59% of Indian employees say ready to embrace AI: Report

New Delhi, Dec 27 (IANS) Around 59 per cent of employees in India are confident in their ability to adapt and utilise artificial intelligence (AI) tools, indicating that there is likely to be widespread acceptance of AI at work next year, a report showed on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, only 19 per cent of surveyed employers have already implemented or are in the process of implementing next-generation technologies such as Generative AI at the workplace in 2024, according to the report by global hiring platform Indeed.

An integral part of employers’ strategy to effectively adopt AI will be to ensure they follow ethical AI principles according to 42 per cent of respondents.

Employers also believe that increasing human-AI collaboration (37 per cent) and reskilling/upskilling the workforce to meet the skill demand (25 per cent) will be key strategies they want to implement.

“The prevalence of roles like data analysts, software engineers, sales engineers, project managers and designers showcases the diverse landscape of expertise sought after by employers,” said Sashi Kumar, Head of Sales, Indeed India.

From the rise in generative AI skills to the enduring importance of programming languages and the growing demand for expertise in cybersecurity, it's clear that adaptability and upskilling remain pivotal for success in the tech industry, he added.

This year, employees were predominantly focused on skills such as Generative AI skills (27 per cent) and programming languages (22 per cent) while employers were looking to hire for skills such as cybersecurity (37 per cent) and data science and analytics (29 per cent).

One of the important aspects for employers in 2024 will be to align Gen Z expectations with workplace strategies.

A majority of GenZ employees prefer their workplaces to have flexible work arrangements (38 per cent), purpose-driven work (23 per cent), and technology-driven environments (18 per cent), said the report.