India’s IT Industry Leading the Charge in AI Innovation

New opportunities for human ingenuity and innovation are emerging across industries and societies as AI is transforming the world in ways that have never been seen before. India's IT and IT-enabled services (ITES) industries play a key role in this transformation because the country has one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. This means that the country has a lot of potential to use AI to promote inclusive growth and progress.

India's IT and ITES industries, which employ nearly 5.5 million people and account for 7% of the country's GDP, are crucial to accelerating AI adoption and transformation. They have been major contributors to India's growth and economic boom.

The AI opportunity for Indian IT companies The Indian IT industry is a global powerhouse that has helped the country become a preferred investment destination for international investors. It has also created a lot of jobs in India, the United States, Europe, and other parts of the world. AI now presents IT companies in India with an entirely new set of opportunities after demonstrating its capabilities in providing both on-shore and offshore services to global clients.

According to a Keystone study from Harvard Business School, software developers who adopt generative AI tools could increase productivity by an estimated $1.5 trillion. GitHub and AI. India's IT sector and India's potential as one of the biggest beneficiaries of productivity gains from AI could be facilitated by the country's position as one of the nations with the largest pool of developers and the highest penetration of AI skills.

Copilots: Generative AI copilots have changed the way employees work by boosting their ability to focus, reducing time spent on routine tasks, and amplifying creativity and ingenuity—a game-changer for the industry. According to studies, developers who use GitHub Copilot are 75% more satisfied with their jobs and 55% more productive.

Copilot is a valuable companion for workers that enables them to be more productive and spend more time on meaningful work. In a world where agility is a competitive advantage, Copilot aids businesses in delivering value to customers more quickly and enhancing business outcomes.

A skilling-first approach to becoming AI-ready The IT industry has invested in training and skilling its workforce for a long time and has pioneered employee continuous learning because of the industry's dynamic nature. However, generative AI has given these endeavors a new sense of urgency. A race for AI-ready talent and a boom in demand for AI skills far outpacing supply have resulted from AI's rapid spread and widespread applicability.

The industry must prioritize upskilling and reskilling at a large scale and adopt a skilling-first AI strategy to address this issue. When it comes to selecting candidates, AI expertise already surpasses practical experience. The findings of the 2024 Work Trend Index show that 80% of leaders in India would rather hire a candidate with AI skills than a candidate with more experience but no AI skills.

In order to retrain and upgrade its workforce and talent pool, the information technology sector has invested in a variety of programs and initiatives. 200,000 people have been trained in generative AI by Wipro. Cognizant, which is listed on the Nasdaq and has a $1 billion investment in generative AI like Wipro, has trained 35,000 developers in GitHub Copilot and plans to train another 40,000.

In order to meet the demand for AI skills, the business community must also work closely with academic institutions. With approximately 2.5 million STEM graduates, India has one of the largest pools, and it will be crucial to keep the IT industry and India's leading position as a global center for technology and innovation if they are equipped with the skills required for the AI age.

Source - https://www.business-standard.com/technology/tech-news/india-s-it-industry-is-paving-the-way-for-its-ai-future-124081601556_1.html