91 percent Indian corporate leaders believe their companies need to adopt AI to stay competitive: Report

As per LinkedIn, as of late last year, there has been a 142x increase globally in members on the platform adding AI skills to their profiles. Image: Shutterstock

BYOB (Bring-your-own-booze) is well-known. But now, there is something new that’s been making the rounds—BYOAI (Bring-your-own-AI). The recent report by Microsoft and LinkedIn on the state of AI at work reveals that 72 percent Indian AI users are bringing their own AI tools to work, in order to become more productive and creative at work.

The 2024 Work Trend Index Report, which surveyed 31,000 people in 31 countries, highlights that 92 percent of knowledge workers in India use AI at work as compared to the global figure of 75 percent, reflecting employee confidence in AI to save time, boost creativity, and focus. Ninety-one percent of leaders in India also believe their companies need to adopt AI to stay competitive, while 54 percent worry their organisation lacks a plan and vision for implementation.

When it comes to hiring, Indian leaders are prioritising AI skills with 75 percent stating they wouldn’t hire someone lacking in AI skills, outpacing the global average of 66 percent. According to the report, what’s interesting to note is that AI skills outweigh experience, with 80 percent of leaders in India preferring to hire a less experienced candidate with AI skills, over a more experienced candidate without them.  

Some of the AI tools for people to learn and make use of include ChatGPT, ApacheMXNet, Scikit-learn, Google ML Kit, Pytorch, Grammarly, and Copilot among others.

As per data on the business and employment-focused social media platform LinkedIn, as of late last year, there has been a 142x increase globally in members on the platform adding AI skills like Copilot and ChatGPT to their profiles and a 160 percent increase in non-technical professionals using LinkedIn Learning courses to build their AI aptitude. 

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The report segregated AI users into four types—from sceptics who rarely use AI to power users who use it extensively, with novices and explorers in between. As per the survey, in comparison to sceptics, AI power users have fundamentally reoriented their workdays with 90 percent of Indian AI power users beginning their day with AI and 91 percent relying on it to prepare for the next day. They are also 37 percent more likely to seek guidance from co-workers regarding useful prompts and 47 percent more likely to experiment with AI.  

While employers are considering AI knowledge to be an important skill in their potential employees, new joinees too are enthusiastic to learn the skills, especially people who use AI enthusiastically. The report reveals that AI power users are nearly 20 percent more likely to receive training, particularly on prompts and role-specific AI usage, compared to other employees.