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Currently, India boasts over 600,000 AI professionals, with this figure anticipated to increase to 1.25 million by 2027. | Photo Credit: Dado Ruvic
India’s AI market is projected to grow threefold, reaching $17 billion by 2027, positioning the country as one of the fastest-growing AI economies, according to a BCG report. Currently, India boasts over 600,000 AI professionals, with this figure anticipated to increase to 1.25 million by 2027. Furthermore, India represents 16 per cent of the global AI talent pool, ranking second only to the US.
The report titled “India’s AI Leap: BCG Perspective on Emerging Challengers”, explores how Indian enterprises across sectors are moving from experimentation to measurable value creation. The report highlights how AI is driving not only operational efficiency, but also market expansion, faster decision-making, and innovation-led growth.
The supporting infrastructure is also evolving rapidly. India plans to add 45 new data centres by 2025, bringing 1,015 MW of additional capacity to an already robust network of 152 centres. Under the Centre’s IndiaAI mission, a ₹10,000-crore investment will build national AI compute capacity, including access to 10,000+ GPUs for model training and AI research.
India’s startup ecosystem is keeping pace. With 4,500-plus AI startups, 40 per cent of which were launched in the last three years, the country is fostering innovation across sectors, from health-tech and agri-tech to logistics and fintech.
Many of these ventures are focused on solving uniquely Indian challenges using AI, making them globally relevant. With its talent, scale, infrastructure, and policy tailwinds, India is not just poised to adopt AI, it is positioned to help define how AI shapes the global economy, the report said.
The report observed that public digital infrastructure - including Aadhaar, UPI, and ONDC, combined with rising enterprise investment, created fertile ground for scalable AI innovation.
“AI is no longer an option but a business necessity. Indian companies are using it to leapfrog traditional growth curves and compete confidently on the global stage. While the hurdle rate for successful deployment is high, the rewards are even higher, and the results speak for themselves. What separates the leaders is not just the tech, but how they manage change, build talent, and embed AI into the fabric of their organization,” said Mandeep Kohli, Managing Director and Partner, BCG India.
Published on June 11, 2025
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