Gurugram, June 16 : As artificial intelligence rapidly becomes embedded in workplaces, India’s HR and Learning & Development leaders are expressing a concern that goes beyond automation and job displacement. According to the survey conducted by Great Lakes Institute of Management Gurgaon, titled “Human Capital in the Age of AI,” 66% of the organisations in India are already piloting or scaling AI agents, while 53% don’t have clear guardrails to ensure that AI agents are used responsibly, raising concerns around responsible deployment. The survey reveals a significant gap between agentic AI adoption and organisational readiness.
The survey gathered insights from 151 HR and Learning & Development leaders across 32 industries in India, with two-thirds of respondents representing organisations with more than 1,000 employees and 40% coming from enterprises employing over 5,000 people. Respondents included leaders from sectors such as IT/ITeS, BFSI, consulting, manufacturing, healthcare and professional services. It highlights that the biggest risk posed by AI agents is not job loss, but the potential erosion of human judgment. The data shows that around 60% of the organisations identified “loss of human judgment” as the most significant AI induced risk, ranking above data security concerns (54% organisations) and concerns over job displacement/losses (24% organisations). 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.
Commenting on the findings, 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 HR leaders expect AI agents to lead to job losses. Instead, 51% foresee role redesign or creation of new roles within their organisations suggesting the workforce challenge is less about unemployment and more about building skills for AI-enabled roles.
Said Dr. Jones Mathew, Principal, Great Lakes Institute of Management, Gurgaon:
“The findings highlight an important shift in how organisations view agentic 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.
Mr Singh added,
“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 (24%), people management (21%), and ethical judgment (17%) 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 pilot to mainstream across Indian organisations, it is imperative that the race is no longer about adoption, but building the governance, skills and human judgement to sustain it.
