India doubles its AI workforce in 2019, but faces talent shortage: Great Learning

PUNE: India has doubled its artificial intelligence (AI) workforce to 72,000 in 2019 from 40,000 in 2018, but 2,500 positions are still vacant, according to a study by ed-tech company Great Learning. About 3,000 companies said that they were working on AI projects of some nature in 2019, a growth of 200% over 2018. According to the study, Indian AI industry has also doubled in size with revenues of $415 million in 2019, compared to $230 million a year ago. Most of this growth has been powered by experienced professionals who have transitioned into a career in AI by upskilling themselves over the last few years, with 65% of AI professionals in India transitioning to their current role from other fields in the last 2 years. The number of freshers joining the field has also grown to 6,000 in 2019 from 3,700 last year.