Mining of data pertaining to the applicants for a learning programme on artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and deep learning in software and services done by IIIT-Hyderabad, in association with TalentSprint, has revealed that the demand for expertise in disruptive technologies is high among mid-career professionals.
According to a focus report prepared by IIIT-Hyderabad and TalentSprint, that summarises trends in and around Hyderabad for deep expertise in the latest AI/ML technologies, there is a significant interest in it among professionals with more than 5 years experience.
Among about 2,000 applicants for the programme, 32.82% are professional with more than 10 years foothold in the IT/ITES field, while another 27.72% are with experience between 5 and 10 years.
Unveiling the report based on the analysis of data collated from the applications for the AI and ML program, Director of IIIT-Hyderabad P.J. Narayanan said here on Thursday that, the high interest among the mid-career professionals indicates a rising urgency among experienced professionals to equip themselves with expertise in emerging disruptive technologies. “Start-ups and young professionals, however, have an advantage as they can purely address the localised needs”, he said.
‘Unexpected turn’
According to Dr. Narayanan, the IT industry is perhaps undergoing an unprecedented churn which was not anticipated earlier. “As the industry faces renewed challenges, we need to create an ecosystem to promote and propagate new disruptive technologies such as AI/ML, which are set to take centre stage within the next 5 years”, he noted.
Stating that mid-career professionals are at an important crossroad and vulnerable in the face of increasing automation Manging Director and CEO of TalentSprint Santanu Paul admitted that threat perception is making them to go for new set of skills such as AI/ML technologies. “They have understood that only new expertise will add new value to their careers”, he said adding that has validated such facts known for a while.
He said the data has revealed that number of women seeking such expertise is less and it’s even lower as among the ones with more than five years experience.
“To encourage women opt for expertise in disruptive technologies, we have introduced scholarships half-way through the application period and eventually their percentage among the first batch of 400 professionals taking the programme has increased to 16 from 12 in the total applications”, he explained.
Earlier, chief digital officer of TalentSprint K. Sridhar gave a presentation on the report and faculty members of IIIT-Hyderabad C.V. Jawahar and Ramesh Loganathan also spoke on some of the aspects of the report.
