India doubled its artificial intelligence (AI) workforce in 2019 following the advancement in technology and the adoption of business intelligence. Yet, there are a large number of vacancies across sectors due to a talent gap, according to a study. The number of AI professionals in India grew to 72,000 in 2019 from 40,000 last year, as the number of companies working on AI projects tripled to 3,000 this year from 1,000 in 2018, according to a study on Indian AI industry by edtech company, Great Learning. Large scale adoption of business intelligence, rising AI-based optimisation of enterprise processes, improved data management across organisations, and bigger budgetary allocations from the government, aided this growth, it added. However, the study found that close to 2,500 positions related to AI continued to remain vacant this year, due to lack of talent, despite the growth in the number of AI professionals.

India doubled its artificial intelligence (AI) workforce in 2019 following advancement in technology and adoption of business intelligence, yet there are a large number of vacancies across sectors due to talent gap, according to a study. The number of AI professionals in India grew to 72,000 in 2019 from 40,000 last year as the number of companies working on AI projects tripled to 3,000 this year from 1,000 in 2018, according to a study on Indian AI industry by ed-tech company Great Learning. Large scale adoption of business intelligence, rising AI-based optimisation of enterprise processes, improved data management across organisations and bigger budgetary allocations from the government aided this growth, it added. However, the study found that close to 2,500 positions related to AI continued to remain vacant this year due to lack of talent despite the growth in number of AI professionals. The study is based on a survey among Indian professionals in AI and Machine Learning industry with varying years of experience, ranging from freshers to mid and senior level executives, across sectors. According to the study, Indian AI industry's revenue doubled in size to USD 415 million (about Rs 2,950 crore) in 2019 from USD 230 million (about Rs 1,600 crore) in 2018.