 "AI set to reshape 38 mn jobs in India by 2030, boost productivity: EY")
Artificial intelligence (AI) adoption could transform 38 million jobs by 2030, driving a 2.61 per cent productivity boost to the Indian economy through gains in the organised sector and a potential for additional 2.82 per cent with the adoption of Gen AI by the unorganized sector, said a report.
According to the EY India report, ‘How much productivity can GenAI unlock in India? The AIdea of India: 2025’, generative AI (GenAI) will revolutionise India’s workforce and transform the country’s economic landscape by 2030.
The report shows that 24 per cent of tasks across industries have the potential for full automation, while another 42 per cent can be enhanced through AI, freeing up between 8-10 hours per week for knowledge workers. At an industry level, the largest productivity gains are expected in the services sector due to its higher labour share to gross output while manufacturing and construction will see smaller impact.
EY’s analysis of over 10,000 tasks across industries shows varying productivity gains across sectors. Amongst the business processes to see the most impact is call centre management, which is likely to witness an 80 per cent productivity enhancement, and software development with a potential for 61 per cent growth in productivity.
Content development and distribution with 45 per cent, customer services at 44 per cent, and sales and marketing at 41 per cent follow. Productivity boost in IT/ITeS is expected to be around 19 per cent, followed by healthcare at 13 per cent and banking/insurance at 8-9 per cent. Auto and pharma can expect a marginal 2 per cent boost given a limited labour contribution to the gross output of these industries.
Rajiv Memani, Chairman and CEO, EY India, says, “GenAI is transforming India’s economic landscape by unlocking unprecedented opportunities across sectors. This revolution will fundamentally reshape jobs, driving productivity and innovation. Building talent pipelines and prioritising upskilling must be at the forefront of every organisation. By fostering public-private collaborations and investing in talent development, India can also become a global hub for AI skilled talent.”
Also Read
The EY report offers insights into the GenAI talent landscape and the adoption rate of enterprises. The findings arise from a comprehensive survey that engaged over 125 C-suite participants, revealing that skills shortages remain as a significant barrier to AI adoption. Only 3 per cent of Indian enterprises possess sufficient in-house talent and resources to make the most of what AI has to offer, while the remaining 97 per cent of executives cite lack of talent as a primary hurdle.
Discussing survey findings, Mahesh Makhija, Technology Consulting Leader, EY India, said, “In industries like financial services, healthcare and retail, AI will reshape basic processes including customer acquisition, operations and service, while IT/ITeS and BPO will undergo more dramatic changes. Next-generation industries like biotech, advanced manufacturing and renewables will have the potential to leapfrog to AI-first business models. To maximise the potential for economic growth, India needs to focus on AI policy agenda, compute infrastructure, AI research, addressing challenges in responsible governance, intellectual property rights, and data protection.”
Enterprise: POCs to productionalisation
While the promise of AI is vast, the survey reveals that adoption is still in its early stages. Only 15 per cent of surveyed enterprises have implemented GenAI in production, with 34 per cent having completed proof of concepts (POCs) and 11 per cent working on productionalising successful POCs.
About 8 per cent of those who have experimented with GenAI report having faced challenges in realizing tangible impact. On the other hand, a significant 36 per cent of survey participants have yet to commence any experimentation, reflecting the early stage of adoption.
Enterprises in India are also at different stages of data readiness. Only 3 per cent of surveyed enterprises report being fully ready, with 23 per cent reporting that they’re in no state of data readiness to take up AI deployments.
Focus on ROI and falling AI costs
Being able to measure Return on Investment (ROI) is critical for GenAI investment decisions. The report said that Indian enterprises also points to an inability to fully measure and allocate AI related costs. Of the 15 per cent of Indian enterprises that report having GenAI workloads in production, only 8 per cent (about half) report being able to fully measure and allocate AI costs. The survey highlights the need for a systematic means to predict the costs of, and measure the impact of, AI before we see greater adoption.