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    BUSINESS & TRADE                                                          MAY 29, 2026     |  The Indian Eye 36

              AI Moves From India’s Tech Sector

                             to the Core of Its Economy

               From hiring trends and digital infrastructure to rural broadband and state policy, artificial

                    intelligence is rapidly reshaping India’s economic model and future growth strategy.

            OUR BUREAU
            New Delhi / Lucknow / Thiruvananthapuram
                  rtificial intelligence is no longer just a technol-
                  ogy story in India. It is becoming an econom-
            Aic story — one that is influencing hiring pat-
            terns, government policy, infrastructure investment,
            industrial planning and even rural development.
                Over  the  past  week,  three  separate  develop-
            ments from different parts of the country high-
            lighted how deeply AI is beginning to shape India’s
            future economy. A sharp rise in AI-linked hiring,
            Uttar Pradesh’s ambitious plans to become a glob-
            al AI infrastructure hub, and Kerala’s creation of a
            cabinet-level AI ministry together point to a broad-
            er national transformation.
                The clearest evidence of that shift is emerging
            in India’s labour market.
                A report by TeamLease EdTech showed fresher
            hiring intent in India’s marketing and advertising
            sector jumping from 11 per cent in the first half of   The Foundation stone laying ceremony for the Google Cloud AI Data Center was helf in Visakhapatnam last month (ANI File Photo)
            2025 to 62 per cent in the same period of 2026. The
            surge is being driven by demand for candidates with   “Employers are looking for candidates who can   Under “Project Ganga,” the government plans to
            skills in AI,  analytics,  marketing  automation  and   work across platforms, interpret performance data,  expand high-speed broadband infrastructure across
            digital operations.                           and contribute to revenue-focused digital strategies   rural areas and train more than 10,000 youth as Dig-
                According to the report, hiring is increasingly   from day one,” he said.              ital Service Providers. The initiative aims to support
            moving away from traditional creative roles towards   The shift is visible across India’s major urban   telemedicine, digital education, AI-based agricul-
            technology-enabled jobs such as Digital Campaign   centres. Pune recorded the highest demand for Ads   ture, drone monitoring and rural entrepreneurship.
            Analyst, AI Marketing Associate and Ads Opera-  Operations  Executives,  while  Hyderabad  led  hir-  The project seeks to connect more than 20 lakh
            tions Executive.                              ing for Digital Campaign Analysts, underlining the   households through fibre-based internet networks,
               “The findings indicate growing demand for dig-  growing importance of analytics-driven roles.  reflecting how AI-driven economic growth increas-
            itally skilled talent as brands continue to scale in-  But India’s AI transformation extends well be-  ingly depends on digital infrastructure reaching
            vestments in digital  advertising,  social commerce,  yond corporate hiring.               smaller towns and villages.
            creator-led marketing ecosystems, and perfor-    In Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Aditya-  Officials noted that technologies such as smart
            mance-driven campaign strategies,” the report said.  nath reviewed an ambitious strategy aimed at mak-  villages, cloud computing and AI-based agriculture
                The  change  reflects  a  deeper  restructuring   ing the state a global AI and data infrastructure hub.  require broadband networks far beyond the capa-
            of India’s service economy. For years, marketing   The Uttar Pradesh Data Center Cluster project is   bilities of standard mobile internet.
            and advertising depended heavily on creative cam-  designed to create what officials described as the   At the same time, southern states are also repo-
            paigns and brand positioning. Today, companies  “largest AI compute power center in India and the   sitioning themselves for the AI era.
            are increasingly using AI tools to analyse customer   Global South.”                          The new government in Kerala this week created
            behaviour, automate campaigns and measure con-   The state government described the initiative   a dedicated Artificial Intelligence department at the
            sumer engagement in real time.                as “a blueprint for the new economic structure of   cabinet level for the first time. The portfolio was as-
                Shantanu Rooj said employers now view mar-  Uttar Pradesh for the next 50 years.”      signed to senior leader P. K. Kunhalikutty along with
            keting as a measurable business function powered   The scale of the ambition is enormous. Officials   Industries, Commerce and Information Technology.
            by technology and data.                       said the project aims to support a $5 trillion econ-  The move reflects how AI is increasingly being
               “What stands out in the current hiring cycle is   omy, create more than 1.5 million direct jobs and   integrated into mainstream economic governance
            that marketing is increasingly being treated as a   develop a 5 GW AI compute corridor by 2040.  rather than treated as a specialised technology sector.
            measurable business function rather than only a   The  strategy  is  built  around  sectors  expected   Together, these developments show that India’s
            creative one,” Rooj said. “Entry-level hiring today is   to dominate the future global economy — AI soft-  AI transition is unfolding on multiple levels simulta-
            being shaped by campaign analytics, marketing au-  ware, cloud services, cybersecurity, semiconductors,  neously. Companies are restructuring hiring around
            tomation, ad operations, and AI-assisted execution.”  robotics, electric vehicles and aerospace technology.  automation and analytics. States are competing to
                He added that companies increasingly expect   Importantly, the Uttar Pradesh strategy links   attract AI infrastructure and investment. Govern-
            fresh graduates to contribute immediately to busi-  AI not only to urban technology hubs but also to ru-  ments are redesigning policy around digital econo-
            ness performance.                             ral transformation.                          mies and future technologies.

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