India could face a shortage of more than 1 million artificial intelligence workers by 2027, staffing firms and experts told ET. The widening gap between demand and supply is emerging as a major constraint as companies race to deploy AI at scale.
Demand for AI professionals could reach 2.3 million by 2027, against an available talent pool of about 1.2 million, according to some estimates. The shortage is most severe in production and deployment-focused roles, with generative AI deployment talent facing a gap of nearly 83%. Around 80% of employers are struggling to find the AI talent they need, while hiring timelines for niche AI roles have stretched beyond 90 days. The shortage is increasingly affecting companies’ ability to move AI projects beyond pilot stages and into full-scale deployment.
The talent crunch comes at a time when companies across sectors, from information technology services and global capability centres to banks, healthcare firms and manufacturers, are ramping up investments in AI.
“The demand-supply imbalance is becoming more visible as AI adoption moves from experimentation to enterprise-wide deployment,” said Sanketh Chengappa, director at staffing firm Adecco India. In generative AI, the firm estimates, there is currently only one qualified engineer available for every ten open roles.
The shortage is being felt most acutely in specialised deployment roles rather than research positions.
According to staffing firm Quess Corp, GenAI deployment talent faces a shortage of 82.9%.
