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New Delhi: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a disruptive technology and will replace a lot of repetitive jobs, but will also create new opportunities and India has to be prepared for this realignment, the government’s top science advisor said.
In an interview with PTI ahead of the AI Impact Summit, Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India, said efforts are on to train the youth in this area of emerging technology.
Sood also said the government is also establishing more AI and data labs in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities to provide hands-on exposure to tools, data-set and problem-solving environments.
“It’s a new disruptive technology. Now, whenever a new technology comes, there is a job realignment. But at the same time, new jobs will open up,” the top scientist said, citing the introduction of computers in the 1990s.
“I see a huge future but people have to be ready for this change. In the 1990s, we never thought that all reservations would be done through a computer. We thought we will lose all the jobs which involved doing reservation on a register. But you see, people immediately got trained, re-skilled and it was wonderfully done. So this is one of those moments,” Sood said.
He said AI will lead to a whole set of new jobs in sectors as diverse as agriculture and finance.
The top scientist asserted that the government’s focus is on diffusing the impact of AI technologies across the length and breadth of the country.
“India’s primary expectation from the AI Impact Summit is to foster global convergence on AI’s future direction based on shared priorities and a common vision.
“As the name suggests — AI Impact Summit — we would like to see how the impact of AI can be felt by the people, the major stakeholders, and organisations,” Sood said.
He said the government is keen on ensuring that the benefits of AI should not be concentrated non-uniformly, but available to all people. “So the impact is the major goal of this while taking into account issues of safe use and other associated risks along with it,” Sood said.
He also made a strong pitch for the use of AI by Micro, Medium and Small Enterprises to enhance the quality of their products.
“That is the one which we need to accelerate. Honestly, it has to diffuse. It has not diffused enough,” Sood said.
India launched its own AI Mission in 2024 with a focus on seven pillars - developing computing facilities, applications, creation of datasets, foundation models, start-up financing, initiatives for skilling, and responsible adoption through safe and trusted AI.
Sood said the skill development aspect of India’s AI mission aims to support more than 500 PhD fellows, 5,000 post-graduates and 8,000 undergraduates in a graded fashion.
He said the government is also encouraging startups to come on board and forge international partnerships with ‘Station F’, the biggest start-ups campus based in Paris.
This post was last modified on January 28, 2026 12:29 pm