India Set to Lead Global AI Adoption with Small Business Job Growth

India will lead the world in spreading artificial intelligence and making it work for people at scale, according to Infosys Chairman and Co-founder Nandan Nilekani. Speaking on Tuesday in Delhi at the Bloomberg New Economy forum 2026, Nilekani stated that new jobs in India will largely come from small businesses.

Job Creation and AI

Small companies with three to five workers are protected against automation because their employees perform a wide variety of tasks throughout the day, from complex work in the morning to stacking shelves and delivering items in the evening. Nilekani noted that once India unleashes its small business economy, millions of small firms will hire a few people each, creating jobs enabled by open networks and AI. While he did not give a timeline, he said entrepreneurs will gain better access to markets, capital, knowledge, and agents.

Technology and Skills

Coding will become much more productive, while new jobs will also appear in understanding client requirements, governance, change management, and setting guardrails to prevent AI bots from hallucinating or going rogue. Nilekani compared artificial intelligence to a general-purpose technology like fire, the printing press, or the Industrial Revolution, adding that no single entity can own or control it because thousands of models are emerging and it cannot be bottled up.

Education and Impact

Nilekani also highlighted that artificial intelligence will help improve India's education sector by making a big dent in literacy and numeracy. Speaking language to computers will allow people to get the latest information on agriculture and other fields. He spoke during a conversation with John Fraher, Co-head of APAC News at Bloomberg.

Context

Nandan Nilekani is a prominent Indian technology leader best known for co-founding Infosys and leading the Unique Identification Authority of India, which created Aadhaar. Open digital networks and large-scale public technology systems have formed a central part of India's recent digital growth strategy. Experts widely view artificial intelligence as a major shift that will change both employment patterns and business operations globally.