Course correction

The Indian software industry was born in 1977, when Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) partnered with Burroughs, a manufacturer of business machines, to provide software installation services in the U.S. By the early 1980s, three major information technology (IT) companies were established: HCL, Wipro and Infosys. Their formation was a bold step, considering the lack of trained computer engineers in the country and restrictions on the size and functioning of companies. These three companies, along with TCS, would be the leaders of what turned out to be a large industry. 

At that time, the Indian education sector was dominated by traditional colleges and universities. Engineering and medicine were the aspirational subjects, and the ambitious wanted to study in the institutes of technology that had been set up just over a decade ago. They didn't have a wide choice of subjects in engineering. Mechanical, electrical, chemical and civil were among the most popular engineering subjects. In 1965, computer science was taught for the first time as a concentration programme for an MTech in electrical engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur; among the students who took the course was N.R. Narayana Murthy, who would later go on to establish Infosys. IIT Kanpur again pioneered a full-fledged computer science BTech programme in 1978. By the early 1980s, the major IITs had started BTech and MTech programmes in computer science.

However, full-fledged undergraduate programmes in computer science were slow to catch up in the rest of the country. Several academicians argued that computer science could be taught as part of electrical engineering. Many among those who aspired to work in the fledgling IT industry studied electronics and communication engineering. So, the majority of the engineers of Indian software companies in the 1970s and 1980s did not have computer science degrees. Since there were not enough engineering graduates for hire, training institutes such as NIIT supplied a large number of programmers with some knowledge of coding. It was only by the mid-1990s that computer science became a major discipline in all educational institutions. Computer science graduates were better trained to think in abstract terms about industry problems. Since then, graduates and postgraduates of this discipline have been critical to the growth and increased sophistication of the Indian IT industry.

In our Cover Story, Sweta Akundi reports on a similar situation now, with artificial intelligence (AI) taking the place of computer science. AI has been seeping into the IT industry slowly over the past decade, with a critical transition occurring when Large Language Models became popular. Indian companies have been using AI with engineers who learned the technology while on the job. It was a good way to start, but rapid growth using AI required people with specialised knowledge, not just those who were willing to adapt to the new discipline.

Major educational institutions in the country began teaching AI as part of computer science, just as some of them taught computer science as part of electrical engineering in the 1980s. Private institutions offer short-term training on AI tools, just as NIIT trained graduates — from any science or engineering discipline — in computer programming in the 1980s. In recent years, the IITs have taken the big step of starting undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in AI: some of the early graduates are just entering the industrial workforce. Sweta's story argues that the new AI engineers will have a substantial role to play in driving Indian industries over the next decade or two, and not just the IT industry.

The development of AI is a major event in the history of modern humans, at least on a par with the Industrial Revolution, and the development of computers, communication technologies, and the internet. It is also a strategic technology for developed countries. A good AI foundation increases competitive advantage in business, improves national security, helps in research, and provides technological leadership. No nation can build a large economy without substantial investments in AI research. The foundation for this research is laid by well-thought-out and wide-ranging educational programmes in AI. We wanted to provide a snapshot of AI education as it exists in the country now, when academic institutions have begun to think seriously about how to create this foundation.

See also:

The AI engine
Testing the waters