‘Huge talent deficit in the field of AI’: MoS IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar at GPAI summit

During the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) summit's second day in the capital, Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, emphasised the critical need for a joint effort between the tech industry, academic institutions, and governments worldwide to shape the forthcoming wave of talent in artificial intelligence (AI)-related roles.

Chandrasekhar stressed that while nurturing talent is within the purview of governments, industry and academia must join forces to spearhead the drive towards future job requirements. “It is clear that there is going to be a huge talent deficit in the field of AI. There is an urgent need for our academic institutions, whether in the UK, Japan or India, to really understand this and start delivering the talent that this AI ecosystem will require,” asserted Chandrasekhar.

According to a study by McKinsey, the potential economic value derived from AI tools could soar to $26 trillion. However, the consultancy firm highlights a significant hurdle impeding AI's full business potential: the scarcity of individuals possessing the necessary skills and capabilities for AI innovation.

The minister highlighted the demand for cutting-edge talent in the AI industry, particularly architects and designers proficient in crafting large-language models (LLMs). "As AI advances, the complexities and requisite capabilities will grow, necessitating a talent pool at the forefront of building these capabilities," added Chandrasekhar.

Bridging this talent gap requires collaborative efforts across international academic networks and industries. Chandrasekhar emphasised the need to realign coursework and curriculum to prepare students for future-ready jobs equipped with essential skills, steering away from retrospective approaches.

Meanwhile, Jaspreet Bindra, founder of The Tech Whisperer said, “AI is a fundamental technology which will reshape business, education, and life. PWC has estimated a $17trn value add due to AI in the next decade. Thus, AI will throw up a gigantic opportunity for jobs and work. The country with the maximum opportunity to reap this talent windfall is India. Stanford and LinkedIn singled out India as the leader in AI skill penetration rates, followed by the US and Germany (AI Index Report, 6 Ed)."

“While India has this opportunity to create millions of AI jobs, there will need to be a massive skilling exercise by academia, government and the corporate sector to realise this potential. Some efforts along this line have already started with large corporates skilling tens of thousands of people on Nvidia and OpenAI software and LLMs, a larger national AI skilling initiative with government-academia-corporate partnership could change the game,” he added.

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