India will be leader in AI diffusion at scale, new jobs will come from small businesses: Nandan Nilekani

Nandan Nilekani, Chairman & Co-founder of Infosys, predicts India will lead in AI diffusion and creation of new jobs at scale, according to a Bloomberg New Economy forum 2026 interview. Nilekani emphasized that AI technology cannot be controlled or monopolized as thousands of models will emerge. Small businesses, already a strong sector in India, will create millions of new jobs as AI-proof positions such as manual labor remain unautomatable.

Once India embraces small business growth, companies will hire a few employees each, leading to job creation enabled by open networks and AI. This shift in the job market is unprecedented, making it difficult to predict a timeline for its occurrence. Additionally, coding productivity will improve, and new roles in client understanding and collaboration will be introduced.

While the competition between US and China over AI supremacy is a topic of discussion, Nilekani asserts that AI is not a limiting factor and will be developed by numerous players. India's expertise in implementing advanced technology on a large scale positions it to become a global leader in AI diffusion. Lastly, Nilekani highlights AI's potential to revolutionize India's education sector, improving literacy and numeracy for millions of citizens by enabling better access to information through technology.