Humans to work alongside AI by 2027, argue HR experts

Around 97 per cent of HR leaders in the tech sector in India feel that work by 2027 will be done by humans working alongside AI rather than engaging with it intermittently, a report said on Tuesday.

The report from Nasscom and Indeed, based on a poll of over 120 HR leaders in the tech sector in the country, found that 20-40 per cent of work in technology firms is already AI‑driven.

Around 45 per cent of respondents reported that over 40 per cent of software development is now handled by AI, it said.

“As AI adoption deepens, skilling and capability building will be central to ensuring that talent continues to move up the value chain and delivers meaningful outcomes for businesses,” said Ketaki Karnik, Head of Research, Nasscom.

The report highlighted a shift from AI as a supplementary tool to becoming an integral part of everyday roles, workflows, and decision-making processes, with strong participation in intelligent automation (39 per cent) and business process management (37 per cent).

Meanwhile, over half of respondents cited low‑quality or incomplete AI outputs, underscoring the need for human oversight.

Most effective human-AI partnerships are emerging across higher-order activities such as scope definition, system architecture, and data model design.

More routine and repeatable tasks, including boilerplate code generation and unit test creation, are expected to be increasingly automated by AI over the next two to three years, the report said.

Hiring is evolving toward skills‑based assessment, with 85 per cent of managers prioritising skills-based hiring over credentials and 98 per cent highlighting the need for hybrid and multidisciplinary skills.

Around 83 per cent of HR leaders redesigned work by adding AI-specific roles.

With respect to AI adoption, 79 per cent prioritised internal reskilling as a dominant strategy.

Around 80 per cent of organisations followed a hybrid approach, with most employees working from the office three or more days a week, the report noted.

AI has emerged as the defining hiring force in 2025 in India, with 290,256 AI-linked roles posted last year, a report showed on Tuesday.

This momentum is set to accelerate further, with AI hiring projected to grow 32 per cent year-on-year in 2026 to nearly 3.8 lakh roles, said the report by foundit (formerly Monster APAC & ME).

India’s job market closed 2025 with renewed confidence, clocking sustained hiring growth across sectors, roles and cities.

Hiring activity rose 5 per cent month-on-month and 15 per cent (on-year), signalling a clear shift from cautious recovery to measured expansion.

“2025 was both a year of expansion and discipline in hiring,” said Tarun Sharma, Chief Product and Technology officer, foundit.

AI is no longer experimental; it is central to workforce planning. In 2026, hiring will be increasingly skills-led, mid-career-focused, and spread across both Tier 1 and emerging Tier 2 talent hubs, he mentioned.

This convergence of core industries and AI adoption will continue to position India as a global talent powerhouse.

IT-Software and Services held the largest share of AI jobs at 37 per cent, followed by BFSI (15.8 per cent) and Manufacturing (6 per cent).​

BFSI recorded 41 per cent YoY growth, while Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals (38 per cent), Retail (31 per cent), Logistics (30 per cent), and Telecom (29 per cent) posted strong gains, said the report.

Generative AI and LLM skills showed the fastest growth, with demand rising nearly 60 per cent YoY -- driven by copilots, chatbots, and enterprise GenAI platforms.

Bengaluru retained leadership with a 26 per cent share of AI jobs. Hyderabad recorded the fastest Tier 1 growth, while Jaipur, Indore and Mysuru led Tier 2 gains.

The general job market in 2025 showed the strongest growth in the mid-level and senior mid-tier brackets, indicating employer focus on professionals with proven execution experience — but not at the highest leadership level, said the report.

US lawmakers on Monday said India is emerging not merely as a defence buyer or technology market, but as a critical partner in artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, and Indo-Pacific security.

At a CSIS discussion, Representative Rich McCormick warned against restricting India’s access to advanced technologies. “If we start limiting access to our products, that’s going to be bad for us as a country,” he said.

McCormick argued that keeping India aligned with US technology standards is strategically vital. “If we limit our good chips to the rest of the world, they’ll get them from somewhere else... then they become the standard,” he said.

Indian American Representative Ami Bera described AI as “a transformational technology” that demands close cooperation. “The United States and India should work incredibly closely together to both advance AI, solve challenges that are going to emerge,” he said.

Indo-Asian News Service