\n
As part of this effort, IBM has committed to training five million people across India in AI, cybersecurity, and quantum computing by 2030. The company is actively collaborating with educational institutions and government-backed skilling programs to make professional AI training more accessible. <\/p>\n
Beyond talent development, Patel also stressed the need for robust intellectual property (IP) protection within the country. He argued that if India needs to truly thrive as an innovation hub, companies must have total confidence that the breakthroughs they develop locally can be legally protected and commercialised on a global scale.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
AI continues to reshape the global technology landscape at a rapid pace, and instead of shedding the human workforce, the country should prioritise training its workforce to handle modern AI tools with ease at an unprecedented scale, believes IBM\u2019s India head. According to Sandip Patel, Managing Director of IBM India and South Asia, India must urgently prioritise large-scale upskilling of its young IT talent if it hopes to capitalise on its unique advantages and emerge as a dominant leader in the global AI economy. With over half of its 1.4 billion people under the age of 30, India possesses a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1010564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-it-2"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1010564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1010564"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1010564\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1010575,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1010564\/revisions\/1010575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1010564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1010564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1010564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}