As India develops its own AI model, Rajat Khare emphasizes the importance of fostering homegrown AI talent. Discover how multilingual AI, research funding, and policy changes can transform India’s AI landscape.
India is standing at a unique moment in the global tech shift. The world is entering the age of artificial intelligence, and India, with its vast pool of engineers and data scientists, has all the right assets to lead. But one chronic problem continues to hold the country back: brain drain.
Roughly 15% of the world’s AI talent is attributed to India, but much of it is working abroad. “This abundance is not serving India’s technological interests as it ideally should” says Rajat Khare, a venture capitalist and the founder of Boundary Holding, a Luxembourg-based Investment firm.
Each year, thousands of skilled Indian tech professionals leave the country in search of better research opportunities, higher pay, and global exposure. It is crucial to reverse this trend for achieving India's AI ambitions, advocating for stronger industry-academia collaboration and investment in deep-tech startups to retain top talent.
The Rise of Indian AI
India’s digital infrastructure is already showing promise. The government is working on a homegrown large language model (LLM)—an AI system that could rival global products like ChatGPT. The project is backed by over 18,600 GPUs, giving India computing muscle to train world-class models.
Unlike Western models, India’s AI push has a unique goal: multilingual intelligence. With 22 official languages and hundreds of dialects, India has the opportunity to create tools that reflect its cultural and linguistic complexity—something no other country has attempted at this scale.
Why Talent is Still Leaving
India has talent. What it lacks—too often—is the environment to nurture and reward it. Public funding for research remains modest. Academia and industry often operate in silos. And salaries in global AI labs far exceed those in India.
Rajat Khare points out this disconnect needs urgent repair: “India’s tech talent pool is one of its most significant assets, but more and more talent is leaving for better returns.” He advocates for stronger industry-academia collaboration and a deeper commitment to funding AI research and startups.
Steps India Must Take Now
To stop the outflow of talent and make India a destination for innovation—not just education or outsourcing—policymakers and business leaders must act quickly:
Fund AI research: India needs more AI centers of excellence, not just in metros but in tier-2 cities as well.
Make staying worthwhile: Create AI fellowships, PhD incentives, and offer global-level pay for top-tier researchers.
Support deep-tech startups: Encourage investment into AI-focused ventures that solve local problems at scale.
Build international linkages: Invite Indian-origin researchers abroad to contribute to national projects—even remotely.
Showcase India’s ambition: Hosting the 2026 Global AI Summit in India is a chance to set the global agenda.
Khare notes that “India’s economy is positioned to reach $10 trillion in the near future. That means the opportunities available here will be globally competitive.”
A Multilingual Edge
India’s biggest AI advantage may come not from raw computation, but from language. An Indian-made AI that understands Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Telugu, and Marathi—not just grammatically, but culturally—can unlock real impact. It can serve rural populations, local businesses, and government programs in ways global tools can’t.
That makes AI a development tool as much as a commercial one. And it makes Indian talent not just relevant but essential to solving global problems.
India is no longer just a supplier of global tech labor. It is on track to become an AI superpower—if it keeps its talent at home.
The brain drain may have once seemed inevitable. Now, it looks like a policy failure we can fix. India must invest in its thinkers, reward its risk-takers, and build an ecosystem where innovation thrives—not elsewhere, but right here.
As Rajat Khare puts it, “The government has been actively promoting AI… but the real test will be how well we retain and nurture talent. That will decide whether we lead or follow.”
Comments
0 comment