Demand for Al professionals in India projected to touch 1 million by 2026

India is poised to see a massive surge in demand for Artificial Intelligence (AI) professionals, with projections estimating the need for one million skilled individuals by 2026, according to the report India's AI Revolution: A Roadmap to Viksit Bharat, released by the Union Ministry of Electronics & IT.

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As the country aspires to become a USD 23-USD 35 trillion economy by 2047, higher education-particularly in engineering-is undergoing a fundamental transformation to meet the demands of a rapidly evolving job market shaped by AI, automation, and interdisciplinary innovation.Engineering education is at the heart of this shift. According to the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the number of approved B. Tech seats for the 2024-25 academic year has risen to 14.9 lakh-a nearly 16 per cent increase over four years.

This growth is largely driven by a more than 50 per cent rise in seats for Computer Science and allied streams such as AI/ML, Data Science, Cybersecurity, Cloud Computing, and Blockchain--mirroring strong industry demand.India's tech education landscape is increasingly embracing interdisciplinary and industry-integrated learning to nurture a new generation of engineers who can code, create, collaborate, and lead innovation.