India's AI Challenge: From passive users to active designers
As AI reshapes work and learning, India must strike a balance between rapid adoption and conscious design. Because India's AI edge won't come from speed alone but from sensibility
When NR Narayana Murthy recently shared that ChatGPT helps him prepare lectures five times faster, it served as a quiet signal that artificial intelligence is no longer abstract. Around the same time, the Karnataka government announced an “AI Workforce Impact Study” to understand how jobs and skills are evolving in response to AI-led transformation. Such moments frame a larger national question: are we, as professionals and citizens, ready for the profound shifts AI is triggering in how we work?
Signs from industry suggest we are warming up. A 2024 McKinsey survey found that 70 percent of global companies have adopted generative AI in at least one business function. In India, adoption is even more assertive. A NASSCOM-backed study reported that 98 percent of large enterprises are already experimenting with AI tools, with 43 percent integrating them into active workflows. But introduction is not the same as readiness. We often rush to install tools faster than we prepare people to use them thoughtfully. An article in Harvard Business Review offered a telling example. A field study conducted in a Fortune 500 company found that customer service agents using generative AI improved issue resolution by 14 percent per hour. Interestingly, junior agents using AI performed on par with more experienced colleagues. This shows AI does not just speed up tasks. It compresses learning, redefines competence, and reshapes how organisations develop talent.
But such acceleration creates tension. If AI can replicate human effort in minutes, are we ready to define our new roles with clarity? Murthy himself admitted he needed his son’s help to frame prompts effectively. This detail matters. In the AI age, impact will depend not on what we do with our hands, but what we ask with our minds. Prompting is becoming a professional skill. Our success will depend on whether we treat AI as a collaborator, not just a calculator. Governments are starting to respond, though much remains fragmented. The IndiaAI Mission proposes an AI safety institute and competency frameworks for public servants. A few states are experimenting with AI-skilling modules. These are encouraging signs, but scattered. What we need is not just capacity-building, but capacity-shaping —an ecosystem that integrates behavioural readiness with institutional reform.
Also read: Meet Mausam, the IIT Delhi professor who wants every Indian to study AI
Last Updated :
July 08, 25 01:57:37 PM IST