Integrated adoption of AI, data utilisation strategy can add $500 bn to India’s GDP by 2025: Nasscom

To track sectoral progress on AI adoption in the country, the Nasscom, in association with EY and supported by Microsoft, EXL and Capgemini, has launched an “AI Adoption Index” on Thursday.

The index was the first detailed assessment of AI adoption trends in India, beginning with four key sectors: banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), consumer packaged goods (CPG), Retail, Healthcare, and Industrials & Automotive, that could cumulatively contribute over 60% of AI’s potential value-add of $450 to 500 billion to the country’s GDP by 2025, said Nasscom in a media conference.

The apex body said global investments in AI had more than doubled over the last couple of years, from $36 billion in 2020 to a high of $77 billion in 2021. Though the current rate of AI investments in India was growing at a CAGR of 30.8% and poised to reach $881 million, by 2023, it would still represent just 2.5% of the total global AI investments of $340 billion.

This would mean a massive opportunity for Indian enterprises to accelerate investments and adoption of AI to drive equitable growth across sectors, it added.

Debjani Ghosh, president NASSCOM said, “AI’s true value in this Techade emerges from its ability to transition from technology potential to technology impact. The pandemic has made it absolutely time critical for organisations to move from data & technology silos to building specialised AI capabilities at scale across sectors combined with a structured data utilisation strategy.’‘

The first of its kind AI Adoption Index would not only provide the necessary benchmark for organisations on AI maturity but would also help them take the key structural steps to realise AI’s potential to tangible national value, she further said.

India a global hub for AI talent

With a burgeoning number of STEM graduates and digital natives, India is one of the biggest talent hubs for AI, as per Nasscom.

The country currently is the 2nd largest global hub in training and hiring AI talent. However, rapid growth in AI applications has led to a surge in hiring for AI professionals. While the talent pipeline has grown over the past two years, a rapid jump in talent demand has caused a supply-demand gap.

Also, firms are increasingly relying on contracting and Gig models while focusing on building internal AI talent through reskilling and upskilling. Organisations are also investing in research talent in specific academic institutions of eminence. According to the index, 44% of businesses already have a dedicated or a cross-functional AI team structure, while 25% rely fully on outsourcing as their primary source for AI talent.