Skilling vital in India's goal of becoming AI solutions capital: IT Secretary

Reorienting and readying skills for the AI era will be key to India's ambition of harnessing its STEM talent and becoming the artificial intelligence solutions capital of the world, IT Secretary S Krishnan said on Thursday.

Speaking at the CII GCC Business Summit, Krishnan noted that the deployment of AI in enterprises is still lagging across the world, not just in India, presenting an opportunity for GCCs here to play a critical role.

Artificial intelligence (AI) presents an opportunity to transition beyond routine work, with automation expected to handle lower-order functions while humans focus on higher-value roles, he said.

Krishnan said the government's approach towards AI has been "extremely positive" with an "optimistic outlook" right from the start.

He said India should aim to become the world's hub for AI applications and solutions by leveraging its talent to drive enterprise adoption of the technology.

While investments in AI infrastructure and foundation models are accelerating globally, deployment across enterprises remains limited, creating a key opportunity for Global Capability Centres (GCCs) in India.

"...the deployment of AI in enterprises is still lagging, not just in India, but across the world. And that is truly where I think GCCs in India will come in and play that critical role...higher-level functions in various segments of the domain need to be moved and shifted to, and that's the function that a GCC needs to perform," he said.

Global Capability Centres refer to captive hubs of multinational companies that provide technology, engineering, research and business services from India.

Krishnan further said human interface will be required in rolling out AI applications and solutions.

"...that is a role which will still be valid and relevant," Krishnan said.

Stressing the importance of redesigning training programmes across educational institutions and companies to prepare the workforce for the AI era, Krishnan said the government is working with industry bodies on targeted skilling initiatives.

"How do you reorient skills in a new AI world, and that I think will be a critical element of whether we are able to succeed as a country which will leverage AI and our strength in terms of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) human resources to truly become what we set out to become...the AI solution capital of the world," he pointed out.

Krishnan said the centre and states have introduced a slew of reforms - from tax clarity to labour code measures and easier business norms - to encourage the establishment of Global Capability Centres.

Most long-pending industry concerns have been addressed, and that time has now come to assess whether the measures have accelerated GCC growth and whether AI-related concerns are affecting momentum, he added.

"I think it's time to start measuring the kind of impact that these changes have had, and what have been the outcomes.

"Since so much was promised as an outcome of some of these changes, I think it's important to start measuring what exactly has happened as a result of this, and whether the momentum of establishing GCCs has really picked up, and if not, is the concern about AI something which is worrying us," according to Krishnan.