India Secures 13th Rank Globally in AI Economy Readiness: QS Report

Pune: India has secured the 13th position globally in AI economy readiness, according to the newly released QS World Future Skills Index 2027 by QS Quacquarelli Symonds, underscoring the country’s growing digital capabilities while highlighting the need to strengthen graduate skills quality to fully capitalize on the opportunities created by artificial intelligence and digital transformation.

The report, released by global higher education experts QS Quacquarelli Symonds, states that India has achieved exceptional scale in its education and digital workforce ecosystem over the past decade.

However, to maximize the benefits of digital transformation and improve AI Economy Readiness, the country must ensure greater consistency in the quality of skills among graduates.

Commenting on the findings, Nunzio Quacquarelli, President, QS, said: “The size of India’s digital workforce is rapidly attaining a scale that few other countries can match.

It already possesses the world’s largest IT workforce, and the largest number of tertiary-educated individuals in the world. These ingredients give India the potential to be the fastest-growing economy in the world over the next decade.

“Our research suggests that a critical challenge is now raising the median quality of talent that its institutions produce, as well as addressing capacity hurdles.

India’s National Education Policy 2020 is an ambitious attempt to address these challenges, but its implementation must now be scaled evenly across regions.

Transnational education partnerships including branch campuses, and collaborative delivery models, complemented by its rising research strengths, can further support India to close skills gaps faster and expand global talent pipelines.”

Also Read: QS World University Rankings 2027: IIT Delhi Equals India’s Best-Ever Global Ranking as 18 Universities Hit Record Highs

The QS World Future Skills Index evaluates how effectively economies can develop, align and apply skills in a rapidly evolving global economy.

The study assesses the readiness of 89 countries to harness economic opportunities arising from artificial intelligence through a talent supply and demand analysis.

It combines QS’s proprietary higher education and skills data with internationally recognized third-party indicators to measure AI Economy Readiness across nations.

The report comes at a time when projections indicate that successful AI adoption could contribute an additional $500 billion to the Indian economy by 2030, further emphasizing the importance of enhancing AI Economy Readiness.

Among the report’s key findings, India recorded the world’s highest score of 100 out of 100 in the Economic Capacity sub-indicator.

This achievement reflects India’s robust GDP growth, sustained labour market investments, and continued infrastructure development. India has also remained the fastest-growing economy within the G20 over the past three years.

The report identifies India as one of the world’s most significant higher education opportunities. While India ranks fifth globally in the Future of Work indicator, it stands 18th in Skills Alignment.

According to the report, this gap highlights a mismatch between labour market transformation and the ability of educational institutions to produce graduates with AI, digital and green skills at scale.

With India’s AI-related investments reaching $90 billion by February 2026, strengthening AI Economy Readiness through relevant skills development will be essential to advancing affordable and accessible AI solutions for public benefit.

Additionally, the report notes that green talent will be critical for achieving India’s net-zero emissions target by 2070 and supporting the broader vision of Viksit Bharat 2047.

The report further notes that India now faces the challenge of ensuring that graduate quality matches graduate quantity. India ranks 73rd in the Human Capital Index indicator, signalling that institutions must significantly enhance their ability to produce highly skilled graduates in line with economic requirements.

India currently possesses the world’s largest IT workforce, comprising approximately 5.8 million domain workers. However, continued upskilling and reskilling will be essential to maintain and improve AI Economy Readiness as technological disruption accelerates.

Among lower-middle-income nations and South Asian countries, India emerged as the leading performer. The report identifies Bangladesh, ranked 67th overall, as India’s nearest regional peer, while the Philippines, ranked 38th overall, is its closest peer among lower-middle-income economies.

The report also highlights that the balance between AI-augmented and AI-automated jobs will significantly influence India’s long-term economic competitiveness.

Economies such as the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom and Germany lead workforce transformation because a larger share of their workforce is engaged in occupations where AI enhances rather than replaces human productivity.

For India, sustained investment in future-focused industries and the strategic deployment of AI across agriculture, healthcare, financial services and business services will be vital for strengthening AI Economy Readiness and maintaining competitiveness.

However, sectors such as business process outsourcing and call centres remain vulnerable to automation, while agriculture offers comparatively fewer opportunities for AI augmentation.

The report also points to persistent global skills gaps, noting that employer demand for AI, digital and green skills is rising faster than traditional educational systems can adapt.

It emphasizes that addressing these challenges requires coordinated action involving higher education policy, funding mechanisms, curriculum governance, institutional agility, employer investment and lifelong learning initiatives.

According to the report, the pace of AI-driven industrial transformation is currently outstripping change within higher education systems.

Although countries including the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, Switzerland and Germany rank highly in Future of Work readiness, higher education institutions globally will need significant transformation to keep pace with evolving workforce demands.

This includes faster adaptation of academic programmes, curriculum content and institutional operating models.