World Bank report cites India's AI initiatives as model for developing economies
The benefits of AI, however will be more even as it is expected 16.2% of jobs in developing economies could see productivity meaningfully boosted by AI, as against the 18.7% expected in high-income countries, the report said.
The risk of losing jobs to Artificial Intelligence (AI) is three times higher in high-income countries as compared to those in low- and middle-income countries, says the World Bank Group's "World Development Report 2026: The Promise of AI". While 4.5% of existing jobs are at risk in low- and medium-income countries due to AI, it is 14.2% in high-income countries, the report notes.
The benefits of AI, however will be more even as it is expected 16.2% of jobs in developing economies could see productivity meaningfully boosted by AI, as against the 18.7% expected in high-income countries, the report said. It cited ample examples of AI initiatives from India to show that the greatest promise for developing countries lies not in replacing workers, but in amplifying what they can do.
The report talks about India’s Sarvam AI and the new AI models the company is developing instead of simply modifying existing ones. It mentioned how AI-generated weather forecasts are helping farmers of Telangana—who relied little on information from the government and extension agents—make better production and investment choice and how government can further help small businesses, start-ups, and researchers by offering compute at lower cost, as India has done through its INDIAai mission.
The report wants the developing economies to make the data needed to build AI solutions more widely available, ideally to make more public data in local languages open for AI developers to use. It mentions India’s BHASHINI initiative as one such example as it has significantly increased the accessibility of public records.
India’s digital initiatives such as DigiLocker, the e-Courts Mission Mode Project, and the National Judicial Data Grid finds mention in the report. The iGOT Karmayogi, the government initiative that has enabled more than 1.3 million government officials to complete AI-related courses is another such initiative that has been highlighted.
“AI has thrown developing economies a lifeline, and they should seize it”, said Indermit Gill, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of the World Bank Group. “They do not need large models or big data centres to reap its benefits. By adapting small, low-cost AI tools to local conditions, they can bring better medical care, education, judicial services and agricultural extension within reach of millions. But they must hurry: AI is spreading faster and is more context-specific than earlier general-purpose technologies like electricity and the internet. World Development Report 2026 shows how developing countries are responding—and succeeding.”
The report is the first comprehensive assessment of AI’s implications for developing countries, revealing how businesses and governments in these countries have begun to use AI.