Article: The next frontier: Human-AI collaboration in Indian workplaces

HR Technology

By Swati MittalJun, 20 2025 @12:39pm IST

As AI permeates Indian enterprises, the focus shifts from mere adoption to meaningful collaboration. The real question now is: How can humans and AI work together to redefine productivity and innovation?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is fast embedding in Indian enterprises, leading to the emergence of a new one that transcends automation and efficiency. Organisations are now shifting their focus toward collaboration, where AI augments human capabilities, enhances decision-making, and reshapes the architecture of work itself. India, with its digital infrastructure, demographic advantage, and enterprise-scale transformation, is well-positioned to lead this next phase. However, the transition from AI adoption to human-AI synergy is not without its challenges.

The scale of India’s AI acceleration

According to a joint report by NASSCOM and BCG, India’s AI market is projected to reach $17 billion by 2027, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25–35% . India also boasts of over 420,000 professionals in AI-related roles, making it one of the world’s top three talent pools for AI development and deployment. Adoption is being driven by enterprises across sectors—from financial services and retail to IT and manufacturing—who see AI not just as a tool, but as a foundational capability.

AI and the evolution of work

The early narrative of AI as a job disruptor has evolved. While automation of repetitive tasks continues, the more significant story is the rise of AI as a collaborator—one that supports, augments, and enhances human capabilities. McKinsey’s 2025 report, ‘Superagency in the Workplace,’ finds that organisations implementing human-in-the-loop AI models—where humans supervise or refine AI-generated outcomes—can boost productivity by up to 30% in key functions such as operations, decision-making, and service delivery.

A generative AI study by EY India further projects that AI will improve productivity in India’s IT industry by 43–45% over the next five years, with software development roles potentially seeing improvements of up to 60% (Reuters).

Widening gap between leadership optimism and workforce readiness

Despite the excitement around AI’s potential, a readiness gap is growing across Indian organisations. A 2024 Salesforce report revealed that 99% of Indian business leaders consider generative AI to be critical for the future of work, with 60% of companies already operating with a defined AI strategy and another 32% currently developing one. However, this top-down momentum is not yet matched by grassroots preparedness.

According to PwC’s 2024 India Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey, only 33% of Indian employees feel confident in their ability to use AI tools effectively at work, and less than one-third say their employers are providing adequate upskilling to support AI integration.

Similarly, the World Economic Forum notes that while AI skills are among the fastest-growing job requirements, AI literacy among the broader workforce remains low, particularly outside of tech-centric roles. This disconnect poses a risk to responsible deployment: organisations may accelerate AI usage without the necessary governance, fluency, or training frameworks, potentially undermining both productivity and trust. Which further poses a risk to successful implementation, as employees engage with powerful tools without the governance, fluency, or frameworks required for responsible and effective use.

From use cases to use culture

Human-AI collaboration is not simply about deploying new tools; it is about redesigning workflows, roles, and team dynamics. Several Indian companies are already beginning to operationalise this shift:

TCS has developed an internal AI-driven talent marketplace that matches employees to internal projects, learning modules, and mentorship opportunities. AI analyses skill data, but managers and employees retain decision-making authority.
Infosys uses AI chatbots for HR queries and compliance checks. However, human HR professionals validate the AI’s insights, especially in sensitive or high-context situations.
Flipkart leverages AI to handle large volumes of customer service queries, but escalates emotional or complex issues to human agents. The AI provides sentiment insights to help agents personalise their approach.
HDFC Bank uses AI assistant Eva to respond to customer questions, while relationship managers use AI-generated insights to enhance customer engagement strategies.
Unilever uses AI to screen and assess video interviews through speech and facial analysis. However, recruiters make the final decision, ensuring human oversight in cultural and interpersonal evaluation.

These examples reinforce a key principle: AI enhances scale and efficiency, but human input ensures relevance, ethics, and contextual accuracy.

What’s holding collaboration back?

Even as adoption grows, multiple barriers prevent AI from becoming a true collaborator across Indian workplaces:

Unequal AI fluency: AI literacy remains confined to technical teams in many companies. Employees in HR, operations, or finance often lack the training needed to use AI tools confidently and critically.
Hierarchical cultures: Organisational cultures that discourage experimentation or rely on top-down decision-making limit the agile deployment and feedback loops essential for Human-AI systems to evolve.
Trust deficits: Employees are wary of AI decisions in areas such as hiring, promotion, or performance assessment, especially when systems lack explainability or human override mechanisms.
Over-automation risks: When AI replaces human involvement entirely, organisations risk losing nuance, empathy, and creativity—factors that are vital in people functions, customer experience, and innovation.

Designing for synergy: A framework for Indian enterprises

For human-AI collaboration to become a reality, Indian organisations must invest not just in tools but in capability and culture. Below are strategic recommendations based on current industry best practices:

Democratise AI literacy: Training must extend beyond IT teams. Everyone—from recruiters and project managers to product designers—should understand how to interpret, question, and apply AI insights.
Build ethical and inclusive AI: AI systems must be trained on diverse, representative datasets and regularly audited for bias. In India’s context, ensuring linguistic, regional, and gender equity is essential.
Implement human override protocols: Employees should have both the right and the responsibility to challenge or override AI decisions. This safeguards trust and reinforces accountability.
Design for co-decision making: Embed AI into decision flows where it can provide input, but not final judgment—especially in complex or sensitive scenarios. Use it as a co-pilot, not a controller.
Measure collaboration, not just usage: Go beyond tracking adoption rates. Assess how AI impacts outcomes such as decision accuracy, time savings, customer satisfaction, and employee confidence.

Paving the road to AI-augmented workplaces

India’s journey into AI-enabled transformation is unique. Its young, mobile-first workforce, combined with digital public infrastructure and enterprise ambition, gives it the ingredients to define the future of work, not just participate in it. However, this will require a mindset shift: from viewing AI as a cost-saving tool to embracing it as a collaborative force. From emphasising technical implementation to focusing on organisational fluency and ethics. From automating tasks to augmenting decision-making. In the next phase of India’s work evolution, the most successful organisations won’t be those that deploy the most AI, but those that cultivate the most meaningful partnerships between humans and machines. If India gets this right, it won’t just lead in AI adoption—it will lead in human-AI transformation.

This transformation will be at the heart of the conversations at People Matters TechHR India 2025, where leaders, technologists, and change-makers converge to reimagine the future of work, powered by meaningful human-AI collaboration.