As India prepares to develop its own large language model (LLM), Rajat Khare, founder of Boundary Holding, emphasizes the urgent need to strengthen local AI talent. He believes India can become a global AI leader only if it addresses the persistent challenge of brain drain.
India possesses a vast pool of engineers, data scientists, and IT professionals, yet nearly 15% of the global AI workforce of Indian origin works overseas. This migration, driven by better research infrastructure, funding, and global exposure, has historically benefited other innovation ecosystems. Khare views this as a correctable gap, pointing to the need for stronger industry–academia collaboration, increased deep-tech research funding, and an ecosystem that rewards innovation.
India’s digital transformation is accelerating, supported by government-backed initiatives such as the development of a domestic LLM powered by over 18,600 GPUs. A key advantage lies in India’s linguistic and cultural diversity, positioning it to build multilingual AI models that serve both domestic and global audiences more inclusively.
To retain talent, India must expand AI research funding, create centers of excellence beyond metro cities, offer competitive incentives, support deep-tech startups, and enable global collaboration. With the right policies and vision, India can transform brain drain into brain gain and emerge as a true AI powerhouse.
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