93% of Indian CTOs are redefining their role amid AI adoption: LinkedIn report
Synopsis
Nine in ten Indian CTOs say their job description has fundamentally shifted — and most feel their organisations cannot keep up. LinkedIn's latest report reveals a leadership cohort under pressure to scale AI faster than accountability frameworks can follow, while simultaneously being asked to own workforce readiness alongside HR chiefs.
Key Takeaways
93 per cent of Indian CTOs say their role is now focused on helping organisations adapt to the future of work, per a LinkedIn report released on 2 July 2025 .
79 per cent of CTOs have taken on responsibilities outside their remit from a year ago; 84 per cent say their role is being redefined in real time.
81 per cent of CTOs face pressure to move faster on AI than they can effectively measure its impact.
51 per cent of CTOs view stronger CTO-CHRO partnerships as the single most critical factor in building an AI-ready workforce; 89 per cent already work closely with CHROs. ' Prompt engineer ' and ' AI engineer ' are the fastest-growing roles in India , according to the report.
Nearly 93 per cent of Indian chief technology officers (CTOs) say their role is now primarily focused on helping organisations adapt to the future of work, according to a new report by LinkedIn released on 2 July 2025. The findings underscore a sweeping transformation in technology leadership at a moment when artificial intelligence (AI) adoption is accelerating across Indian enterprises.
How the CTO Role Is Changing
The report found that 79 per cent of CTOs now handle responsibilities that were not part of their remit just a year ago, while 84 per cent said their role is being actively redefined in real time. Crucially, 79 per cent of respondents indicated that their role is evolving faster than their organisations can make decisions — a gap that is creating measurable leadership strain.
Balancing long-term AI transformation with short-term performance demands was flagged as a major challenge by 56 per cent of CTOs surveyed, reflecting the dual pressure technology leaders face as they try to deliver immediate business results while steering multi-year digital overhauls.
AI Pressure and the Measurement Gap
A striking 81 per cent of CTOs reported facing pressure to move faster on AI than they can effectively measure its impact — a finding that points to a systemic gap between deployment speed and accountability frameworks. This comes amid a broader industry pattern where AI pilots are being scaled before robust evaluation benchmarks are in place.
'As AI adoption moves from experimentation to scale, success depends as much on people as it does on technology,' said Malai Lakshmanan, Head of India Engineering at LinkedIn. 'Employees need the skills and confidence to make AI part of how they work every day, which is why closer collaboration between CTOs and talent leaders has become essential,' Lakshmanan added.
The CTO-CHRO Partnership Gains Urgency
The report identified the CTO-CHRO (Chief Human Resources Officer) partnership as a critical lever for AI workforce readiness. 51 per cent of CTOs view stronger CTO-CHRO collaboration as the single most critical factor in building an effective AI-enabled workforce, and 89 per cent already report working closely with their CHROs — suggesting the cross-functional alignment is gaining institutional momentum.
According to the report, organisations that invest as heavily in workforce readiness and continuous learning as they do in technology will extract the most value from AI. This framing positions the CTO not merely as a systems architect but as a co-owner of talent strategy.
Fastest-Growing Roles and What Comes Next
'Prompt engineer' and 'AI engineer' were identified as the fastest-growing job roles in India, reflecting how AI adoption is reshaping hiring priorities at the ground level. These roles signal a shift from traditional software development profiles toward skills that sit at the intersection of language, logic, and machine learning systems.
As Indian enterprises move AI from proof-of-concept to production, the pressure on CTOs to deliver measurable outcomes — while simultaneously upskilling workforces — is set to intensify further in the months ahead.
Point of View
Because it implies a decision-making lag that could blunt the very AI investments these leaders are being asked to champion. The CTO-CHRO convergence is a logical response, but 51 per cent still seeing it as aspirational rather than operational suggests the org-design work has barely begun. India's AI momentum risks becoming a headline metric rather than a productivity reality if the human-capital side of the equation is not treated with the same rigour as the technology stack.
NationPress
2 Jul 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What did the LinkedIn CTO report find about Indian technology leaders?
The LinkedIn report found that 93 per cent of Indian CTOs say their role is now centred on helping organisations adapt to the future of work. It also revealed that 84 per cent feel their role is being actively redefined in real time, and 79 per cent have taken on tasks outside their traditional remit within the past year.
Why are Indian CTOs under pressure around AI adoption?
81 per cent of Indian CTOs report being pressured to move faster on AI than they can effectively measure its impact, according to the LinkedIn report. Additionally, 56 per cent cite balancing long-term AI transformation with short-term performance demands as a major leadership challenge.
What is the significance of the CTO-CHRO partnership highlighted in the report?
The report identifies the CTO-CHRO partnership as the single most critical factor in building an effective AI-enabled workforce, according to 51 per cent of CTOs surveyed. 89 per cent of CTOs already report working closely with their Chief Human Resources Officers, signalling that cross-functional collaboration is becoming a structural necessity rather than an exception.
Which are the fastest-growing job roles in India linked to AI adoption?
'Prompt engineer' and 'AI engineer' were identified as the fastest-growing roles in India in the LinkedIn report. These roles reflect a shift in hiring priorities toward skills that combine language, logic, and machine learning capabilities.
Who commented on the findings from LinkedIn India?
Malai Lakshmanan, Head of India Engineering at LinkedIn, said that technology leadership today extends far beyond managing systems and infrastructure. He emphasised that as AI adoption moves from experimentation to scale, workforce readiness and continuous learning are as important as the technology itself.
