Education, IT, manufacturing, and healthcare are actively training and exposing employees to Artificial Intelligence (AI), while retail and trade, and infrastructure are laggards in this aspect, states a report released by Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIMA), Friday.
A surprise finding in this study is the finance and insurance industry not featuring among the top industries in training and exposing their employees to AI – but this shortfall in perception may be due to the higher expectations from these industries, states an official release.
The release relates to the report by the Brij Disa Centre for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (CDSA) at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA), in collaboration with the Wadhwani Foundation, on the perceived and expected impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on Indian white-collar workers.
The perception survey reveals some structural weaknesses which need to be addressed, it states. The current graduation/postgraduate setup is not optimal for the AI era.
The awareness and adoption of AI tools and AI training are low among recent graduates and entry-level workers (less than five years of experience). This may indicate a gap in their current education and training, which organisations can address through training and upskilling programmes.
The report also found 55 percent of surveyed employees having used AI tools at their workplaces. Furthermore, 48 percent of survey participants indicated that their organisations provided them training to use these tools.
It also found 68 percent of employees expecting AI to partially or fully automate their jobs within the next five years. Further, 40 percent of them were concerned that their current skills may become redundant. While 53 percent of respondents thought AI will create new jobs.
This research report represents one of the earliest efforts to understand AI’s impact on India’s white-collar workforce, offering valuable insights for policymakers, business leaders, and the academic community for informed policy-making, strategic planning, and effective workforce development initiatives.
The findings are based on detailed interviews with 31 business executives, a field survey of over 550 white-collar employees, and an analysis of over 70,000 job vacancies in India from public data sources, the release added.