Is Talent Crunch Hurting India’s GenAI Boom?

Even though in its infancy, the GenAI boom in India has fostered more than 200 AI startups, which have cumulatively raised $1.2 Bn+ since 2020. Not just this, Inc42’s latest report, The Rise Of India’s GenAI Brigade, suggests that the Indian GenAI ecosystem is projected to grow to a market size of $17 Bn by 2030. This growth is expected to primarily come on the back of rising B2B use cases and demand for AI-powered consumer devices.

While the outlook is promising, India would likely face a significant challenge in outpacing global leaders like the US and China, projected to create $33.78 Bn and $31.12 Bn GenAI markets, respectively, by the end of this decade.

So, what’s expected to hold back the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem in giving tough competition to its global peers? Well, the answer to this lies in the country’s dearth of high-quality tech talent. 

An Inc42 survey of 50 venture capital investors revealed that 68% of the investors felt that the lack of high-quality talent was the biggest roadblock to India’s GenAI revolution. The revelation is in line with a survey conducted by Amazon Web Services, which brought to the fore that 79% of Indian businesses find it challenging to find AI talent. Notably, this talent gap persists despite India producing lakhs of computer science graduates every year.

Highlighting the seriousness of the situation, the cofounder of an AI-powered video creation platform, Justbaat.AI, said that the fresh talent trickling into the Indian AI sector was coming in without the necessary skills and the intent to learn the ropes. He added the extent of the talent situation is so bad that about 70% of AI hires have either been laid off from his startup or departed voluntarily. 

“India is known for its engineering talent, but the focus has largely been on the basics. For AI engineering, what’s missing is an understanding of algorithms, along with the passion and intent to truly master them. Many people are misfits in this ecosystem, and a lot of them end up leaving,” Nigam lamented.

Echoing the sentiment, Shivam Gupta, the cofounder of a GenAI design platform, Sivi AI, said his startup, too, has been facing similar challenges. 

“The key to growth for tech talent in AI is active participation, but it’s not just a matter of saying it — it’s an intrinsic quality that must be developed. Many fall behind because they struggle to grasp core concepts, often due to a lack of understanding of underlying mechanisms and a shortage of self-motivation,” Gupta said.

He, however, conceded that not only newcomers but also founders were struggling to keep up with the fast pace of growth in the AI space. But, while concepts can be learnt and honed over time, it appears that the lack of an AI pedagogy is derailing India’s GenAI ambitions. 

Need For Curriculum Update? 

The founders we spoke with feel that the major issue ailing India’s GenAI talent pool is an outdated curriculum. While several prestigious institutions in India offer specialised AI programmes, including IITs, IISc, Bengaluru, and IIITs, very few students get to become a part of these institutions. 

As a result, many turn to private or less prestigious public engineering colleges, which may not necessarily have the infrastructure for AI training.

“Institutions that do not prepare industry-ready talent have been a major issue for a long time now. While the current curriculum is not up to the mark for preparing GenAI talent, many aspirants are actively learning on their own to create a niche in the job market,” Infosys’ ex-CHRO Krish Shankar said. 

Recognising that the talent gap could hinder India’s ambitions to become a GenAI powerhouse, efforts are underway to align tech curricula with the demands of evolving technologies.

Earlier this year, the government approved the INR 10,372 Cr IndiaAI Mission, which aims to introduce AI training in the existing engineering curriculum. Besides, the National AI Skilling Framework, introduced last year, aims to train over 1 Mn new data science professionals annually. 

Additionally, departments such as the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL), the Center for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) and initiatives like Future Skills Prime are creating diverse AI courses for both school-age students and adult learners.

While a few institutes have already updated their curricula to nurture a pipeline of GenAI experts, more colleges are now catching up by collaborating with the industry to develop updated programmes.

Amid the current scheme of things, Indian startups are vying for talent with many global AI companies. Large US or Europe-based companies lure talented local AI engineers with hefty paycheques, which Indian companies and startups struggle to compete with. Amid this, how do Indian startups get their hands on a workforce that is AI-ready? 

Optimising What’s Available

While Indian founders continue to struggle with funding high-quality AI talent, they are actively working on building alternate ways to fill in the gap. 

Justbaat’s Nigam shares that he actively focusses on scouting fresh hires with a strong intent to learn and then trains them for the startup’s AI requirements. 

Meanwhile, Sivi founder Gupta’s thesis centres around hiring people who can operate as full-stack professionals and are capable of navigating research and coding. 

However, the issue is especially pronounced for enterprises that are yet to build a streamlined strategy to hire for AI roles. IT consultancy firm NewVision Software’s global HR head Kamal Vatnani said that the company is extensively focussed on reskilling the existing workforce that has worked in the GenAI domain. 

“Even reskilling talent in GenAI is not cheap. The learning models and curricula are relatively limited and new. Further, hiring GenAI talent is also not cheap as they demand high remuneration because of their scarcity,” he added. 

Despite the hurdles, the homegrown GenAI ecosystem continues to persevere. As India’s GenAI rises from the ground up, many are actively working to reskill themselves via online resources and other avenues to create a niche among their peers. 

Besides, attractive growth opportunities in this space seem to be pushing the needle on alternative avenues of learning. For now, industry experts want senior leadership to step up and inspire the young talent to foster the GenAI revolution in India. 

Edited By Shishir Parasher

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