India emerges as global hub for GenAI education demand, says Coursera CTO Mustafa Furniturewala

India has established itself as the leading market for generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) courses on Coursera, signaling a significant shift towards reskilling its workforce for the evolving AI landscape. Mustafa Furniturewala, the Chief Technology Officer of Coursera, shared these insights during a virtual interview with Business Today. Currently, India ranks as Coursera’s second-largest market in terms of overall enrollments, boasting around 34 million learners on the platform. Notably, approximately 4 million of these learners are pursuing GenAI courses, positioning India as the top contributor to global demand for such educational programs. The rate of enrollment has seen remarkable growth, with India recording three GenAI course enrollments every minute in 2025, a significant increase from one enrollment every three minutes in 2024 and one every four minutes in 2023. Furniturewala emphasized that this surge reflects the vast scale of India's workforce and the pressing need to adapt to technological advancements. "There's a huge opportunity here, but it will only be realized if we can reskill people," he noted. The company is collaborating with the government to launch initiatives like the Yuva AI for All program, aimed at making these resources accessible to all citizens. Additionally, the Karam Yogi program is focused on enhancing the skills of government employees and bureaucrats. Beyond course consumption, Coursera's operations in India are also centered on product development, with around 400 employees working across various functions, including engineering and content marketing, primarily based in Bengaluru. "A lot of product innovation is happening in India, and our team is developing key protocols for integration with large language models (LLMs)," Furniturewala remarked. Furniturewala also highlighted how GenAI is reshaping the educational landscape. Coursera's mission to democratize education is being accelerated by GenAI, which enables the platform to reach a broader audience effectively. AI tools are facilitating large-scale localization, such as translating instructors' voices into multiple languages and creating custom learning paths for students. "Each learner can have their personalized curriculum, and GenAI allows us to enhance support for them," he stated. In response to the rapid evolution of technology, Coursera has noted a shift towards micro-credentials over traditional long-term courses. These shorter, skill-focused certifications are becoming more popular as they can be continuously updated, unlike degrees that require extended periods to complete. "You need to keep refreshing your credentials as the skills advance," Furniturewala mentioned, emphasizing that this approach ties learning more closely to real business outcomes. While focusing on GenAI is essential, Furniturewala cautioned that it is not the sole factor in achieving employability. He stressed the importance of combining AI skills with domain knowledge, such as in cybersecurity, to create a more valuable skill set over time. As AI systems become increasingly integrated into various industries, the demand for skills in system design and management of autonomous systems is expected to grow. Looking ahead, India is projected to contribute about 16% of the global AI talent by 2047, highlighting the critical role that the country’s education and workforce ecosystem will play in shaping the future of work.