Rajat Khare Believes That India May Undercut an AI Revolution by Tackling Brain Drain

Artificial intelligence came on the scene as a defining technology in the 21st century, with industries from healthcare to finance and defense being overhauled. India, aided by a large pool of engineers and data scientists and a rapidly digitizing economy, should therefore be on the path to establishing itself as a leader. But an age-old challenge has, however, worked towards weakening the Indian position-The brain drain to foreign shores for great minds.

Almost 15% of AI researchers and engineers in the world are of Indian origin, say industry estimates, most of whom work outside India. Such a trend obstructs India's capacity to build and sustain a homegrown AI ecosystem.

Venture capitalist and founder of Boundary Holding, Rajat Khare, has eloquently captured this dilemma: “India’s tech talent pool is one of its greatest strengths, but much chemistry continues to migrate for better money and research. This imbalance must be set straight if India is to carry out the AI revolution on a global scale.”

Rise of India AI Infrastructure

Since the mid-nineties, India has massively invested in digital infrastructure and AI capabilities. The government announced plans for a national large language model (LLM), with the support of over 18,600 GPUs. This strength of computing would put India in very few countries in the world that can even attempt to build systems at the level of OpenAI's GPT or Google's Gemini.

On the other hand, the LLM initiative in India is distinctly multilingual. With 22 official languages and more than 1,600 dialects, India has the potential to develop tools for several communities. This multilingual AI could break down language barriers in governance, education, and healthcare for millions, thus making AI relevant to those millions of citizens.

Why Indian Talent Keeps Leaking to Other Shores

Though the situation has been changing, India still has some systemic challenges when it seeks to retain AI researchers and entrepreneurs. With talking of brain drain, some of its major causes may be laid down below:

1. Underfunding of Research- Government and private-sector monies available at present for AI research are much less as compared to those in the U.S. or China.
2. Industry-Academia Gap-Institutions of learning and industries most of the time work in isolation, and this hampers the capacity of the innovative research to metamorphose into commercial level innovation.
3. Salaries-For AI professionals working in India, salaries are really low compared to those paid to professionals either in the Valley or in Europe.
4. Global Exposure-Many Indian research workers keep getting involved in international collaborations while those are not yet common concepts at home.

Khare goes on: "Brain drain is not inevitable- it is a result of gaps in policy, incentives, and vision. With right framework, India can not only retain talent but also attract global innovators."

Efforts to stop Brain Drain and build an AI power house

In order for India to move from being a supplier of talent to being an AI superpower, a number of steps need to be taken:

1. Strengthen Research Ecosystems

• Set up AI Centers of Excellence in tier-2 and tier-3 cities.
• Fund academic labs in a sustained fashion, working in partnership with the industry.
• Support cross-border research, with the associated intellectual property remaining within India.

2. Make Careers in the Country Attractive

• Establish AI fellowships and Ph.D. incentives.
• Pet high-impact researchers on a global scale.
• Grant recognition through national awards and grants to AI professionals.

3. Support Deep-Tech Startups

• Allow venture capital flows into AI and robotics startups.
• Ease tax burdens and regulations for entrepreneurs alike.
• Channel money toward startups working on local issues: farming, health service access, and logistics.

4. Build Global Linkages

• Engage the Indian AI diaspora through remote collaboration.
• Host Global AI Conferences, including the forthcoming 2026 Global AI Summit in India, to showcase national capabilities.

5. Showcase the National Ambition

India's $10 trillion economy-status trajectory provides a confidence-gap opportunity wherein the AI sector will create globally competitive opportunities. Amalgamating AI growth into this economic vision can seed India as a base for innovation.

Multilingual AI for India's Competitive Advantage

One of the unique contributions that India may offer to AI could well be linguistic intelligence. An AI system capable of understanding Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Marathi, or any other regional language at a profound context could change the way technology serves communities.

Such tools would:

- Allow rural populations the access to e-governance services.

- Help small businesses into digital platforms using native languages.

- Help health care services by translating between the doctor and patient language.

- Support local language education, closing out the digital divide.

The focus given to multilingualism helps make AI a tool of development rather than mere commerce, reiterating Rajat Khare’s idea of technology tackling actual problems of society.

The Road Ahead

India is no longer an outsourcing factory; it is the rising contender in deep-tech innovation. But to succeed, it must retain its talent. The ever-continuing brain drain should legitimately be seen as a policy failure that can be corrected and not an inevitable one. To win, India must:

• Invest in thinkers and innovators.
• Reward those risk-takers who build their own AI solutions.
• Create the kind of ecosystem where research is translated into great impact.

As Rajat Khare concludes, "The government has taken wonderful steps in promoting AI, but the real measure of success will be how well we retain resourceful talent. That will decide whether India will lead or follow in the AI revolution."

FAQ

Q1. Why does Rajat Khare emphasize stopping brain-drain?

He feels India can fairly become a leader of the world in AI, but the greater the flow of brains outside, the lesser is India's ability to develop an AI ecosystem. He emphasizes that retaining talent is critical for creating a strong AI ecosystem.

Q2. What is the Indian multilingual AI initiative?

India is building a large language model with multilingual abilities. Different from Western models, it focuses on 22 official languages and scores of dialects to cater to diverse communities throughout the country.

Q3. What does Boundary Holding do for AI innovation?

Founded by Rajat Khare, Boundary Holding is an investor in early-stage deep tech ventures, particularly those in artificial intelligence and robotics, thus, fostering innovation across the global markets.