Intro: The future rarely arrives with a warning. It reshapes industries, rewrites careers and changes the rules of success long before most people notice. As economies worldwide navigate unprecedented disruption, a critical question emerges: who will thrive, who will struggle and what will separate the winners from the rest? In this thought-provoking exclusive conversation with senior journalist Mahima Sharma, economist and public policy expert Dr. Prateek Kukreja shares perspectives that challenge conventional assumptions and offer a compelling glimpse into what may lie ahead. Our Socio-economic Voice of the week at Indiastat.
MS: As AI transforms jobs globally, how can India turn its young population into the world’s largest future-ready workforce instead of just a low-cost labour market?
Dr. Kukreja: I think India is actually at a very interesting turning point right now. On one hand, we have a huge demographic advantage—around 65% of our population is in the working-age group. That’s potentially the largest pool of young talent in the world. At the same time, we are already seeing strong momentum in AI. Hiring in AI roles has been growing at roughly 33% annually and our AI talent base has more than tripled since 2016. In fact, according to the Stanford Global AI Index, India’s AI skill penetration is about 2.5 times the global average in comparable roles.
But the real issue isn’t the number of people—it’s the number of skilled people. And that’s where the challenge lies. The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 says that about 39% of current job skills are expected to change by 2030. So we are not just preparing people for new jobs, we are also preparing them for jobs that don’t even fully exist yet.
So, in my view, India has to move beyond the idea of being just a low-cost labour market. The focus should be on building an AI-enabled workforce across sectors. Because the future isn’t just about producing more coders or AI engineers—it’s about making every profession more productive using AI. So you could have AI-enabled teachers, nurses, factory workers, logistics professionals, even small entrepreneurs who are using AI tools in their day-to-day work.
To make this happen, I think there are three key priorities.
First is AI literacy. Just like digital literacy became essential over the last decade, AI literacy now needs to become a basic skill. This has to start early—in schools, colleges and also in vocational training. Initiatives like the IndiaAI Mission and Centres of Excellence are steps in the right direction, but they need to scale much faster.
Second is industry-linked skilling. Today, employers are valuing practical skills much more than just degrees. And with technology changing so quickly, one-time education isn’t enough anymore. We need stronger apprenticeship systems, continuous upskilling and things like micro-credentials that allow people to keep learning throughout their careers.
Third and often underestimated, are life skills. As AI automates more technical tasks, what really stands out are human skills—like critical thinking, communication, adaptability and emotional intelligence. These are the skills that allow people to work alongside AI, make decisions and handle complexity.
So, I would say the goal is not just to produce more workers, but to produce more adaptable workers. Because in the AI era, countries that succeed won’t necessarily be the ones with the cheapest labour—they will be the ones with the most future-ready workforce. And if India can combine its demographic advantage with the right investments in AI, skilling and lifelong learning, we have a real opportunity to become not just a supplier of labour, but a global hub for talent.
MS: India’s gig and platform economy is rapidly expanding in tier-2 and tier-3 cities. What policy changes can convert this shift into sustainable middle-class growth?
Dr. Kukreja: In my opinion, the key shift we need to make is in how we view the gig economy. Right now, it’s often seen as a fallback option or temporary work. But in reality, it’s becoming a core part of India’s urban labour market—especially in tier-2 and tier-3 cities. So the goal should be to make gig work stable and upwardly mobile, so that it can actually lead to middle-class growth.
If you look at the numbers, the scale is already significant. NITI Aayog estimated about 77 lakh gig workers in 2020–21 and this could grow to around 2.35 crore by 2029–30. Also, nearly half of these jobs are medium-skilled and about 22% are highly skilled. So the issue is not just the quantity of jobs, but the quality of those jobs. In my view, there are four key policy areas that need immediate attention:
Social security - Gig workers often work across multiple platforms, so benefits should be linked to the worker, not a single employer. There has been progress. For example, the Code on Social Security, 2020 recognises gig and platform workers and talks about benefits like insurance and pensions. But this needs to be implemented effectively. Things like e-Shram registration, health cover, accident insurance and platform-funded welfare mechanisms can reduce a lot of insecurity.
Fair and predictable earnings - Currently, gig workers are classified as independent contractors, so they don’t have protections like minimum wages or regulated work hours. I don’t think a rigid minimum wage will always work in this sector, but at the very least, there should be a minimum earnings framework. Workers should clearly understand how their pay is calculated—fares, incentives, deductions, waiting time. Right now, a lot of these decisions are driven by algorithms and they are not always transparent.
Basic worker infrastructure, especially in smaller cities. Many tier-2 and tier-3 cities lack simple but important things—like rest areas, charging stations, clean toilets, grievance support, access to affordable vehicle financing and insurance. These may sound basic, but they directly affect productivity and dignity of work.
Pathways for upward mobility - Gig work shouldn’t be a dead end. There should be clear ways for workers to move into better roles—like fleet management, logistics supervision, e-commerce operations or even starting their own small businesses. This will require short, modular skilling programs and access to credit.
MS: With industries demanding new-age skills faster than universities can adapt, what should India’s next education revolution look like?
Dr. Kukreja: The core issue, I feel, is that the pace at which industries are changing is much faster than the pace at which our education system adapts. So the next education revolution in India has to be about three things—speed, flexibility and employability.
For a long time, we have focused on degrees as the end goal. But today, a degree by itself is no longer enough. With AI, digital technologies, green jobs and advanced manufacturing evolving so quickly, the real challenge is ensuring people can keep learning and updating their skills throughout their careers.
So, in my view, this shift should have four key elements.
We need more modular and skill-based learning. Students shouldn’t be locked into rigid degree structures. A student studying, say, commerce or engineering should be able to simultaneously pick up short courses in AI, data analytics, design, communication, financial literacy or even climate-related skills. These courses should carry academic credit and be recognised by employers. That flexibility is very important.
Industry needs to move from being just a recruiter to being a co-creator of education. Right now, companies often say graduates are not job-ready. One way to fix this is to involve industry directly in designing curricula, setting up labs, offering apprenticeships and even shaping assessments. We have seen some early steps—for example, the PM-SETU scheme and the push for Centres of Excellence—but this approach needs to expand across universities and colleges, not just vocational institutes.
Need to normalize apprenticeships and work-integrated learning. In many countries, practical training is not seen as secondary to classroom learning—it’s an essential part of education. India needs to move in that direction. Ideally, every graduate should leave college with some real-world work experience, whether through internships, apprenticeships or live projects.
And finally, I think the mindset needs to change—from one-time education to lifelong learning. The goal shouldn’t just be to produce more graduates, but to create people who can continuously adapt, reskill and stay relevant as the job market evolves.
So, to sum up, together with all the above India’s real advantage will come from.
MS: Can the creative economy become India’s next major employment engine alongside IT and manufacturing? What sectors hold the biggest potential?
Dr. Kukreja: I do think the creative economy has the potential to become a major employment engine for India alongside IT and manufacturing. But we are still underestimating its scale and importance.
What’s interesting is that this is now getting policy recognition. The Union Budget 2026–27 has explicitly highlighted the Orange or creative economy as a growth area. And that makes sense, because it’s one of the few sectors where India has both a natural advantage and strong job creation potential—especially for young people.
Globally, this sector is already quite significant. UNESCO estimates that cultural and creative industries contribute around 3% of global GDP and employ close to 50 million people, with a large share being youth. For India, the opportunity is even bigger because we combine a rich cultural base with a large digital talent pool and a growing domestic market.
In fact, based on research I was involved in—with ADB Institute and ICRIER—we found that creative industries already account for nearly 8% of total employment in India. That’s quite substantial, especially considering how under-recognised the sector still is.
Also, the definition of the creative economy has expanded a lot. Earlier, people mostly thought of films or music. But today, it includes sectors like animation and gaming, digital content creation, design, advertising, fashion, crafts, publishing, architecture and even cultural tourism and heritage.
If we look at high-potential areas, I would highlight a few.
That said, for the creative economy to truly scale, we need to address a key gap—it’s still not fully embedded in our economic policy thinking. We don’t have robust systems to measure its contribution to GDP, employment or exports. And without that, it’s hard to design targeted policy support.
If we get this right, the creative economy can do two important things at once: generate large-scale employment and also strengthen India’s global cultural presence. And that’s what makes it so powerful as a growth engine.
MS: Many companies now value adaptability and problem-solving over degrees. How should schools and colleges redesign learning for the next decade?
Dr. Kukreja: What we are seeing today is a fundamental shift in how employers evaluate talent. Increasingly, companies are looking for what candidates can do, rather than just what degrees they hold. A degree might help you get your first opportunity, but long-term success really depends on how adaptable you are and how well you can solve problems.
But this doesn’t mean degrees are becoming irrelevant—it just means they are no longer sufficient on their own.
So, schools and colleges need to rethink how learning actually happens. Right now, the system is still quite focused on memorisation and exams. Going forward, it has to shift towards building real-world skills. Students should spend much more time working on projects, solving practical problems, collaborating in teams and communicating their ideas clearly. These are exactly the skills employers consistently say they need.
The rise of AI makes this even more important. If information is available instantly, then education can’t just be about recalling facts. It has to be about interpreting information, thinking critically and exercising judgment. In the future, what will really set people apart are skills like creativity, analytical thinking, emotional intelligence and adaptability—areas where humans still have an edge.
Another important change is flexibility. Students shouldn’t be confined to narrow specialisations. A student studying engineering, for example, should be able to learn design or entrepreneurship. Similarly, someone in commerce should be able to pick up data analytics or AI basics. The future workforce will need people who can work across domains, not just within one.
At the same time, we need much stronger links between education and the workplace. Internships, apprenticeships and live industry projects shouldn’t be optional—they should be a core part of the learning experience. Ideally, every student should graduate with some exposure to how work actually happens.
Finally, I think we need to redefine what success in education looks like. It shouldn’t just be about producing graduates, but about developing individuals who can keep learning and reinventing themselves over time. Because with technology changing so quickly, the most valuable skill might actually be the ability to keep acquiring new skills. So, in a way, education should focus less on preparing students for their first job and more on preparing them to remain employable throughout their careers.
MS: Climate change is beginning to affect worker productivity across sectors. How can India build climate-resilient workplaces while also creating green jobs?
Dr. Kukreja: We must understand that climate change is now very much a workplace issue, not only an environmental issue. Heat stress is already affecting construction workers, farm workers, factory workers, gig workers, miners, logistics staff and even informal street-based workers.
ILO has estimated that India could lose around 5.8% of working hours by 2030 due to heat stress, equivalent to millions of full-time jobs. Globally, heat stress already affects a large share of workers, with outdoor and manual workers being the most exposed.
So what can we do?
But there is also a bigger opportunity here.
Climate action is not only about reducing damage—it can actually create jobs. Sectors like renewable energy, electric vehicles, green construction, waste management and climate-smart agriculture have huge potential. Estimates suggest that India’s green economy could create up to 48 million jobs by 2047.
However, these jobs won’t appear automatically. We need to prepare the workforce for them. That means investing in skills—training solar technicians, EV mechanics, energy auditors, green construction workers and water management experts. The shift has already begun, but it needs to move much faster if India is to meet its clean energy goals.
At its core, this is about how we think of climate change. It’s not just an environmental issue anymore—it’s about jobs, livelihoods and worker dignity.
If we act wisely, we can do two things at once: protect workers from the heat today and create new opportunities for them tomorrow.
That’s the real opportunity—turning climate resilience into a pathway for both safety and growth.
MS: India is witnessing a rise in freelancers, creators and independent professionals. Could this redefine entrepreneurship and wealth-creation in smaller cities?
Dr. Kukreja: One of the most important changes happening in India’s economy is also one we don’t talk about enough. Entrepreneurship is no longer limited to people who can raise large sums of money, build factories or start big companies. Today, thanks to digital platforms, individuals can turn their skills, knowledge and creativity into income—from almost anywhere.
What makes this especially interesting is where this shift is happening. It’s not just in big cities anymore. Across tier-2 and tier-3 cities, new opportunities are opening up. Lower living costs, better internet access and the spread of digital tools are making it easier for people to work independently.
A graphic designer in Indore can work with clients in Mumbai or even abroad. A content creator in Guwahati can build an audience across India. A digital marketer in Coimbatore or an online teacher in Ranchi can find work without ever needing to relocate. Geography is slowly becoming less important than talent.
And this isn’t a small trend. India already has one of the largest freelance and gig workforces in the world. Estimates suggest that by the end of this decade, the number of gig and freelance workers could cross 2 crore. At the same time, the creator economy has exploded, with millions of Indians earning through content, education, entertainment and online businesses.
This shift matters not just because it creates jobs, but because it changes how wealth is created. For a long time, economic opportunities were concentrated in a few big cities because that’s where markets, networks and capital were. Now, digital platforms are slowly breaking that pattern. Opportunities are becoming more widely distributed. Talent, not location, is starting to matter more.
But this opportunity won’t fully realise itself without the right support. Independent professionals often struggle to access credit because they don’t have traditional salary slips. So, financial products need to evolve to suit their realities. There’s also a clear need for social security—things like health insurance, pensions and income protection, which are still largely tied to formal employment.
Then there is the question of skills. To succeed, today’s independent workers need more than just their core talent. They need to understand digital marketing, manage their finances, protect their intellectual property, use AI tools and think like entrepreneurs.
Alongside all this, there is a deeper cultural shift happening. For decades, success in India was closely tied to having a stable, salaried job. But that idea is slowly changing. Many young Indians are now building careers through multiple income streams—freelancing, consulting, content creation, teaching online, running digital businesses. In effect, they are becoming micro-entrepreneurs.
In many ways, the future of Indian entrepreneurship may not be defined only by a handful of billion-dollar startups. It may be driven by millions of individuals building small but sustainable businesses from smaller cities—earning well, creating value and contributing to local economies while serving national and global markets.
If India gets this right, this shift could become one of the most inclusive forms of wealth creation the country has ever seen.
MS: How can governments, industry and academia work together to build continuous lifelong skilling systems for workers in an AI-driven economy?
Dr. Kukreja: I think governments, industry and academia need to stop treating skilling as a one-time intervention before employment. In an AI-driven economy, skilling has to become a continuous public infrastructure, much like roads, power or digital payments.
The government’s role should be to create the architecture: common skill standards, digital credentials, social security linkages, public funding for priority skills and platforms where workers can access training throughout their careers. India already has building blocks such as the National Credit Framework (NCrF), Academic Bank of Credits (ABC), Skill India Digital Hub (SIDH) and apprenticeship reforms (NAPS, NATS AEDP). These need to be connected into one seamless lifelong learning system.
Industry must move from being a passive recruiter to an active co-investor. Employers should help define job roles, update curricula, offer apprenticeships, provide real workplace projects and co-finance upskilling. This is especially important because companies often know first which skills are becoming obsolete and which new ones are emerging.
Academia, meanwhile, must become more modular and flexible. Universities and training institutions should offer short, stackable courses that workers can take while employed. A 35-year-old worker should not have to return to a full-time degree to learn AI tools, data analytics, green technologies or advanced manufacturing.
The key is portability. A worker should be able to acquire a skill, get it certified, store it digitally and use it across employers, sectors and even countries. This would make skilling more credible and useful.
India’s challenge is not only to skill young people entering the workforce, but to reskill millions already working in manufacturing, services, agriculture, logistics, health and education. Lifelong skilling must therefore become affordable, flexible and linked to real wage growth.
In simple terms, the future system should allow every worker to keep learning, keep moving up and remain employable despite technological change. That is how India can convert AI disruption into a long-term workforce advantage.
MS: If India successfully combines technology, creativity and skills development, could it emerge as the world’s largest talent and innovation hub over the next 20 years?
Dr. Kukreja: Yes and arguably no country is better positioned to achieve this than India. Few countries possess the combination of demographic scale, technological capability, entrepreneurial energy and cultural diversity that India does.
Over the next two decades, the global economy will face a growing shortage of skilled workers as populations age across much of Europe, East Asia and parts of North America. India, by contrast, will continue to have one of the world’s largest working-age populations. This demographic advantage, however, is only a potential advantage. It will matter only if it is matched by investments in skills, innovation and productivity.
India has already demonstrated its ability to build globally competitive talent ecosystems. The IT and digital services sector is a good example. What began as a provider of back-office services evolved into a globally recognised technology ecosystem. The next phase could see India emerge as a hub for AI, advanced manufacturing, clean energy, creative industries, digital public infrastructure, healthcare innovation and knowledge-intensive services.
What makes the opportunity particularly exciting is the possibility of combining three strengths that are often discussed separately: technology, creativity and skills. Technology drives productivity, creativity drives innovation and skills enable people to participate in both. Countries that succeed in integrating these three elements are likely to lead the next wave of economic growth.
India also has a unique advantage through its experience with large-scale digital public infrastructure. Platforms such as Aadhaar, UPI, DigiLocker and the emerging digital skilling ecosystem have demonstrated India’s ability to innovate at population scale. Increasingly, many countries are looking to India not only for talent but also for solutions.
However, becoming the world’s leading talent and innovation hub will require sustained action. We need stronger investments in education and research, greater industry-academia collaboration, wider access to quality skilling, support for entrepreneurship and a regulatory environment that encourages innovation while protecting workers.
Most importantly, we must move beyond the idea that India’s competitive advantage lies in low-cost labour. The future belongs to economies that can continuously generate skilled talent, new ideas and innovative solutions.
If India can successfully harness its demographic dividend, accelerate technology adoption, invest in lifelong learning and unlock the creative potential of its people, it is entirely plausible that by 2047 India will be known not merely as the world’s most populous country, but as the world’s largest reservoir of talent, innovation and human capital.
About Dr Prateek Kukreja
Prateek Kukreja is a development economist and public policy specialist with over 12 years of experience across government advisory and economic policy research. His work spans labour markets, skill development, livelihoods, international trade, MSMEs and the creative economy. He holds a PhD in Economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
Dr. Kukreja has led numerous research initiatives and collaborated extensively with leading international organisations, including the World Bank, ADB Institute, IMF, UNESCO, Walmart and the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS). He has authored over 40 publications in high-impact national and international journals, edited volumes and industry reports, with his work widely featured in both national and global media. He advises government ministries and departments on policy issues related to skill development, labour markets and the creative economy and has contributed to several major national and international initiatives, including India’s G20 Presidency and the National Conference of Chief Secretaries, among others.
About the Interviewer
Mahima Sharma is an Independent Senior Journalist based in Delhi NCR with a career spanning TV, Print, and Online Journalism since 2005. She has played key roles at several media houses including roles at CNN-News18, ANI, Voice of India, and Hindustan Times.
Founder & Editor of The Think Pot, she is also a recipient of the REX Karmaveer Chakra (Gold & Silver) by iCONGO in association with the United Nations. Since March 2022, she has served as an Entrepreneurship Education Mentor at Women Will, a Google-backed program in collaboration with SHEROES. Mahima can be reached at media@indiastat.com
Disclaimer : The facts & statistics, the work profile details of the protagonist and the opinions appearing in the answers do not reflect the views of Indiastat or the Journalist. Indiastat or the Journalist do not hold any responsibility or liability for the same
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