Tech spending strong, AI and Copilot driving momentum: Microsoft India Prez

Microsoft does not see any slowdown in technology spends in India, the company's India and South Asia President, Puneet Chandok said, asserting that "a lot of momentum" is building up on AI with buzz around 'Copilot' and rise in number of use cases across industries in this market that the software maker counts as among its fastest-growing regions.

In an interview to PTI, Chandok said the general perception around AI has shifted from skepticism to optimism, and now to real impact on the ground, with emergence of "real, interesting use cases". Microsoft's AI assistant 'Copilot' has become a "verb" for artificial intelligence, he observed.

The Redmond, Washington-based company is constantly looking at areas it needs to invest in, he said, describing India as among the fastest-growing regions globally for Microsoft and a "real opportunity to make a dent" with technology and innovation.

Noting that technologies that change the world have to be built responsibly, Chandok emphasised that Microsoft is fully committed to ensuring compliance with all the regulatory requirements, and with new evolving frameworks.

"Copilot has become the verb for AI. We are truly becoming 'Copilot' to India's transformation, which I'm really excited about," Chandok said.

Microsoft is working towards its mission of making AI a reality for everyone in India. Microsoft is "much more than a technology business in India", Chandok said, adding, "we truly want to be a force that moves India and South Asia forward".

It is pertinent to mention that Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella during his visit to the country in February this year had affirmed the company's commitment to supporting India's transformation into an AI-first nation -- in terms of skilled AI workforce and AI infusion across sectors and industries. The Microsoft global honcho had announced that the company will provide 2 million people in India with AI skilling opportunities.

"...the ADVANTA(I)GE INDIA program that we launched, where we're going to train 2 million people in India over the next two years on AI... that is on its way... the other one, (is where) 75,000 women developers in India will be trained and certified as part of Microsoft's 'Code Without Barriers' program, which is really exciting. We just launched the Microsoft Micro Degree in AI with the Ministry of Skill Development, as part of our commitment to enhancing digital skills across India," Chandok said.

Chandok believes that India is among the most-exciting markets globally for all technology companies, and for Microsoft.

"It is also one of the fastest-growing markets for Microsoft, one of the fastest-growing regions across the world, and that is the reason you are seeing a lot of commitment, a lot of investments, and a lot of impact," he said.

The company is bringing the concept of 'One Microsoft' together in India.

"We have got massive capabilities in India. IDC, which is a development centre, cloud plus AI, Microsoft Research has a massive presence in India, and marks one of the largest presence outside the US. We're bringing all of those capabilities together for our customers and working truly as 'one Microsoft' to make sure that the AI-for-everyone mission in India, is a reality," he said.

The company's India outlook is backed by strong traction it sees on demand and supply sides, as also the on-ground impact.

"From a demand perspective, more than 7,000 listed companies are in India... a massive runway... third largest startup ecosystem in the world. So we're excited about that... 60 million-plus small and medium businesses... So that is a real opportunity from a demand perspective.

"On the supply side, if I look at GitHub, India is just behind the US, and close to 15 million developers in India are now on GitHub. We will overtake the US in the next two or three years," he said, referring to the Microsoft-owned software development platform.

Citing estimates to back the company's optimism about the region, he said one is six AI researchers or AI developers in the world come from India.

"There's a recent study which said every fourth employee that will get added to the workforce in the next 10 years will come from India. So I think just the impact that we have on the world is incredibly important," he said.

The Microsoft India leader said AI conversations need to shift from challenges to real opportunities, given that the India market offers transformative opportunities across sectors.

Citing an example of just how AI is making a difference in India, he said, given that a sizable population here does not speak English, AI is helping drive local language push.

"...So it is reducing the digital divide, which is a fascinating opportunity," he said.

Chandok, however, pointed out that technologies that change the world must be built responsibly, and emphasised that Microsoft is fully committed to ensuring compliance with all the regulatory frameworks.

The regulatory conversations, across the globe, are pushing all tech companies, including Microsoft, to re-emphasise and reinforce the commitments on safeguarding data, privacy, transparency, removing biases.

He said 'security' has to be built by design, and can "never be an afterthought".

"It is job number one, security is above everything else. So we are focused on making sure that what we are building is secure for our customers, data is safeguarded, privacy, biases, transparency, all those principles are kept in mind as we build the products," he said.