MSMEs need sustained handholding, not one-time training, to adopt AI: NITI Aayog's Debjani Ghosh

Speaking virtually at the Conference on 'AI for All: Driving Equitable Growth and Societal Good' in the national capital, Ghosh said, "You cannot have companies coming in, doing one-shot skilling, and then moving away...You need to handhold, and that is what was missing."

She said that while awareness of digital technologies had improved, a large section of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) still lacked the tools, guidance and ecosystem support needed to undertake meaningful digital transformation.

Ghosh said MSMEs were central to India's inclusive growth story, describing the sector as not just the backbone of the economy but a "mobility ladder" for millions of Indians. Productivity gains in the sector, she said, could have an outsized impact on employment, incomes and resilience across the economy.

"This is the lead employment engine. This is the lead growth engine in our economy," she said, adding that the ability of AI to unlock productivity "matters the most for this sector," she said

However, she said that many MSMEs, particularly small and micro enterprises, struggle to identify where and how technology can be applied to their businesses. "They lack the know-how, they lack the tools, and they lack the guidance in figuring out how they should embark on this journey of digital transformation," Ghosh said.

She said that the Confederation of Indian Industry's (CII) X-Edge initiative is an example of how a sustainable ecosystem could be created to support MSMEs at scale. The programme works with academic institutions in tier-two and tier-three cities to train students, who then work directly with MSMEs to diagnose operational challenges and identify how digital tools, including AI, can improve productivity.

"The root cause was that there is no sustainable ecosystem that will drive the transformation of this sector," Ghosh said. "What X-Edge does is create that ecosystem."

Under the model, students receive academic credit through the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) for internships with MSMEs, while enterprises gain access to affordable and trusted digital advisors who work with them on a sustained basis. Ghosh described this as a "virtuous cycle" that benefits students, businesses and the broader economy.

Ghosh also linked MSME transformation to India's broader AI ambitions, arguing that technology alone would not deliver impact unless people were equipped to use it responsibly. "AI is just a tool. It is the enabler," she said. "At the end of the day, it is us humans, who are accountable, who are responsible for using it."

She said skilling must become the central pillar of India's AI strategy, echoing recent Union Budget announcements on strengthening the education-to-employment pipeline. "AI will transform India only when we humans are ready to use it to transform our day-to-day lives," she said.

Ghosh called for closer collaboration between government, industry, academia and startups, saying India's ambition of equitable growth would require collective action. "It takes all of us to come together and work as one, as Team India," she said. (ANI)