India is unlikely to see widespread job losses from artificial intelligence because a large share of its workforce is employed in physical and mechanical roles, Goldman Sachs Chief India Economist Santanu Sengupta said on Friday.
Speaking to Bloomberg Television, Sengupta said construction and retail trade together account for 40% of India's workforce and are currently less exposed to AI. The greater impact is expected in Service sector, particularly jobs involving repetitive or routine tasks.
"Some of the substitution risks" could emerge in postal and telecommunications services and IT services, especially call-centre jobs, Sengupta said. At the same time, AI could improve productivity in sectors such as finance, healthcare, education and business services.
Goldman Sachs estimates that sequencing AI adoption appropriately could add about 0.4 percentage points to India's overall productivity over a 10-year period, Sengupta said. He added that if adoption takes place gradually, productivity gains could outweigh potential job losses over a five-year period.
The assessment comes when India prepares for its wider shift in its labour market. The government Economic Survey 2025-2026 said about 26% of employment in India is exposed to AI but noted that exposure can result either in job displacement or increased productivity, depending on the nature of work.
India is also seeing rising demand for AI-related skills. The government said AI-related job postings in South Asia more than doubled between January 2023 and March 2025, while demand for AI skills grew faster than demand for non-AI roles.
Sengupta's comments suggest that the impact of AI on India is likely to vary significantly by occupation, with routine services work facing greater disruption where physical jobs and roles where AI complements human workers may remain relatively more resilient.
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