India spending big on AI, but lacks talent to deploy it, says SBI chairman

Key points

• Mumbai: As Indian companies ramp up spending on artificial intelligence (AI), a shortage of skilled talent to deploy AI solutions is emerging as one of the biggest challenges to the country’s adoption of the technology, State Bank of India (SBI) chairman C.S.
• Setty said on Wednesday.
• “I think we need a large number of skilled manpower to deploy the AI itself.
• I think this is something what we are really facing in the market now, that while AI capital investments, everybody is ready for, the availability of the manpower to deploy these AI tools is actually becoming a challenge,” Setty said at the Citi India 2026 event.
• His comments come amid growing concerns that rapid AI adoption could displace jobs and weaken India's demographic advantage.