Best time to be in India for those in tech; we lead in AI talent: Nasscom chief

New Delhi: India leads on world AI stage in talent and domain skills, placing it on a strong footing in transformative era of Artificial Intelligence, Nasscom's new chairperson Sindhu Gangadharan has said, asserting this is "the best time to be in India" particularly for those in the technology sector. In a wide-ranging interview, Gangadharan touched upon several key issues -- from the importance of mental and social well-being at workplace to economic impact of AI and GenAI -- and sought to assuage concerns around artificial intelligence (AI) displacing jobs. She stressed on the need for organisations to attach high priority to mental and physical well-being of their workforces and make it part of their organisational culture, through policies, practices and interest groups. Gangadharan's comment assumes significance in the backdrop of the tragic death of a young employee at one of the prominent consultancy firms that led to social media outcry and triggered intense debate in corporate India about high stress at workplaces.

Gangadharan also spoke about India's growing clout as "GCC capital of the world", the nation's proven strengths in AI skills and talent, and emphasised she is "optimistic and bullish" about the future of the Indian tech industry. "India has been very clear about its strengths, of how we lead the charge when it comes to technology, and it has demonstrated it as well...(but) we can't rest on our laurels. It is really up to us to make sure that we play to our strengths on talent and skilling. I am very optimistic and bullish about the Indian technology industry," she said when asked about challenges she foresees in the short to mid-term for India's over $254 billion IT sector, including impact, if any, of US election results. Gangadharan, who was named as the new chairperson of Nasscom in August this year, is also the force behind SAP Labs India in her role as managing director of the biggest R&D hub for German software maker SAP outside its headquarters.

To a question on wide apprehensions about AI leading to job losses in the IT industry, she asserted that the productivity gains unlocked by new-age technologies is bound to drive further innovation and allow people to focus on solving more critical problems. Citing the transformative impact of AI, she said India will continue to be the place where companies look for "talent that helps them to go through such transformations. So, I don't see it as displacement (of jobs). With all the productivity gains, every user can focus on their core competencies even more," she said. Underlining India's growing prominence in the global tech landscape, she noted that the country has emerged as the GCC capital of the world. "That's one huge area of focus that we will continue to have," she said, adding that India's Global Capability Centres (GCC) story is one of "phenomenal growth" and one that would entail more hirings as the tally of such centres rises in the country. "Today, if you look at the number of GCCs in India, we are talking about almost 1,200 GCCs, and that number is only poised to grow to over 2,200 as we speak, which means also the talent that these GCCs will hire, is also significantly going to grow," Gangadharan said.

India leads the world in AI talent and skills, positioning it strongly on the dynamic AI landscape, globally. "If I just look at it from the India lens, I think we can be very proud of the fact that we are number one when it comes to AI talent, number one when it comes to AI skills penetration...it is something where we clearly have an edge...if we have the right focus on making sure our talent is up-to-date when it comes to also having that good combination of technology and domain skills and being able to solve problems in the right way, we definitely have an opportunity to do even more," she said. Close to 16 per cent of the world's AI talent is from India, she said, adding that close collaboration between the industry, academia, and the government, to ensure "solid skilling programmes" would be one of the big priority areas for Nasscom.

At the same time, the IT association would continue to focus on engineering R&D, IP creation from India for the world, as well as growth of startups here, she said. Generative AI is changing the way businesses are operated, leading to new business models and customer experiences. "Literally, everything is changing because of the power of technology. Today, you can move through large data sets and really be able to zoom into the very specific context and guide the user to make decisions very quickly. Also, if you just look at the economic impact that AI is estimated to have in three years, we're talking about almost $3.5 to $4 trillion of economic value that will be added, and which I think is massive," she said. These sheer numbers underline AI's "transformational power", she pointed out.