Behind the headlines of layoffs, attributed partly to the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI), there is a more fundamental question: How will India shape the trajectory of AI in ways that its impact on jobs, productivity, and economy is inclusive?

Estimates from the ServiceNow–Pearson AI Skills Research 2025 report indicate that agentic AI could reshape over 10.35 million jobs and create 3 million new tech roles in India by 2030, placing the country ahead of Singapore and Australia in AI transformation. A 2025 ILO study highlights that, as new tasks emerge in AI deployment, jobs are likely to evolve rather than disappear. This optimism must be tempered with a clear-eyed view of India’s structural challenges. The farm sector, which employs the most people in India, has limited exposure to AI. Labour-intensive sectors, especially services, which contributed 55 per cent to GDP and 31 per cent to employment in FY24, could, however, be impacted. Compounding this is the slow pace of skilling and low adoption of evolving competencies, especially among informal workers. How these structural gaps interact with AI adoption in India will determine whether technology exacerbates existing employment gaps or helps close them. [Read more…]