NASSCOM has appointed Srikanth Velamakanni, Co-founder and Group CEO of Fractal Analytics, as Chairperson for 2026, signalling a renewed push on AI-driven growth and productivity across India’s technology services sector. He succeeds Sindhu Gangadharan. Kishor Patil, Co-founder and CEO of KPIT Technologies, has been named Vice Chairperson.
The leadership team will work with President Rajesh Nambiar to advance industry priorities, including policy advocacy, skilling at scale, and supporting export competitiveness amid a shifting global technology landscape.
Tech industry outlook and AI’s expanding role
According to NASSCOM’s Strategic Review 2026, India’s technology industry is projected to reach $315 billion in FY26, growing at 6.1%. The focus is moving from scale to value, with companies prioritising innovation, differentiated services, and platform-led offerings.
Employment remains a key pillar. Total tech employment is estimated at around 6 million, with approximately 135,000 net new jobs added this year. Parallelly, firms are investing in workforce transformation: over 2 million professionals have undergone AI training, including advanced capabilities such as machine learning engineering, model governance, and MLOps.
AI is becoming integral to service delivery and client engagement. Industry estimates point to $10–12 billion in AI-led revenue, while commercial models are gradually shifting from time-and-materials to outcome-linked pricing as automation and generative AI improve productivity and turnaround.
Priorities under the new leadership
NASSCOM’s agenda under Velamakanni and Patil will emphasise revenue acceleration, margin resilience, and a “Human + AI” operating model to enhance developer velocity, quality, and client value. The association is advocating policy support to embed AI curricula across higher education and schools, and to expand research, cloud infrastructure, and data readiness.
Skilling, jobs, and ecosystem development
- NASSCOM, in collaboration with NITI Aayog and Boston Consulting Group, estimates that while some roles may be displaced in the near term, AI could create up to 4 million new jobs in India by 2031 across sectors such as healthcare, manufacturing, BFSI, retail, and public services.
- Through initiatives like FutureSkills PRIME, the industry is scaling foundational and advanced digital skills, including data engineering, cybersecurity, responsible AI, and model risk management.
- Enterprises and government stakeholders are being encouraged to increase technology investments to boost productivity, export competitiveness, and domestic digital public infrastructure adoption.
The leadership transition comes as Indian IT and global capability centres intensify AI adoption, platform modernisation, and cloud-native transformation—areas expected to define the next phase of growth for the country’s $300-billion-plus technology ecosystem.
