Gurugram, Aug 11: As AI agents become increasingly embedded across Indian organisations, businesses are rapidly scaling adoption but face growing challenges around governance, workforce readiness and preserving human judgment. According to Human Capital in the Age of AI, a survey conducted by Great Lakes Institute of Management Gurgaon, 66percentage of organisations are already piloting or scaling AI agents, while 53percentage lack clear governance frameworks for responsible deployment. Based on insights from over 150 Business and Learning & Development leaders across 32 sectors in India, the survey reveals that while AI adoption is accelerating, organisational preparedness is struggling to keep pace.
Furthermore the survey responses highlight that the biggest risk posed by AI agents is not job loss, but the potential erosion of human judgment. The data shows that around 60percentage of the organisations identified “loss of human judgment” as the most significant AI induced risk, ranking above data security concerns and concerns over job displacement/losses . It shows that the future of work will depend not only on technology adoption, but also on strengthening critical thinking, ethical reasoning, and decision-making.
Abhishek Singh, Director General, National Testing Agency, and former CEO of the IndiaAI Mission, said:
“AI is rapidly becoming a core workplace capability, and the real challenge is whether the workforce is prepared for this shift. AI itself will not replace jobs, but professionals with AI skills will increasingly outperform those without them, making continuous learning essential.”
Contrary to widespread fears, only 24% of Business leaders expect AI agents to lead to job losses. Instead, 51% foresee role redesign or creation of new roles, while 76% report that agentic AI is already changing role design within their organisations suggesting the workforce challenge is less about unemployment and more about building skills for AI-enabled roles.
Said Dr. Jones Mathew, Former Principal, Great Lakes Institute of Management, Gurgaon:
“The findings highlight an important shift in how organisations view AI. Earlier, the focus was largely on job displacement, but today the bigger concern is ensuring that human judgment does not weaken as AI capabilities grow.”
The survey also highlights a critical inclusion challenge: unless upskilling initiatives reach talent in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, many young professionals risk being excluded from emerging opportunities, limiting India’s demographic advantage.
As Abhishek Singh noted,
“AI skilling must extend beyond metro cities to Tier-2 and Tier-3 markets if India is to fully realise its demographic advantage. India’s AI opportunity lies in using technology at scale across sectors such as healthcare, education, agriculture, governance, and enterprise productivity, while ensuring widespread workforce readiness.”
When asked where AI agents remain least reliable, respondents pointed to strategic decision-making, people management, and ethical judgment reinforcing that human oversight remains essential in situations involving complexity, leadership, and values-based decisions.
Agentic AI’s productivity impact is already evident: 68% of respondents reported measurable improvements, with 36% citing moderate gains in employee productivity and 32% significant gains. As agentic AI moves from experimentation to enterprise-wide deployment, the survey suggests that India’s competitive advantage will depend not on how quickly organisations adopt AI, but on how effectively they build governance frameworks, develop AI-ready talent and preserve human judgement alongside intelligent systems.