06 Jun
Representational image | Photo by fauxels via Pexels
Coursera’s Global Skills Report 2025 paints a promising yet urgent picture of India’s talent
landscape—widespread learning activity and Gen AI interest, but deeper capability gaps exist beneath the surface. At LookAheadNow, we reflect on the urgent actions needed to bridge these gaps and seize this generational opportunity.
According to the report, India’s Gen AI boom is real, but there is a capability gap. Here are the
essentials for leaders, policymakers, HR professionals and working professionals:
- Talent crunch: Vacancies for AI, ML, and analytics roles are forecast to top one million by 2026, with some positions (e.g., ML engineers, data scientists) facing shortages as high as 73% .
- Gender imbalance persists: Despite surging interest in Gen AI learning, women remain markedly under-represented in advanced AI upskilling pathways.
- What employers want: Beyond core AI/ML, the most-requested capabilities include “customer service, curiosity, self-awareness and talent management”—signalling demand for a blend of tech depth and human-centric skills.
What Needs to Happen Next – A LookAheadNow Perspective
- Professionals: Support AI fundamentals with power skills like critical thinking and customer orientation, to stay employable in an automation-heavy market. Build your irreplaceable human skills that makes you relevant.
- Gender inclusivity: Fast-track women-focused AI scholarships and bring industry-aligned certificates into formal curricula.
- Industry and Academia: Embed hands-on AI projects into skilling programmes and hire for potential, not pedigree. Academia to work with Industry and build AI-ready talent across sectors
- Policy & Ecosystem Leaders: AI adoption needs a whole-of-nation push—every sector, every ministry, and all governments at federal and state level and academia, working together to drive inclusive, coordinated impact
- Entrepreneurs & Investors: It’s time to build AI-first startups that tackle India’s real-world challenges—across technology, health, education, climate, and beyond.
Read the full Coursera Global Skills Report 2025 here: Global Skills Report 2025 | Coursera
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Vijay Sampath 
