India’s demand for AI professionals to hit 1 million by 2026: Report
NEW DELHI: India is set to witness a sharp rise in demand for Artificial Intelligence (AI) professionals, with reports projecting a need for one million skilled workers by 2026.As the nation aims to become a $23–35 trillion economy by 2047, higher education—especially in engineering—is being reshaped to keep pace with the fast-changing job market driven by AI, automation, and innovation across disciplines, as detailed in the report ‘India’s AI Revolution: A Roadmap to Viksit Bharat’, issued by the Union Ministry of Electronics & IT.Engineering is at the center of this shift. According to the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the number of approved B.Tech seats for 2024–25 has increased to 14.9 lakh, a 16% rise over the past four years. This growth is mainly due to a surge of over 50% in seats for Computer Science and related fields like AI/ML, Data Science, Cybersecurity, Cloud Computing, and Blockchain, reflecting strong demand from industry.India’s technical education sector is adopting cross-disciplinary and industry-integrated approaches to develop engineers proficient in coding, creation, collaboration and innovation leadership. The evolution from STEM to STEAM, incorporating Arts, is becoming prevalent, combining technical expertise with design thinking, communication, psychology, law and business principles.The India Skills Report 2024 by Wheebox predicts the country’s AI industry will reach $28.8 billion by 2025, growing at 45 per cent CAGR. The report indicates that AI-skilled professionals have increased 14-fold from 2016 to 2023, positioning India amongst the top five rapidly growing AI talent centres, alongside Singapore, Finland, Ireland, and Canada.“The surge in demand for AI professionals’ stems from rapid technological progress. As AI reshapes productivity, operations, and innovation, preparing a future-ready workforce is imperative. At SRM Institute of Science and Technology, we offer interdisciplinary programs in areas like Medical Engineering, ECE with Data science, Biotechnology (Food Technology) and AI-ML Embedded Systems to bridge emerging domains. Our strong academia-industry partnerships provide students with real-world exposure and global competitiveness,” Dr Kathiravan Kannan, Director, SRM Group of Institutions, Ramapuram, Chennai and Tiruchirappalli told news agency ANI.
