- The artificial intelligence market is valued at $6.4b with IT services sector leading the adoption followed by technology and BSFI sectors, new research says.
- Technology and data continue to remain one of the main impediments faced by the industry in India followed by the ability to prove a return on investment, talent, culture and trust, regulation and ethics.
Bengaluru: The Artificial Intelligence sector in India would be valued at $6.8 billion by end of 2021 and reach $11.4 billion by 2025 even as the Covid-19 pandemic has marginally hindered the growth estimates.
IT services sector will be a major player leading the adoption followed by technology and BSFI sectors. As per a new report by Analytics India Magazine (AIM), in association with Jigsaw Academy, Bengaluru leads the cities in terms of available open jobs for AI, although Mumbai leads in terms of remuneration and talent pool.
Another report by Nasscom and EY earlier this week points out that most CEO’s in India believe that operational efficiency, customer experience and revenue growth are the top three reasons for implementing AI, even as the ability to prove a return on investment, talent, culture and trust, regulation and ethics along with technology and data continue to remain as major impediments.
The report, based on a survey of over 500 CXOs across India to study the maturity of AI adoption along with key challenges, pointed out that most industry leaders believe that strategic planning and integrated governance act as key AI enablers.
BFSI to lead
More than half of the surveyed expressed confidence and trust in AI to make strategic and/or operational decisions.
The survey also noted that from amongst the four key focus sectors, BFSI continues to lead the AI adoption followed by retail, healthcare and agriculture sectors.
As per the AIM report, the Banking, Financial Services and Insurance sector in India, which were some of the first to utilise data science services in an effort to derive insights on consumers, are continuing to use digital services to gain a competitive advantage.
The BFSI is next only to the core IT and technology sectors in terms of AI adoption and contributes to the tune of $615.3 million in market value and 9.6 per cent in market share.
IT services industry or sector has the highest share of the AI market at 41.4 per cent and $2625 million in market value with TCS and Accenture being the largest contributors of market share in this industry category.
The report also added that the Indian AI market has moved on from being a back-office service provider to global companies to driving key R&D initiatives of AI platforms and technologies across several sectors and enterprises.
“By investing in AI technologies, platforms and services, NITI Aayog, Nasscom, Educational Institutions, the Indian IT firms, and various Technology & Engineering enterprises are transforming India into a hub of AI research and development,” the report noted.
Although the number of job openings within the sector dropped marginally during the past three months due to Covid-19, the number of openings are expected to pick up in 2021.
Bangalore leads the list of cities with the number of open jobs in AI though Mumbai continues to pay higher salaries of its experienced professionals even as the country is experiencing severe skill shortages.
Currently, there are about 91000 AI personnel working, earning anywhere between Rs600,000 to 1.5 million per annum.