New Delhi, July 8 -- Artificial intelligence penetration in India's retail Global Capability Centres (GCC) has doubled, yet AI professionals still represent fewer than one in 20 employees, according to a report by TeamLease Digital. The findings highlighted a stark capability mismatch even as India scales its presence globally, holding 180 centres and over 270,000 professionals.

As per the report, AI workforce penetration has more than doubled from 2.1 per cent in 2022 to 4.8 per cent in 2025, and is forecast to reach 7.2 per cent in 2026. Yet the senior AI talent base remains thin, only 320 professionals with 8+ years of AI experience exist across all 180 Retail GCCs, an average of fewer than two per centre.

The country leads AI penetr...