A majority of Indian employees working with enterprise companies are interested in skilling themselves and getting equipped with artificial intelligence, according to a recent AI and Skilling survey by Microsoft.

According to the survey, a majority of firms are confident ofthe returns from AI and skilling.

“The overall number of Indian employees interested in skilling (85 per cent) is more than double that of employees across all surveyed markets (38 per cent). 98 per cent of all employees were keen to participate in re-skilling programmes,” according to the report.

“The research further highlights that employees from mature AI companies are eager to deepen their skills and reinvest freed up time to add value for the organisation,” it said.

According to the organisation leaders surveyed by the tech giant, half of all employees in enterprise companies will be equipped with AI skills in the next 6-10 years.

According to over 93 per cent of senior executives, their business was gaining value from AI.

In companies where “AI is a part of the corporate strategy and is embedded into the company’s offerings,” 100 per cent of them said that they were actively skilling their employees. 98 per cent of such firms were increasing investments in skilling while over 93 per cent of employees in these firms had already been part of re-skilling programs.

About 98 per cent of the employees from these AI leading businesses were “highly motivated” for reskilling.

The companies are also looking for such AI skills while hiring. According to the survey, 93 per cent of AI leading businesses “were actively hiring skilled workers or had plans to, to complement their internal skilling programs,” according to the report.

More than “97 per cent of business leaders in India are willing to provide financial rewards in some form, fast track promotion or a combination of both in order to promote job satisfaction and a higher level of AI-relevant skills among employees,” it added.

Rohini Srivathsa, National Technology Officer, Microsoft India, said, “As we look to rebound and reimagine the future after months of economic fluidity, technology will play a key role in rebooting enterprises. AI is at the heart of digital transformation — which has accelerated at an extraordinary pace — and will continue to play a critical role in helping businesses be more agile, resilient and competitive during this time. However, the path of unlocking the full potential of AI lies in combining its deployment with skilling initiatives that focus on both tech and soft skills. We believe this will be important for us to emerge from this crisis successfully.”

The report was based on a global survey by Microsoft with approximately 12,000 people working with enterprise companies. Enterprise companies were defined as organisations with more than 250 employees.

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