Microsoft announces major update on India’s AI-skilling programme ahead of Satya Nadella visit

Ahead of CEO Satya Nadella's planned visit to India next month, Microsoft has shared fresh details on its AI-skilling efforts in the country. The tech giant shared the progress on the micro-degree model and early placement outcomes.

During his visit to India in January this year, Nadella had promised to train 10 million Indians in AI by 2030. In a fresh blogpost today, the company says it has crossed the halfway mark by training 5.6 million people in just 10 months.

Puneet Chandok, President, Microsoft India and South Asia, in a release about the intiative said, “India stands at a defining moment in its AI journey and what sets this moment apart is the nation’s resolve to make AI opportunity inclusive. At Microsoft, we see skilling as the cornerstone of this transformation. ”

“By combining India’s scale of talent with its strong digital foundation and by partnering with the Government of India, MSDE, and DGT, we are embedding AI learning into vocational institutions and communities nationwide. This is more than a program—it’s a movement to build a future-ready workforce.” he added

Microsoft says it has partnered with Directorate General of Training (DGT) at the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) and is offering a one-year micro-degree ‘AI Programming Assistant’ programme across 33 National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs) in India. The tech giant also noted that its AI micro-degree program requires that at least 50 percent of its intake be women.

The company gave an example of the programme it is running at NSTI Bengaluru which inovles a 1600 hour and includes topics like Python, Computer Vision, Natural Language Processing (NLP), and GenAI.

Jayant Chaudhary, Minister of State for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, while talking about the programme in a release said, “As AI reshapes the world of work, our skilling approach must evolve to match the pace of innovation and opportunity it brings”

The company says its partnership is a building a ‘talent pipeline’ for sectors ranging from manufacturing and logistics to IT-enabled services and healthcare.