Microsoft and Google compete to attract Indian programmers in order to secure AI dominance
In an effort to attract India’s vast number of programmers and promote the use of artificial intelligence services in a crucial market, high-ranking officials from Microsoft Corp. and Alphabet Inc. will be embarking on a week-long tour of the country.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella will speak to developers and technology experts about “discovering new opportunities through artificial intelligence” during a visit to Bangalore, the country’s technology hub, next week. He will also speak to industry leaders in Mumbai about the opportunities and challenges of next-generation artificial intelligence. Separately, Google’s Chief Scientist Jeff Dean will talk about the next frontier of AI with researchers, developers and startups in Bangalore, then participate in a fireside discussion about India’s role in enabling AI to drive massive societal impact. The duels highlight India’s importance to both businesses and corporations. the wider artificial intelligence sector. With over 5 million programmers, India is emerging as one of the largest sources of AI talent for startups and global companies – at a time when AI talent is often in short supply. During a tour of India last year, Nvidia Corp. CEO Jensen Huang said the country could be the world’s largest exporter of artificial intelligence expertise. “The next five to 10 years will see a global shift to artificial intelligence, and the Indian developer will be at the heart of Asia,” said Nandan Nilekani, chairman of Infosys Ltd, Asia’s second-largest technology services company. “The Indian developer will decide which AI stack is dominant,” Nilekani added, referring to the different layers of competing AI systems.
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Both Nadella and Google CEO Sundar Pichai grew up in India and studied engineering there before heading to the US for graduate studies. For both, artificial intelligence work can be career-defining. Pichai has called the move to artificial intelligence “bigger than the Internet” and Nadella has described it as “Microsoft’s moment.” As a sign of India’s growing impact on artificial intelligence, Ahmed Mazhari, head of Microsoft Asia, pointed to the activities of developers on GitHub, a platform owned by Microsoft for developers. “Today, one in four AI projects on GitHub comes from India,” Mazhari said in a statement. “By 2026, India will have overtaken the US. India is in a very unique position to enable large-scale adoption of AI domestically and in international markets.” Microsoft recently announced that it will train 100,000 developers in India on the latest AI technology and tools. Nasscom, India’s technology industry trade body, counted nearly half a million developers specializing in AI and data science last year. “It is reasonable to expect that many more top AI companies will head to India,” said Sangeeta Gupta, Nasscom’s executive vice president. He said major technology services companies such as Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. and Infosys are in full swing in AI, training hundreds of thousands of engineers. “Companies want to adopt AI, and developers can accelerate the transition,” he said.
