Nearly 40% of employers expect AI to reshape roles, driving demand for job-ready AI skills

New Delhi, 21 May 2026: NIIT Limited, a leading skills and talent development corporation, today announced the launch of six new programs under its GenAI & Artificial Intelligence (AI) portfolio, further expanding its GenAI learning portfolio in response to the growing demand for AI-led skills. This comes at a time when demand for AI-led learning is accelerating, with enrolments in NIIT’s Agentic AI program growing by 88% over the past four months and overall AI program enrolments increasing by 40% year-on-year.

This marks the beginning of a broader rollout of GenAI-focused learning programs planned over the course of the year, aimed at catering to diverse learner segments across students, educators, and professionals.

The newly introduced programs span a wide spectrum of learner needs. GenAI Spark Program for Students enables learners to use AI as a study, creativity, and productivity partner, while GenAI Spark Program for Educators helps teachers integrate AI into lesson planning, assessment, and classroom engagement. GenAI Spark Essentials introduces learners to foundational AI concepts and practical applications, while GenAI Spark Program on Marketing focuses on applying GenAI tools across marketing workflows, content creation, and audience engagement.

Furthermore, the GenAI Applied Program for No-Code Apps enables learners to design and build AI-powered application components without programming, using structured low-code & no-code tools, hands-on development approaches. In addition to this, GenAI Applied Program for Practitioners, an advanced program, enables professionals to integrate AI into real-world workflows, automation, and productivity systems, moving beyond basic usage to tangible outcomes.

Collectively, these programs emphasize structured, hands-on learning and real-world application, enabling learners to create content, automate workflows, build AI assistants, and develop practical skills that can be immediately applied in academic and professional settings.

Commenting on the launch, Anshumaan Prasad, Business Head, NIIT Digital and Head of Marketing, NIIT Limited, said, "As AI adoption accelerates and employer expectations for skills evolve, the ability to apply AI meaningfully is becoming a critical differentiator. The shift is no longer about access to tools, but about the ability to use them effectively to solve real-world problems. With our expanded GenAI portfolio, we aim to enable learners to move beyond basic usage and build deeper, application-oriented capabilities that are aligned with the needs of an AI-driven world. We will continue to build on this portfolio to address the evolving needs of learners across segments."

The expansion comes at a time when the gap between talent availability and job readiness is becoming more pronounced. According to NIIT’s India Skills Gap Report 2026, while a majority of organisations report talent availability, many still struggle to find candidates who are job-ready for emerging roles. This disconnect is further reflected in learner confidence levels, with students rating their readiness at 57 out of 100, significantly lower than 82 among senior professionals. At the same time, around 40% of employers and academic leaders expect AI to significantly reshape workforce roles over the next 3 to 5 years, underscoring the growing need for structured, application-led learning to build real capability. This builds on NIIT’s earlier efforts in advanced AI learning, including specialised programs focused on emerging areas such as recently launched 'Building Agentic AI Systems' - a specialized working professional focused program.

The business impact of building AI capability is already becoming visible. Industries with high AI exposure are witnessing nearly 4x higher productivity growth compared to those with low exposure, while professionals with advanced AI skills command up to a 56% wage premium over peers in similar roles. At the same time, organisations are recalibrating their talent strategies to keep pace.

In India, this shift is further reflected in the growing importance of digital and data skills, even as hiring continues to move toward a skills-first approach, with 38% of employers increasingly valuing certifications and micro-credentials over traditional degrees. Against this backdrop, NIIT’s expanded GenAI portfolio is designed to help learners move beyond basic familiarity with AI tools to build real, application-led capabilities.

While awareness of tools such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini has grown significantly, a large gap persists between usage and proficiency, with many learners lacking the structured skills required to apply AI effectively in academic and professional contexts.

The portfolio expansion launch reinforces NIIT’s continued focus on building future-ready talent by aligning learning pathways with evolving industry requirements. As AI continues to augment roles rather than replace them, the need for structured, outcome-driven skilling models is becoming increasingly important in preparing individuals for the future of work.

List of the new GenAI programs: