As India is gearing up for a transformation in the technological field and rides on the generative AI (GenAI) bandwagon which will touch every aspect of the Information Technology (IT) and tech industry, CP Gurnani, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Tech Mahindra, says that the focus should be on creating short-term courses in fundamental AI to skill the 100 million people currently associated with IT in India, reports IANS.
As per NASSCOM, the apex body for the $245 billion technology industry of the country, India currently ranks first in terms of AI skill penetration and AI talent concentration, but the AI skill shortage is now being felt across the spectrum.
What was addressed at the GPAI Summit?
Addressing a fireside chat session on the second day of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) summit that took place in New Delhi from December 12 to 14, the Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, said that to empower efficiency and productivity, the government itself will not be able to function effectively if not supported by the industry as well as the academicians.
“It is clear that there is going to be a huge talent deficit in the field of AI. There is an urgent need for our academic institutions, whether in the UK, Japan or India, to really understand this and start delivering the talent that this AI ecosystem will require,” Chandrasekhar told the gathering.
According to the data released by McKinsey, a global management consulting company, the potential economic value of AI tools could be as high as $26 trillion going forward. It also states that a major limiting factor in AI reaching its full business potential is going to be the availability of individuals with the correct skills and capabilities.
Further, Gurnani added that such evolution into AI-based technology would not happen overnight, hence, everyone should aim for achieving optimum efficiency and productivity, be it a slow process.
