India is at a pivotal moment in the global AI landscape. With one of the largest pools of engineers and a booming startup culture
India is at a pivotal moment in the global AI landscape. With one of the largest pools of engineers and a booming startup culture, the country has the raw talent to lead the world in innovation. However, as Rajat Khare has emphasized, a chronic brain drain threatens this potential. In his recent commentary, Khare – an IIT Delhi alumnus and the founder of Luxembourg-based Boundary Holding – notes that “roughly 15% of the world’s AI talent is attributed to India, but much of it is working abroad”. He warns that this talent exodus means “this abundance is not serving India’s technological interests as it ideally should”. In other words, while India produces a disproportionate share of AI experts, many of them take their skills overseas, weakening India’s own AI ambitions. Rajat Khare’s perspective underscores a broader problem: India’s vast population and multilingual market give it a unique edge in AI (for example, by building systems that understand Hindi, Tamil, and other local languages), but without keeping its innovators at home, that edge cannot be fully realized. He points out that top graduates routinely leave for Silicon Valley or European labs, seeking better funding, pay, and global exposure. This outward migration risks turning India into just a supplier of talent rather than a creator of cutting‑edge technology. As Khare succinctly puts it, India’s tech talent “is one of its most significant assets, but more and more talent is leaving for better returns,” highlighting the urgent need for change.
Addressing brain drain requires a multi-pronged strategy. According to Khare, India must transform itself into a place where its best minds can thrive at home. This means funding world-class research and building advanced institutions, as well as making domestic careers financially and intellectually competitive with opportunities abroad. For example, experts recommend creating more AI centers of excellence (even outside major cities), offering fellowships and global-level salaries for researchers, and inviting diaspora scientists to contribute to national projects remotely. They also urge India to “support deep-tech startups” that solve local problems at scale, by encouraging venture capital and startup funding within the country. Hosting international conferences – such as the proposed 2026 Global AI Summit in India – can further showcase India’s ambition and give local talent a global stage.
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