India can become one of world’s most consequential environments for AI applications: Wipro’s Rishad Premji

• India could become a key global hub for AI applications.
• AI is aiding education, healthcare, and public services in India.
• India has 650,000 AI professionals, set to double by 2027.

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India’s positioning and response to artificial intelligence (AI) in the next few years can make the nation one of the world’s most consequential environments for AI applications, in turn deciding its economic trajectory, Rishad Premji, executive chairman of IT services giant Wipro said at the India AI Impact Summit on February 19.

Premji highlighted how India working on AI would mean, “solving problems for a billion people”, making it a critical market for global tech enterprises with whom the nation already has strong ties with.

Speaking at the summit in Delhi, he said, “India has the opportunity to become one of the world’s most consequential environments for the application of AI, not just as a builder of technology but as a place where AI is tested against real world complexity and made to work at scale.”

“Our context as a country is demanding. Systems here must work across multiple languages, across urban and rural settings and across populations with very different levels of access, needs, data quality and infrastructure. That raises the bar but also makes it meaningful,” Premji added.

He shared real-world examples of how AI is already working in practice such AI supporting education in local languages, helping with early screening of diseases and strengthening rural care in the healthcare sector and building smarter safer infrastructure in public services.

Premji's comments come on the heels of Indian IT stocks seeing major correction over the past few weeks, following the latest release of Anthropic's Claude CoWork which left the global markets unsettled as investors reassess how quickly AI can displace existing business models.

AI applications is the core area where IT services players are hoping to find their next big bet, as legacy systems remain disrupted.

To that extent, the country already has its strategic advantages being home to the largest and fastest growing AI talent pool in the world. Approximately 650,000 professionals work in AI related roles today. This number will double by 2027,  Premji shared.

Further, the government initiatives to skill 10 million people and educational institutions changing curriculum to build more AI-skill focused and job ready courses will only help accelerate the cause.