AI to double innovation rate in India by 2021: Study

New Delhi, May 27 (IANS) Artificial Intelligence (AI) is expected to more than double the rate of innovation and employee productivity in India by 2021, said a new Microsoft-IDC study on Monday.

While only one-third of organisations in India have embarked on their AI journeys, those companies that have adopted this technology expect it to increase their competitiveness by 2.3 times in 2021, said the study that surveyed 200 business leaders and 202 workers in the country.

"Economies and businesses that have yet to embark on their AI journey run a real risk of missing out on the competitive benefits that are enjoyed by leaders," said Rohini Srivathsa, National Technology Officer, Microsoft India.

According to the findings, India needs to build upon its investment, data and strategy in order to accelerate its AI journey.

The study also underlined the need for cultural changes and skilling and re-skilling workforces to make AI work for the country.

The rise of AI means that there was a necessity for workers to re-skill and upskill to remain relevant and play a part in the workforce of tomorrow, Srivathsa said.

"The jobs of today will not be the jobs of tomorrow, and we have already seen demand for software engineering roles expand rapidly beyond just the tech sector," Srivathsa added.

To help developers and organiaations build expertise in Cloud computing, data sciences, AI and Internet of Things (IoT), Microsoft on Monday also announced the roll out of the "Week of AI", a specially curated five-day workshop series.

The session will be addressed by data scientists and AI experts from companies such as Flipkart, Reliance Jio and InMobi that are leading the way in transforming their businesses and the industry with technology, Microsoft said.

To meet the AI skills required by business leaders, Microsoft had announced the launch of its AI Business School earlier this year.