AI Era Demands Skills & Social Protection for Job Market Resilience

The session focused on the changing nature of work and job scenarios amid accelerating artificial intelligence adoption, and on the policy choices required to manage this transition. ​

Drawing on emerging international evidence, the discussion noted differentiated impacts across age groups, sectors, and geographies, with early trends indicating employment pressures for younger workers in roles with higher AI exposure.​

The panellists emphasised that the lack of comprehensive, comparable data across countries continues to constrain governments' ability to design timely, targeted interventions. ​

The conversation underlined the importance of moving ahead with adaptive policy frameworks even in the absence of perfect information, strengthening social protection systems, and expanding re-skilling pathways. ​

The need for context-specific strategies for sectors such as services, agriculture, and public delivery, supported by international cooperation and shared learning, was highlighted as central to ensuring that AI adoption leads to inclusive growth.​

Shamika Ravi, Member, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, said, "India shows one of the highest levels of AI adoption at the firm level, marked by both openness and optimism. While the productivity effects are still being measured, AI in India is likely to be applied to long-standing challenges-particularly in health, education, and services-where last-mile connectivity constraints have traditionally limited outcomes."​

Ambassador Philip Thigo, Kenya's Special Envoy for Technology, said, "Preparing for AI-driven transitions requires more than reskilling and upskilling; it also demands strong social protection systems. In countries like Kenya, with a very young population alongside ageing workers in key sectors such as agriculture, policy must support innovation while ensuring that people across generations are protected throughout this transition."​

Hector de Revoire, Director, Responsible AI Public Policy, Microsoft, said, "Most of the evidence we currently have on AI's employment impact comes from a few countries, particularly the United States. In many other regions, including emerging economies, the data simply does not yet exist, making it difficult to draw firm conclusions and underlining the need for the systematic collection of adoption and employment data globally."​

Yoshua Bengio, professor at the Université de Montréal and a leading global AI expert, started the session and said that the trends we have seen in AI over the last five years will continue to have a significant impact on the job market. ​

Access to AI will become an advantage, while countries without it will be at a competitive disadvantage. Hence, we need international coordination to mitigate its ill effects and help AI steer in a direction that benefits everyone. Alliances need to be formed, and dialogues need to take place.

- IANS