In brief
In southeastern India's Virudhunagar, technology meets tradition as local residents engage in AI training and development. Companies like Desicrew and NextWealth are pioneering 'cloud farming', allowing skilled workers to train AI models from small towns rather than metropolitan hubs, thereby creating job opportunities for many, especially women. With significant growth expected in AI-related work, these towns are poised to play a crucial role in the global tech landscape.
Virudhunagar, a town in southeastern India, can boast temples that date back thousands of years.
But not far from those ancient sites, people are working on the latest tech - artificial intelligence.
One of those is Mohan Kumar.
My role is in AI annotation. I collect data from various sources, label it, and train AI models so they can recognize and predict objects. Over time, the models become semi-supervised and can make decisions on their own, he says.
India has long been a centre for outsourced IT support, but firms have been moving work into remote areas, where costs for staff and space are lower.
The trend is known as cloud farming, and AI has given it another boost in towns like Virudhunagar.
Professionally, there is no real difference. We work with the same global clients from the US and Europe, and the training and skills required are the same, says Mr Kumar.
Mr Kumar works for Desicrew, a pioneer in cloud farming. The company's mission is to create careers closer to home, empowering residents while proving that quality work can be delivered from anywhere.
Currently, 30 to 40% of Desicrew's work is AI-related, expected to grow significantly in upcoming years. Much of this involves transcription, allowing AI models to better understand and respond to human interactions across languages.
Around 70% of the workforce at Desicrew are women, bringing transformative changes to their households.
NextWealth is another company working in this space, focused on harnessing the talents of small-town graduates who are often overlooked by major IT firms.
The shift towards cloud farming indicates a bright future for AI jobs in rural India, potentially creating millions of new opportunities.
If cloud farming continues to scale, small-town India could emerge as the world’s largest hub for AI operations, says advisor KS Viswanathan.
While challenges remain, the fusion of tradition and technology in towns like Virudhunagar points towards a vibrant future for AI in rural India.
