# Nilekani Sees Small Businesses Driving India’s Future Job Growth 2026-08-06T22:05:30+00:00 | Business & Economy | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani said large companies could become net job losers as artificial intelligence and automation break organised work into tasks that are easier to automate. Speaking at the NCAER India Policy Forum, he said millions of small businesses and startups would drive employment because their workforces are harder to automate. Nilekani said India could have one million startups by 2035, compared with about 1,50,000 now. He called for simpler regulation, easier access to finance and markets, and wider use of platforms such as the RBI’s Account Aggregator and ONDC. The Times of India also reported his view that India could gain from applied AI by making it useful to a billion people, despite limited strength in chips, infrastructure and large language models. ## Coverage - rediff.com - timesofindia.indiatimes.com Tags: AI, gig economy, jobs, small businesses, startups Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/nilekani-says-small-businesses-will-drive-indias-future-job-growth/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/nilekani-says-small-businesses-will-drive-indias-future-job-growth/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.