Almost all employers in India who participated in a survey said their organisations would be driven by artificial intelligence (AI) by 2028. They were also willing to pay more for employees with the relevant skills.

According to Amazon Web Services (AWS) research on AI usage trends in workplaces, 99% of the employers surveyed expected their organisations to use AI-powered solutions and tools by 2028. The finance departments would be the biggest beneficiary of AI, said most (97%) employers. Others said IT (96%), research and development (96%), sales and marketing (96%), business operations (95%), HR (94%) and legal (92%) would get major benefits. Apart from that, 71% expected task automation to be the top benefit of AI.

The AWS survey — “Accelerating AI Skills: Preparing the Asia-Pacific Workforce for Jobs of the Future” — released recently was conducted by Access Partnership and covered 1,600 workers and 500 employers in India.

What this means in terms of skill requirements
The survey showed that technology would over time be used by workers of all levels of technical knowledge.The report highlighted that employers in India valued employees with strong AI skills. They were willing to pay at least 54% more to hire such talent. Employees also showed an interest to develop AI skills: 95% have shown keen interest, according to the survey.

AI skill-based salary hikes were expected across domains.

The survey’s findings suggested increments of over 65% for people in IT and 62% for employees in research and development. These areas with the highest expected pay increases corresponded with the areas where significant innovations and development of new use cases through generative AI were expected.

Motivations apart, employees wanted to be trained in AI as they saw it as a route to higher salaries, better job efficiency and career advancements. There was no gender gap in the expectations, with 96% of women responders looking at such upskilling.While 95% of the Gen Z were interested in upskilling, 90% of the baby boomers also showed an interest in upskilling. This indicates an interest in AI across career stages.

The other interesting insight was the possible impact of AI on non-technical roles. The full extent of AI productivity gains would be felt in 2028, by when the use of AI could see an increase across all levels of technical knowledge workers.

Rupa Chanda, Director of Trade, Investment and Innovation Division, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), said, “This report shows that the future of work demands a workforce equipped with AI proficiency to navigate emerging challenges and harness opportunities for sustainable and equitable economic growth and development as well as inclusive innovation.”

Despite interest, the AI skills gap needs more work to address
While hiring AI talent has become a priority for 96% of the employers in India, 79% said they cannot find the AI talent they need. The research also showed a training awareness gap: 91% of employers said they did not know how to implement an AI workforce training programme. Not just that, 86% of workers were not sure about the relevant career paths where AI skills would be useful.

The research highlighted the need for collaboration across stakeholders — governments, industries and educators — to implement the right skilling programmes and to help employees close the skilling gap.