The Missing Pieces in India’s AI Puzzle: Talent, Data, and R&D

Mar 13, 2025

Anirudh Suri, a nonresident scholar with Carnegie India, delves into the crucial elements of India's AI landscape. He discusses how U.S. and China lead in AI, leaving India striving for recognition. Suri emphasizes that India's ambitions hinge on developing talent, enhancing research and development, and securing access to quality data. He suggests collaborative strategies, like creating research hubs and fostering international partnerships, to overcome challenges in talent migration and investment gaps, positioning India to thrive in the global tech arena.

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INSIGHT

India's AI Strategy Missing Essentials

India focuses on AI compute and foundational models but lacks emphasis on talent, data, and R&D.
Without these three, India cannot realize its ambition to become a global AI leader.

ADVICE

Integrate Compute with AI Ecosystem

India must advance its AI compute efforts in parallel with talent, data, and R&D development.
Compute alone only supports applications but not cutting-edge AI innovation.

INSIGHT

India's AI Talent Challenges

India suffers global AI talent shortage compounded by migration and suboptimal talent mix.
Top-tier AI research talent is scarce domestically, limiting cutting-edge innovation potential.

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Anirudh Suri outlines the current AI landscape, discussing how the U.S. and China dominate the AI space while other nations, including India, strive to carve their own niches. The discussion focuses on India's AI strategy, which has emphasized well on compute resources and the procurement of GPUs. However, Suri argues that India's AI ambitions will remain incomplete unless equal emphasis is placed on talent, data, and R&D.

Key challenges in these areas include the migration of top AI talent, the lack of proprietary data for Indian researchers, and insufficient investment in AI R&D. The conversation also explores potential solutions, such as creating AI research hubs, encouraging data-sharing frameworks, and fostering international partnerships to accelerate AI innovation.

Episode Contributors

Anirudh Suri is a nonresident scholar with Carnegie India. His interests lie at the intersection of technology and geopolitics, climate, and strategic affairs. He is currently exploring how India is carving and cementing its role in the global tech ecosystem and the role climate technology can play in addressing the global climate challenge.

Shatakratu Sahu is a senior research analyst and senior program manager with the Technology and Society program at Carnegie India. His research focuses on issues of emerging technologies and regulation of technologies. His current research interests include digital public infrastructure, artificial intelligence, and platform regulation issues of content moderation and algorithmic accountability.

Additional Readings

The Missing Pieces in India’s AI Puzzle: Talent, Data, and R&D by Anirudh Suri
India’s Advance on AI Regulation by Amlan Mohanty, Shatakratu Sahu
India’s Opportunity at the AI Action Summit by Shatakratu Sahu
India’s Way Ahead on AI – What Should We Look Out For? by Konark Bhandari

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