Indian HR Leaders Expect Agentic AI Adoption to Grow 383% by 2027

• 88% of HR chiefs plan to reskill their employees for better job opportunities in the digital labor era
• 85% believe that within five years, most workforces will have humans and AI agents working together
• CHROs believe AI literacy is the number one skill workers need as businesses move into the agentic economy

National, 26 May 2025: Salesforce’s latest research, which surveyed 200 global human resource executives, reveals that digital labor isn’t just a trend — it’s a business strategy revolution. With AI agent adoption expected to jump 383% over the next two years, leading to a productivity gain of 41.7%, HR leaders in India are reimagining the way organizations structure and skill their workforce. The findings reveal that CHROs in India expect to redeploy nearly a quarter (24.7%) of their workforce as their organizations implement and embrace digital labor.

The study also highlighted a growing focus on AI reskilling programs. 88% of Indian HR chiefs are or are planning to reskill their workers to be more competitive in a market shaped by AI agents. Most of these leaders (81%) also agree that soft skills like relationship building and collaboration will be even more critical as humans work alongside agents.

Why it matters: 85% of Indian HR leaders agree the workforce will be made up of humans and agents in the next five years. And yet, 88% say their organizations have yet to implement agentic AI and 63% say employees don’t yet understand how digital labor will impact their work. As agentic AI reshapes the workplace — and the skills workers need to succeed — understanding how HR leaders are ensuring organizational resilience is critically important.

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“We’re in the midst of a once-in-a-lifetime transformation of work with digital labor that is unlocking new levels of productivity, autonomy, and agency at a speed never before thought possible,” said Nathalie Scardino, President and Chief People Officer at Salesforce. “Every industry must redesign jobs, reskill, and redeploy talent — and every employee will need to learn new human, agent, and business skills to thrive in the digital labor revolution.”

Key insights from the research include:

1. HR leaders in India believe digital labor is the future and its integration is critical to their role

• 85% believe that within five years, most workforces will have humans and AI agents/digital labor working together.
• 92% of CHROs say that integrating digital labor alongside their existing workforce will be a critical part of their job.
• CHROs project a 383% growth in agent adoption within their organizations by 2027 (from 12% adoption today to 58% two years from now).
• Once agentic AI is fully implemented, CHROs expect an average employee productivity gain of 41.7% and a 26.2% reduction in labor costs.

1. CHROs in India plan to reskill and redeploy their employees to work alongside agents

• 83% of CHROs believe AI agents/digital labor will transform their organizational structure.
• 93% of CHROs believe AI agents/digital labor will empower them to reassign employees to new, more relevant roles.
  • They anticipate redeploying nearly a quarter (24.7%) of the workforce to new roles or teams.
• 88% of CHROs believe redeployment is the more cost-effective approach compared to hiring outside the business for new roles.
• 88% of CHROs are either already reskilling (15%) or plan to reskill (73%) employees for roles with better future opportunities.

1. With 88% of businesses yet to embrace agentic AI, CHROs in India direct near-term efforts toward AI implementation — including IT and research and development

• CHROs anticipate research and development (R&D) (59%), IT (51%), and sales teams (34%) will grow as their business begins to adopt AI agents.
• CHROs plan to reassign employees to governance, compliance, and ethics roles (60%), like defining standards and monitoring AI inputs, and technical roles (60%), like data scientists or technical architects, in the near term.
• CHROs believe AI literacy is the number one skill workers need as businesses move into the agentic economy.

1. As businesses implement digital labor strategies, CHROs in India believe soft skills and relationship-building roles will become more valuable

• 81% of CHROs say AI agents/digital labor will increase the need for soft skills at their organization.
• CHROs also plan to reassign employees to relationship-building roles (54%), like partnerships and account management and say collaboration and adaptability skills will be valuable in the agentic economy.

1. Despite the urgency of digital labor, many Indian HR chiefs are still in early planning phases with preparing their workforce.

1. • Just 12% of Indian CHROs say their organization has fully implemented agentic AI.
   • 63% of Indian HR chiefs say their employees remain unaware of how AI agents will impact their work