NRI PULSE STAFF REPORT
San Francisco, CA, March 25, 2026: India’s fast-growing artificial intelligence (AI) sector is creating new opportunities even as it threatens to disrupt a large share of existing tech work, according to two new reports released by Indiaspora in partnership with consulting firm Zinnov.
The reports, released ahead of the Indiaspora Global AI Summit, examine India’s top AI startups and the future of Global Capability Centers (GCCs)—the large technology and operations hubs run by multinational companies in India.
The findings show that India is becoming a major force in the global AI economy. The country now has more than 3,100 AI startups and ranks among the top AI ecosystems worldwide, helped by strong digital infrastructure and a large talent base.
India’s top 100 AI startups have raised more than $3.6 billion, generated about $596 million in revenue, and employ nearly 20,000 people. These companies are working across sectors such as enterprise software, healthcare, and logistics, focusing on solving real-world problems.
At the same time, the reports highlight major changes underway in India’s established tech ecosystem, especially in GCCs. These centers, once known mainly for routine, execution-based work, have grown over the years into more advanced hubs handling complex and high-skill tasks.
However, AI is now changing the nature of this work very quickly. The study finds that about 55% of GCC work in India—mainly routine and process-driven tasks—is at risk of being automated or replaced by AI.
The report explains that work is shifting from tasks that require human expertise to standardized processes, and then to automation. AI is speeding up this shift, reducing the time it takes for complex work to become automated.
Despite this, India may be better prepared than many other countries. The report notes that India has a smaller share of low-value “commodity” work compared to several other global locations, which could make the impact of AI somewhat more manageable.
There are also signs that India is playing a larger role in advanced innovation. In some cases, GCCs in India are contributing to high-end research and product development, working alongside global headquarters rather than just supporting them.
Still, the report points out an important gap. While India has strong technical skills, it still needs to build deeper domain expertise and improve its ability to create original innovations.
Both reports emphasize that the speed of change is a major challenge. What once took years to evolve in the workplace is now changing in a matter of months due to AI.
Indiaspora founder MR Rangaswami said, “We are at an inflection point where artificial intelligence is no longer just a technology wave, it is a reordering of global capability. What is remarkable is not just the speed of change, but who is driving it. Across startups, enterprises, and research labs, Indians are helping define how AI is built, applied, and scaled worldwide.”
Pari Natarajan, CEO of Zinnov, said, “AI is fundamentally reorganizing how and where innovation happens, compressing what once took decades into cycles of months. What sets India apart at this moment is not just scale, but the ability to build and deploy under real-world complexity—across languages, sectors, and constraints that increasingly mirror global markets.”
The reports conclude that India is at an important turning point. Startups are driving new innovation, but companies running GCCs will need to adapt quickly by moving away from routine work and focusing on higher-value skills.
