India needs coordinated action across government, business, and academia on skills and policy to become an AI leader as automation threatens its services sector, IBM India head Sandip Patel said.

Patel said India’s young workforce was an advantage, but IBM estimated only about 30% of the country’s technology workers had the AI skills businesses need.

A Deloitte-NASSCOM report said demand for AI talent in India could exceed 1.25 million by 2027.

The comments came as India advanced its IndiaAI Mission, launched in March 2024 with a 103.7 billion rupees (US$1.09 billion) outlay for computing infrastructure, datasets, startup financing, skills, and safe AI.

Patel also said India needs stronger intellectual property protections to build and monetize technology across borders.

IBM said in December it aimed to train 5 million people in India in AI, cybersecurity, and quantum computing by 2030.

Patel added that IBM recently expanded into Lucknow after growing its Kochi workforce to nearly 4,000 employees in two years.

🔗 Source: Reuters

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