India isn’t the West: Shark Anupam Mittal warns against blind reliance on AI in a billion-plus nation

Anupam Mittal, founder of Shaadi.com and a judge on Shark Tank India, has sparked a nationwide discussion about India’s tech-first approach after posting a photo of an elderly woman working as a delivery agent. In a sharp critique, he urged policymakers to reconsider their deep-tech narrative and focus equally on job creation and skilling infrastructure.

Viral post questions tech priorities

Posting on LinkedIn, Mittal shared an image of the elderly woman along with a pointed remark: “Saw this woman the other day, and thought maybe she should learn Python. Perhaps she can fine-tune an LLM too, while delivering your groceries.”

Mittal’s comment quickly drew attention on social media. While the tone was sarcastic, his message was direct: India’s approach to AI and automation risks leaving behind a large section of its workforce.

"Parroting the West without understanding our own reality"

Mittal criticised the tendency to copy global AI policies without tailoring them to India's unique demographic and economic realities. “Every time I say India needs jobs along with deep-tech, someone sends me a whitepaper on AI skilling. Basically parroting the West without understanding our own reality,” he said.

He acknowledged that AI is transforming the global workforce, citing predictions by Microsoft, Meta, and Google that 40–50% of work will soon be AI-driven. “Yes, true!” he wrote. “But those are economies with lower populations, high formal employment, and deep reskilling budgets.”

India’s skilling gap

Sharing insights from his professional experience in the U.S., Mittal underlined the difference in approach to skilling. “When I worked in the US, every time a new tech or software rolled out, we were upskilled in real time—not just as individuals, but across the entire org. That’s what real skilling infrastructure looks like.”

In contrast, he said India lacks such systems. “Most are self-employed. India is not there yet.”

Gig economy remains a lifeline

Mittal stressed the role of the gig economy in supporting employment. “It enabled employment for millions. In a country holding ~20% of the world’s population, that’s no mean feat!”

He cautioned against viewing deep-tech as a catch-all solution. “When we start touting deep-tech as the only solution to all our problems, we endanger the livelihoods of a billion plus nation.”

Two Indias, one policy challenge

Mittal said India has to address both the high-skilled and low-skilled parts of its population. “Yes, we have highly-skilled and super-talented folks who will undoubtedly build future big-tech from India—but we also have a large low-skilled populace that needs to be taken along.”

He concluded his post by inviting reflection and debate. “India needs to address both these issues simultaneously, no? What’s your take?”