Daijiworld Media Network – Bengaluru
Bengaluru, Jun 11: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is expected to create more opportunities than it disrupts, and Indian engineers should focus on learning how to work alongside the technology rather than fearing job losses, a senior executive of Microsoft has said.
Rajiv Kumar, Managing Director and President of Microsoft India Development Center (IDC), said in a blog post on Thursday that the rapid pace of technological change is reducing the lifespan of technical skills, making continuous learning and adaptability essential for future success.
Referring to the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025, Kumar noted that 39 per cent of core job skills globally are expected to change by 2030. In India, around 63 per cent of the workforce will require significant upskilling or reskilling by the end of the decade.
“Virtually every major technology wave in history has ultimately created more opportunities than it destroyed. The real question is not whether new jobs will exist but how ready we are to step into those roles,” Kumar said.
He stressed that young engineers must develop the ability to “learn to learn”, enabling them to adapt to changing technologies and emerging job roles.
According to Kumar, discussions among engineering graduates are already shifting from fears of AI replacing jobs to exploring ways of collaborating with the technology.
Drawing comparisons with the arrival of the internet in the mid-1990s, he said technological revolutions have historically generated new career opportunities despite initial concerns about disruption.
Kumar pointed to the emergence of new roles such as AI trainers, AI security experts and agent specialists across Indian companies, describing them as examples of how the technology is reshaping the employment landscape.
He also noted that employers are increasingly adopting skills-based hiring practices, placing greater emphasis on a candidate's ability to learn and adapt rather than relying solely on academic qualifications.
Citing Microsoft's Work Trend Index 2026, Kumar said most AI users reported that the technology helped them focus on higher-value tasks and achieve outcomes that were previously difficult to accomplish.
AI is increasingly being used as a “thought partner” for activities such as analysing information, solving complex problems and enhancing creativity, he said.
“AI can help you code; it cannot decide your goals, understand your customer, or define what matters. Judgment informed by experience, ethics and empathy is what sets great professionals apart,” Kumar added.
Highlighting India's strengths, he said the country possesses the world's second-largest engineering talent pool, strong digital ambitions and the capacity to innovate at scale.
Kumar cited Microsoft's India Development Center in Hyderabad, the company's largest research and development facility outside the United States, as an example of Indian engineers playing a leading role in developing global technology solutions.