AI education in India explained: Building a future-ready workforce

Artificial Intelligence (AI) education is growing rapidly in India, thanks to the government for the efforts to prepare the youth for the jobs of the future. A report released by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) states that “India’s AI Revolution: A Roadmap to Viksit Bharat” predicts that India might require over 1 million AI specialists as early as next year. An estimated 1 million skilled workers in Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be required in India by 2026 and the demand is predicted to reach that figure as early as next year. Many industries in India are already embracing AI which has caused this surge and supports the nation’s goal of growing to a 23–35 trillion dollars economy by 2047.

AI education in mainstream education

The government is supporting educational programs in AI at schools, colleges and universities. IndiaAI Future Skills is helping to integrate AI into education and now full-time PhD students in AI at top NIRF-ranked institutions qualify for fellowship opportunities. AI education is being quickly increased at undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral levels. AICTE has increased BTech seat approvals by 50% for 2024–25 and added new BTech courses in AI/Machine Learning, Data Science, Cybersecurity, Cloud Computing and Blockchain. To help startups, researchers and students afford high-performance computing and quality datasets, India is introducing the IndiaAI Dataset Platform and the Open GPU Marketplace.

 “The Centre of Excellence (CoE) should serve as an independent fulcrum of activities relating to AI and education. This, in my view, should result in creating application development teams composed of AI researchers, development engineers, designers, teachers, education experts, and others,” said Prof P J Narayanan, Director of IIIT Hyderabad, on LinkedIn.

AI education in India: Access in small towns

National Skilling Centres of Excellence and Data & AI Labs are opening, mainly in smaller cities, so that more people can get a chance to learn about AI and practice it. The government is setting up Data and AI Labs around the country to make sure students in Tier 2 and Tier 3 areas do not get disadvantaged. In Delhi, NIELIT has created a model lab, giving students from smaller towns an opportunity to try new technologies.

For 2024–25, the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has raised the BTech seats to 14.9 lakh which represents a 16% increase from the last four years. Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Science, Cybersecurity, Cloud Computing and Blockchain are growing rapidly, some of these areas doubling the number of available seats in just one year.

Higher education institutions began to adjust their curricula with the influence of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and include AI, 5G and semiconductor design. The main objective is to make sure graduates can work after graduating and meet industry needs.
There are five new AI courses available online on the SWAYAM Plus system from IIT Madras, for everyone from both student and working backgrounds. The goal of this step is to allow anyone to learn about AI, regardless of their previous experience.

AI education in India: Government and industry collaboration

The government has included Rs.500 crore in its plans for a Centre of Excellence in AI for Education as revealed in the Union Budget 2025-26. It will work on providing AI solutions for personal student learning, smart course content and virtual learning environments. It also tries to connect universities, leaders from industry and officials from the government in order to promote new ideas in AI education.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, “AI will play a pivotal role in bridging learning gaps, enabling real-time adaptive curricula, and equipping students with future-ready skills” on LinkedIn, 2025.

With the participation of both government and education institutions, India is swiftly growing a population capable of working in AI. Indias’ education system aims to develop technology leaders, not only offer jobs to students.