Indian edtech sector rides the AI wave as upskilling gains momentum

The Indian edtech sector is experiencing a surge in demand for artificial intelligence (AI) courses, mirroring global trends. As AI becomes central to upskilling, a growing number of learners — from seasoned professionals to school students — are eager to explore and experiment with technology.

 

BrightCHAMPS, an edtech firm that delivers learning courses to students in the K-12 segment, found that 58 per cent of students globally are already integrating AI into their studies. In comparison, 36 per cent of them use the technology for their homework.

 

Ravi Bhushan, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of BrightCHAMPS told Business Standard that AI is one of the courses most in demand in the market.

 

“We exclusively launched a Gen AI course for kids. In the US, every fourth student is inquiring and enrolling in AI courses. India is not very far behind compared to the US. In fact, Indian parents are more curious than US parents,” he said.

 

The Gen AI course is among the seven flagship courses the company offers and though launched only eight-months back, it currently features among the top three best-selling courses.

 

Edtech unicorn Emeritus has introduced over 20 courses focused on machine learning and AI. At Emeritus, three of the top five online certificates are AI courses.

 

Bhushan Heda, chief operating officer, Emeritus, said, “We saw a surge of almost three- times in enrolments for AI courses in 2024 compared to 2023, with 75 per cent of our enrolments coming from professionals with more than 10 years of experience, primarily in IT, engineering, and consulting.”

 

According to the 2025 Global Workplace Skills Study, India is leading the way in AI adoption as 96 per cent of the professionals said they want to be AI-ready and upskill themselves.

 

Krishna Kumar, founder and CEO of Simplilearn shares that 30-40 per cent of the firm’s revenue comes from its AI offerings globally.

 

Kumar also highlights that it’s not just the engineers who are taking these courses, managers and leaders are too reskilling themselves.

 

“One segment is the technical community who wants to learn AI so that they are not left behind. Another segment is managers and leaders who want to understand how they can leverage AI in businesses,” Kumar said.

 

He added that if he were to rank the top five courses on Simplilearn, it would be all in AI only.

 

Imarticus Learning, another edtech firm offering professional courses, said up to 20 per cent of the company's offerings are in emerging technologies, including AI. One particular Gen AI course, directed to executives and learners, which is about the application of AI, is among the top five courses at the company, said Nikhil Barshikar, founder and managing director of the platform.

 

While AI courses are being latched on by aspirants, edtech platforms are also using AI to make sure their content is available for a large number of aspirants.

 

PhysicsWallah (PW) is using AI to bridge the language barrier for students. Under its Project Bharat, the course content will be scripted in regional languages, dubbed, and then enhanced with AI. According to the company, the approach aims to replicate the experience of lectures delivered in-person by the faculty.

 

PW also announced AI-driven tools such as Prep Meter and PW Books to enhance student learning. While Prep Meter is an advanced performance tracking system that provides personalised video recommendations for improvement, PW Books is a smart digital NCERT book available as a standalone app on the Play Store.