Leading the AI race: It's time for a National AI Skilling Roadmap in India

Open the tech section of any news app today, and you’ll see AI news everywhere — from breakthroughs to backlash. Unfortunately, “AI taking away jobs” has become a recurring headline, especially in the United States. At the same time, India is staring at a very different challenge: a projected shortage of over a million AI specialists within the next two years.

AI is the defining technological phenomenon of our era. For India to not just keep pace but lead, upskilling is not optional — it is fundamental to our technological, industrial, and economic future.


I propose a simple but scalable three-branch delivery structure for AI upskilling in India:

1. Via universities: Deliver AI training to enrolled students (full-time and part-time), tailored discipline-wise, and embedded in existing curricula with faculty involvement. Whether it’s AI for engineering, sciences, business, agriculture, or healthcare, the training must be context-relevant. Universities will need faster curriculum revision cycles and closer industry collaboration.


2. Via companies and governments — Upskill existing employees through function-specific AI programs. This is where return on investment is most direct: trained staff make faster AI adoption possible. Companies can be encouraged through incentives such as tax credits for certifying a percentage of their workforce as AI-trained, annually. Governments can integrate AI training modules into existing frameworks like Mission Karmayogi.


3. Via franchisees for unemployed graduates: India already has a precedent here. In the 1990s and 2000s, franchisee-based training companies like NIIT, Aptech, Jetking etc brought computer education to cities and towns across India. That model can be revitalised for AI, provided quality is tightly controlled. Credible companies — like NIIT, Coursera, Microsoft, or others — can phase-wise streamline and strengthen the franchise model, ensuring instructors are mathematically competent and industry-aligned.



The good news is that all the pieces already exist:-

Providers: Established training companies, edtech startups, and tech giants.

Demanders: Students, employees, and job seekers.

Intermediaries: Universities, companies, and franchise networks.


What’s missing is a national plan. A coordinated National AI Upskilling Mission could bring all three branches under one umbrella, setting standards, ensuring quality, and driving adoption across sectors.

If India acts now, we can turn today’s looming talent shortage into a strategic advantage — positioning ourselves as the AI skill capital of the world, just as we did with IT in the early 2000s. If we delay, we risk ending up with the worst of both worlds: jobs open, but no one qualified to fill them.

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