February 9, 2024
Microsoft highlighted the work of AI startup Karya, which employs over 30,000 rural Indians to generate datasets for training AI models in 12 Indian languages
Nadella emphasised the transformative potential of AI in digitalisation, citing its role in driving economic growth
Puneet Chandok, President of Microsoft India and South Asia, underscored India's vast potential for AI innovation and adoption, given its thriving startup ecosystem
Nadella encouraged enterprises to explore Microsoft's Azure AI suite, enabling them to create custom AI assistants by refining and retraining foundational models
Microsoft plans to train over 2 million individuals in India with artificial intelligence (AI) skills by 2025 as part of an initiative aimed at boosting job creation, according to Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella. The announcement was made during the Microsoft CEO Connection event in Mumbai, part of Nadella’s annual three-day visit to India. He highlighted the commitment to equipping the workforce with the necessary AI skills to participate in the domain, highlighting the acquisition of skills and the job opportunities that will be generated.
Nadella cited the example of Karya, an AI startup that engages more than 30,000 rural Indians to create high-quality datasets for training large language models across 12 Indian languages. He also mentioned the GenAI chatbot Jugalbandhi, which was designed for government assistance. He discussed how combining Bhashini language translation with Jugalbandhi could positively impact the lives of people in rural India who speak vernacular languages.
Referring to data from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Nadella pointed out that out of the US$ 5 trillion GDP target set for 2025, around US$ 500 billion would be attributed to AI. He noted the transformative potential of AI in making sense of digitalisation and introduced the neural reasoning engine as a new capability applicable to an increasingly digitised world.
Puneet Chandok, President of Microsoft India and South Asia, highlighted the vast potential for AI innovation and adoption in India, with 100 new startups emerging daily. Nadella praised Indian organisations like Axis Bank, HCLTech, and LTIMindtree as early adopters of Microsoft’s Copilot chatbot. He encouraged enterprises to explore Microsoft’s Azure AI suite, enabling them to create AI assistants by fine-tuning and retraining foundational models such as OpenAI’s GPT-3, Meta’s Llama models, and Mistral AI’s Mistral series.
Source: Mint