Microsoft India head highlights AI's future, emphasises the need for upskilling and changing nature of jobs

Unmetered intelligence, human-supervised `digital colleagues,' and ongoing skilling will be the main safeguards in an AI-driven future, according to Puneet Chandok, President of Microsoft India and South Asia, who shared his top predictions.

During a visit to India earlier this month, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced plans to invest $17.5 billion in the country to help build infrastructure for its AI-first future, marking the tech giant's largest investment ever in Asia.

Chandok told PTI that AI has surpassed mere hype and is now making a real impact.

"...the next phase will be defined by how responsibly, inclusively, and thoughtfully we scale it," Chandok told the news portal.

His top predictions for the evolving world and AI include intelligence shifting from being scarce to abundant, with compute increasingly translating directly into cognition for organisations, in an era of "unmetered intelligence".

Role of humans

AI 'agents' will collaborate with people, handling tasks and analysing data, but humans will stay firmly in control, he noted.

Outcomes will be central to transforming the business model, with value creation moving from effort and delays to clear, measurable results.

Chandok lauded India's digital public infrastructure, which facilitates widespread AI adoption, transforming national scale into a global advantage.

Upskilling is important

According to him, roles will evolve into specific tasks, careers will become more versatile, while emphasising that upskilling is the key safeguard in the AI era.

"When I reflect on the technology story of 2025, what stands out is how decisively India moved from experimenting with AI to putting it to work across core sectors of the economy. Across aviation, healthcare, financial services, and manufacturing, organisations began redesigning how they operate-whether it is Air India reimagining customer engagement, Apollo Hospitals supporting clinicians, ICICI Lombard reshaping core processes, or Asian Paints bending the curve on innovation," he said.

This momentum establishes the foundation for what follows next.

"What makes this moment especially powerful is the India opportunity. When digital public infrastructure meets AI, adoption can happen at population scale - from classrooms to boardrooms and from farms to factories. This belief underpins Microsoft's commitment to invest $17.5 billion in India, to build the cloud and AI infrastructure, skills, and trust needed to turn momentum into long-term impact," Chandok said.

Changing nature of jobs

He mentioned that jobs are evolving, with work becoming more flexible, and the key lasting advantage is the capacity to continue learning.

"Skilling is the most essential form of resilience in the AI era, which is why Microsoft has doubled its commitment to equip 20 million people in India by 2030 with the skills needed to participate in and shape this transformation," he said.