India Inc is increasingly prioritizing artificial intelligence (AI) fluency by integrating it into staff performance metrics, signaling a significant shift in how companies value and measure employee contributions. This drive stems from the large-scale disruption caused by AI, which is pushing organizations across various sectors to accelerate the adoption and application of this transformative technology.
Firms like Deloitte, Lenovo, Mphasis, and Accenture are actively encouraging employees to incorporate AI into their daily workflows and are including AI usage as a key responsibility area (KRA) in performance evaluations. This strategic move aims to promote wider AI adoption, faster upskilling, and greater accountability among the workforce. Senior leaders are also participating in this transformation by undergoing AI training and being held responsible for integrating AI-first practices within their respective functions. This leadership involvement emphasizes that AI fluency is no longer an optional skill but a foundational capability for navigating the evolving business landscape.
Deloitte, for example, has introduced 'innovation' as a key performance indicator (KPI), focusing on responsible AI adoption and AI skilling. Their senior business teams are expected to champion the use of organization-approved AI tools to embed innovation into daily work, improve delivery quality, and accelerate technological transformation. Furthermore, Deloitte is planning to introduce an AI skill badge as a KPI to allow employees to showcase their AI expertise.
Lenovo has similarly integrated AI into KRAs across various functions to cultivate a future-ready workforce. For their sales teams, AI-linked KRAs are directly tied to performance metrics to ensure alignment with overarching business objectives. Across product and technical teams, AI-focused KPIs have become standard, reinforcing the expectation of general AI understanding and integration.
This emphasis on AI fluency reflects a broader recognition that simply automating tasks within existing frameworks is insufficient. Organizations must fundamentally rethink how work is done, focusing on how people, AI agents, and robots can operate as a coordinated system. McKinsey has found that demand for AI fluency, defined as the ability to use, supervise, and guide AI tools, has increased sevenfold in US job postings in just two years.
Microsoft's research also highlights the growing importance of AI skills, with 63% of managers expecting AI training to become a core team responsibility within five years. They frame the shift as a reset of roles and workflows, emphasizing AI fluency, ethics, and cross-functional agility to enable individuals to design, supervise, and troubleshoot human-agent workflows effectively.
However, many corporate upskilling programs are struggling to keep pace with the rapid evolution of AI tools, with employees often understanding AI conceptually but lacking the fluency to apply it within their specific roles. To address this gap, companies need to ensure their AI training programs are relevant to specific roles and use cases. Businesses must also define clear KPIs to measure progress, track ethical usage, and assess innovation outcomes.
Several institutions are offering programs to equip professionals with the necessary AI and digital skills. ISB Executive Education, in collaboration with Emeritus, has launched a Chief Digital and AI Officer Programme designed for professionals aiming to lead digital initiatives and AI integration. The program focuses on developing digital strategies, promoting collaboration, driving AI adoption, and establishing AI governance frameworks.
Ultimately, the integration of AI fluency into staff performance metrics signifies a fundamental shift in the workplace, one that demands continuous learning, adaptation, and a strategic approach to leveraging AI's potential.
