98% of Indian Business Leaders Fast-Tracking AI Adoption, Yet Struggle to Find Skilled Talent: LinkedIn

NEW DELHI (India CSR): Two years on, generative AI has evolved from a buzzword into a business essential, with leaders across India embracing its potential. According to new research by LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network, 98% of business leaders in India say helping their organisations speed up AI adoption is their strategic priority in 2025. However, finding talent with the right skills remains a challenge.

Finding the right mix of AI and human skills is a challenge for nearly 3 in 5 recruiters in India

LinkedIn research shows that 54% of HR professionals in India report that only half, or fewer, of the job applications they receive meet all required and preferred qualifications. Finding candidates with the right technical (61%) and soft skills (57%) remains their biggest hiring challenge. The hardest-to-find skills in India include technical/IT skills such as software development, engineering (44%), AI skills (34%) and soft skills like communication and problem-solving (33%).

Companies are exercising ‘selective hiring’ in 2025 

HR professionals in India also state they receive too many applications (47%) from candidates who are not a fit for the role (41%), and are hiring more selectively in 2025. More than half of HR professionals in India say they would only consider reaching out to (55%) and hiring (54%) candidates who meet 80% or more of job qualifications.

Ruchee Anand, India Country Head, Talent & Learning Solutions, LinkedIn said, “AI is reshaping how we hire and develop talent, but the real unlock isn’t just adopting AI—it’s making it work for the business. Too often, companies pour resources into AI tools without the right talent to unlock their full potential, turning a game-changing opportunity into a missed one. To break this cycle, businesses need to approach hiring with a skills-first mindset—because while AI will be the tool that unlocks innovation, it’s human skills like creativity, communication, and collaboration that will help companies truly stay ahead of change.”

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Leaders are doubling down on upskilling their workforce

More than 8 in 10 (84%) HR professionals in India rank helping employees build new skills as a top priority for 2025, with a strong focus on upskilling in AI (84%) and essential soft skills like communication and collaboration (82%). This sentiment is echoed by all (100%) surveyed L&D professionals in India who agree that soft skills (like creativity, curiosity, and communication) are becoming just as critical as technical expertise. Nearly half (48%) of Indian leaders also say that investing in learning and development for AI training will be key to accelerating adoption. 

LinkedIn is introducing new AI-powered tools to help recruiters spend more time on their most impactful work

As companies navigate a cautious economic landscape, LinkedIn is introducing new AI-powered tools to help recruiters focus on the most strategic, people-centric tasks for their job:

• Nearly 2 in 5 (37%) of HR professionals in India spend 1–3 hours daily sifting through job applications, and more than 3 in 5 (64%) believe AI-powered tools can make hiring faster and easier. LinkedIn’s new Hiring Assistant is designed to take on a recruiter’s most repetitive, time-consuming tasks so they can spend more time on their most impactful work like advising hiring managers, connecting with candidates, and creating exceptional candidate experiences. “I find the speed and delivery of candidates good and believe LinkedIn’s Hiring Assistant will continue to improve the team’s productivity,” said Sachin Borde, Global Talent Attraction Leader, IBM.
• 7 in 10 (71%) of HR professionals in India cite difficulties accessing tailored learning resources. LinkedIn Learning’s new AI-powered coaching feature helps learners build soft skills through interactive, real-world scenarios using text or voice. It helps them gain confidence in workplace conversations like performance reviews and feedback discussions, and learners receive actionable, personalized feedback at the end of each practice session.

C-suites and CHROs on the outlook for work in 2025 (C-suite research) Methodology:

C-suite (all up) Methodology: 

Global research of 1,991 C-suite executives (Chief Executive Officer, Chief Human Resources Officer, Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Revenue Officer and Chief Technology Officer) in nine countries (Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, India, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, United States, United Kingdom) working in businesses with 1,000+ employees. Fieldwork was conducted by YouGov between Nov 26 to Dec 13 2024. 

CHRO Methodology: 

Global research of 300+ Chief Human Resources Officers in nine countries (Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, India, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, United States, United Kingdom) working in businesses with 1,000+ employees. Fieldwork was conducted by YouGov between Nov 26 to Dec 13 2024. 

Workplace Learning Report Methodology:

Survey data

The LinkedIn Learning 2025 Workplace Learning Report surveyed 937 L&D and HR professionals with L&D responsibilities who have some influence on budget decisions and 679 learners. Surveyed geographies include: North America (United States, Canada); South America (Brazil); Asia-Pacific (Australia, New Zealand, India, Japan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Hong Kong); and Europe (United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Iceland, Denmark, France, Germany, Austria).

LinkedIn platform insights

All data reflects aggregated LinkedIn member activity as of September 2024. Behavioural insights for this report were derived from the billions of data points generated by 1 billion members, 14 million jobs, and 5 million profile updates per minute. Specific analyses:

Future of Recruiting Report Methodology:

Survey data

LinkedIn Research surveyed 1,271 recruiting professionals in management seniority roles or higher (1,019 corporate recruiting pros, 252 search and staffing pros). Survey respondents are LinkedIn members who were selected to participate based on information in their LinkedIn profile and qualified based on survey responses. This survey was conducted in four languages across 23 countries in September 2024.

Platform insights

Platform insights for this report were derived from the billions of data points generated by the 1 billion members in over 200 countries on LinkedIn today. Talent acquisition (TA) professionals are LinkedIn members with a recruiting role. To measure the growth of TA pros learning AI skills, we compared the number of skills explicitly added by members over a 12-month period (October 2023 to September 2024) against the previous 12-month period (October 2022 to September 2023). AI skills include AI literacy skills, which made up the great majority of what TA pros were learning (as opposed to AI engineering skills). 

B2B data from Talent Campaign Methodology 

Consumer and Global HR Professionals Research: This research was conducted by Censuswide between November 27 to December 16, 2024, among 22,010 consumer respondents and 8,035 global HR professionals between November 28 to December 18 2024. Markets involved included: UK, USA, France, Germany, India, Spain, Brazil, Ireland, the Netherlands, Singapore, Japan, Sweden, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Australia, Indonesia, and Italy. Censuswide abides by and employs members of the Market Research Society which is based on the ESOMAR principles. Censuswide are members of the British Polling Council. 

(India CSR)