Microsoft Equips 2.4 Million Indians with AI Expertise
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New Delhi, Jan 7 (NationPress) Microsoft revealed on Tuesday that it has equipped 2.4 million Indians, including civil servants, university students, and individuals with disabilities, with essential artificial intelligence (AI) expertise.
Last year, Microsoft’s Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella introduced a targeted initiative aimed at training two million individuals in AI skills by 2025.
“Our mission is to enhance employability while also narrowing the digital gap and fostering a more inclusive future for every Indian,” stated Puneet Chandok, President of Microsoft India and South India.
Participants in the program noted that as AI tools become increasingly prevalent in the workforce, those who do not adapt risk being left behind.
“In the past, humans discovered fire and feared it. Gradually, we learned to harness it for our benefit. Likewise, AI must be utilized wisely to serve humanity rather than dominate us,” said Neha Jain, Special Secretary for IT and Electronics in the UP government.
On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Nadella, expressing his pleasure over the tech giant’s ambitious growth and investment strategies in India.
Nadella expressed gratitude to the Prime Minister for his guidance, emphasizing the company’s enthusiasm to build on “our commitment to positioning India as an AI-first nation and collaborating on our ongoing expansion to ensure all Indians benefit from this AI platform transformation.”
Microsoft’s AI tools, including Copilot, TechSaksham, and Seeing AI, have significantly impacted individuals’ lives through AI training programs across the nation.
For instance, Raghavendra Pratap Singh, a 33-year-old review officer in the Uttar Pradesh government, evaluates new policies and assists in communicating them to local officials. He has found these AI tools to be invaluable.
A few months prior, Singh participated in a one-day digital skills workshop conducted by Microsoft in collaboration with the state IT agency, where he learned to use tools such as Microsoft Copilot and OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Since then, he has begun employing AI tools to streamline document summarization and letter drafting.
“A letter that previously required an hour to draft now takes only 40 to 45 minutes,” he noted.
“AI enhances the quality of my letters,” he remarked, acknowledging that he used to overlook minor details. “Now, AI captures all the essential points,” he added.
Additionally, he uses AI to translate court orders from English to Hindi for better comprehension and effective communication with colleagues.
The digital skills workshop organized by Microsoft and the Uttar Pradesh Development Systems Corporation (UPDESCO), facilitated by a social enterprise named AISECT, covers topics such as AI, digital productivity, and cybersecurity within a single day.
Similarly, Jui Shrikant Bidaye, a 21-year-old from Pune, aspired to become a professional kabaddi player.
After finishing high school in rural Devgad, Maharashtra, she traveled over 321 kilometers to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology at NBN Sinhgad School of Engineering, part of the University of Pune.
The university’s training and placement officer recommended that she engage in ‘TechSaksham’, a Microsoft and SAP initiative designed to familiarize students with AI tools.
Currently, she is utilizing her six-month internship to develop a secure file storage application with the aid of AI tools, hoping it will lead to a permanent position upon her graduation in June.
