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Indian companies struggle to offer clarity, guidance on GenAI use: Report
Enterprises across business verticals in India are struggling to provide the structure, access, and clarity needed to support the use of generative AI (GenAI) at workplaces, according to a report by recruitment firm Michael Page India.
About 3,000 professionals across various experience levels were surveyed in the country in the report titled 'Talent Trends India 2025', which pointed out that despite growing access to GenAI tools, many professionals remain unsure how these technologies will shape their careers.
'The disconnect between GenAI rollout and employee confidence has broader implications. When individuals cannot see how emerging technologies support their future, hesitation grows, and engagement can decline. In a GenAI-enabled workplace, clarity isn't just a support function – it's essential to building trust and retaining talent in times of rapid change,' the report said.
Forty-two per cent of professionals in India view GenAI as a threat to job security as deeper concerns surface regarding its use and implications, while the number inches up to 44 per cent when it comes to middle-level management. The top management, with 30 per cent, feels the least threatened. Sixty per cent of those surveyed believe it will impact their long-term career path, the report found.
This uncertainty points to a broader readiness gap, one not just about technical skills, but about trust, guidance, and future alignment. Many employees may not be resistant to GenAI, but without clear direction, they feel under-equipped to make the most of it.
According to the report, employee sentiment on GenAI preparedness is mixed even as 80 per cent of professionals have access to employer-provided GenAI tools. Thirty-one per cent say their employer is preparing them very well, 22 per cent feel fairly well supported, and 16 per cent each describe the support as average and unprepared.
Besides clarity on the use of GenAI tools, some of the other questions that employees are asking include queries on salary and career expectations, work arrangement policy, transparent company culture, and approach to inclusivity.
'Candidates are becoming increasingly focused on transparency and alignment with their personal and professional goals. They are seeking employers who offer clarity – not only on salary and flexibility but also on culture, values, and the responsible use of emerging technologies,' Nilay Khandelwal, senior managing director, Michael Page India and Singapore said in a statement.
Workplace arrangement policy, a topic that became important since the pandemic, shows signs of stabilisation as most companies adopt a hybrid policy, with 54 per cent saying they were working more days in office compared to a year earlier. Remote work changes have also remained steady (21 per cent vs 23 per cent last year), and the proportion of professionals experiencing no change in their work setup has nudged up slightly from 21 per cent to 22 per cent.
India leads the region in workplace trust, with 61 per cent of professionals expressing high or complete trust in their leadership, well above the APAC (57 per cent) and global (49 per cent) averages. Transparency is also a standout strength, with 65 per cent of employees rating their organisations as open and communicative, the report stated.
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Hindustan Times
40 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
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Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Indian Express
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A surfer and skateboarder in his free time, Shafto, 49, sat in a sparse conference room one recent afternoon, imagining a future when AI would be as good at solving multistep problems as it is at trying to glean meaning from huge troves of texts, which it does through the use of probability theory. Despite the unseasonably raw weather, Shafto seemed dressed for the beach in a blue-and-white Hawaiian-style shirt, white flannel trousers and sandals, with a trilby hat on the table before him. His vibe was, on the whole, decidedly closer to that of Santa Cruz than of Capitol Hill, largely in keeping with DARPA's traditional disregard for the capital's slow, bureaucratic pace. (The agency sets priorities and funds outside scientists but does not do research on its own; academics like Shafto spend an average of four years as program managers.) 'There are great mathematicians who work on age-old problems,' Shafto said. 'That's not the kind of thing that I'm particularly interested in.' 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Ellenberg, a mathematician at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who is part of a team applying for an Exponentiating Mathematics grant. 'We have no intuition yet about which problems are going to be hard and which problems are easy. We need to learn that.' One of the more disconcerting truths about artificial intelligence is that we do not entirely understand how it works. 'This lack of understanding is essentially unprecedented in the history of technology,' Dario Amodei, CEO of the artificial intelligence company Anthropic, wrote in a recent essay. Ellenberg somewhat downplayed that assertion, pointing out that electricity was widely used before its properties were fully understood. Then again, with some AI experts worrying that artificial intelligence could destroy the world, any clarity into its operations tends to be welcome. Nelson, the former White House adviser, acknowledged 'legitimate' concerns about the rapid pace at which artificial intelligence is being integrated into seemingly every sector of society. All the more reason, she argued, to have DARPA on the case. 'There's a much higher benchmark that needs to be reached than whether or not your chatbot is hallucinating if you ask it a question about Shakespeare,' she said. 'The stakes are much higher.'


Hans India
4 hours ago
- Hans India
AI and its future: beyond the data-driven era
Artificial intelligence is the science of making machines do things that would require intelligence if done by humans — John McCarthy, who coined the term 'artificial intelligence' and is considered father of AI, said in 1955 Artificial Intelligence is the buzzword that's resonating across boardrooms, classrooms, and coffee shops these days. It is everywhere. From chatbots handling customer service to algorithms curating social media feeds, AI has become the in-thing of our time. Yet despite the widespread adoption and breathless headlines, we're still in the earliest stages of what AI can become. The current reality: data-driven intelligence Today's AI systems, impressive as they may seem, operate on a fundamental principle: processing vast amounts of data to recognize patterns and generate responses. These Large Language Models (LLMs) can write poetry, code software, and answer complex questions, but they're essentially sophisticated pattern-matching engines drawing from enormous datasets. Frankly speaking, what we're experiencing now is just the tip of the iceberg and we're still in the fetal stage of artificial intelligence evolution. However, the current data-driven approach has undeniably been disruptive. Industries from healthcare to finance have scrambled to integrate AI tools, leading to the ubiquitous presence of 'AI-powered' solutions. However, calling these systems true artificial intelligence may be premature - they lack the fundamental cognitive abilities that define genuine intelligence. The next frontier: Artificial General Intelligence The next phase in AI evolution promises something far more sophisticated: Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). Unlike current systems that excel in narrow domains, AGI will possess the ability to understand, learn, and apply intelligence across a broad range of tasks - much like human cognitive flexibility. The key differentiator lies in cognition. Where today's AI relies on statistical analysis of training data, AGI systems will develop the capacity for genuine reasoning and decision-making. This cognitive leap represents a fundamental shift from pattern recognition to actual thinking. AGI won't just process information faster or access more data - it will understand context, make inferences, and adapt to entirely new situations without requiring additional training. This represents a qualitative, not just quantitative, advancement in machine intelligence. The ultimate goal: Absolute Intelligence Beyond AGI lies an even more ambitious target: Absolute Intelligence. This final phase envisions AI systems with fully developed cognitive abilities - machines that can think, reason, and make decisions with the same depth and nuance as human consciousness, potentially surpassing human intellectual capabilities. Absolute Intelligence would mark the point where artificial systems achieve genuine understanding rather than sophisticated mimicry. These systems would possess creativity, intuition, and the ability to grapple with abstract concepts in ways that current AI cannot. Small Language Models: The Future Architecture Contrary to the current trend towards ever-larger models, the future may belong to Small Language Models (SLMs). These more efficient, specialized systems could prove more practical and powerful than their data-hungry predecessors. Small Language Models offer several advantages over massive LLMs: reduced computational requirements, faster processing, greater customization for specific tasks, and the ability to run locally rather than requiring cloud infrastructure. As AI becomes more integrated into daily life, these characteristics will prove increasingly valuable. The shift toward SLMs reflects a maturation of the field - moving from brute-force approaches that require enormous resources toward elegant, efficient solutions that deliver superior performance with less overhead. The Way Forward Rather than dwelling on dystopian scenarios, the AI revolution presents an opportunity to thoughtfully shape the next decade of technological development. The progression from today's data-driven systems through AGI to Absolute Intelligence won't happen overnight. However, the key lies in recognizing that we're not approaching an endpoint but rather embarking on a carefully planned journey. Each phase of AI development builds upon the previous one, creating opportunities to refine our approach, establish ethical frameworks, and ensure that artificial intelligence helps humans. As we stand at this inflection point, the question isn't whether AI will transform our world - it's how we'll guide that transformation. The next ten years will determine whether we harness these emerging capabilities to solve pressing global challenges, enhance human potential, and create a more prosperous future for all. The age of true artificial intelligence is still ahead of us. What we're witnessing today is merely the opening chapter of a much larger story - one that we have the power to write thoughtfully and purposefully. All said and done, the world needs a responsible AI that can enhance our quality of life in all spheres and spaces. That's the bottom line. (Krishna Kumar is a technology explorer & strategist based in Austin, Texas in the US. Rakshitha Reddy is AI developer based in Atlanta, US)