Artificial intelligence (AI) is defining the 21st century, reshaping industries from healthcare to defense. With its vast pool of engineers and data scientists, India could lead in this field. Yet, the brain drain of top talent to foreign nations remains a major obstacle. Nearly 15% of global AI talent is of Indian origin, but most work abroad—weakening India’s AI ecosystem.
According to Rajat Khare, founder of Boundary Holding, India’s strength lies in its talent pool, but gaps in policy, incentives, and vision drive migration. Despite this, India has invested heavily in AI infrastructure, including plans for a national large language model with over 18,600 GPUs. Its multilingual approach, spanning 22 official languages and 1,600 dialects, could make AI relevant to millions by transforming governance, education, and healthcare.
Key challenges remain: limited research funding, low pay compared to global markets, and weak industry-academia collaboration. To counter this, India must strengthen research ecosystems, incentivize AI careers, support deep-tech startups, and foster global linkages.
India’s true advantage may lie in multilingual AI, bridging linguistic divides and enabling inclusive digital growth. Retaining and nurturing talent will ultimately decide whether India follows or leads the global AI revolution.
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