June 17, 2026, (Inside AI) — India has cemented its position among the world’s top three destinations for artificial intelligence and STEM talent, even as global mobility of highly skilled professionals plunged 12% in 2025, according to the Boston Consulting Group’s latest Top Talent Tracker Q2 2026.
India now holds roughly 6% of globally mobile AI talent and 7% of STEM talent. The nation recorded the largest single-year gain in AI talent share among major hubs, adding 1.3 percentage points in 2025. It also increased its share across all four tracked categories: highly skilled talent (+0.2 points), STEM (+0.7), AI (+1.3), and research talent (+0.3).
Why India’s Talent Gravity Is Shifting
The BCG report attributes part of India’s rise to the return of highly skilled non-resident Indians, which has deepened the domestic talent pool. Yet India remains the world’s largest net exporter of highly skilled professionals, including AI, STEM, and research talent.
Abhishek Bhatia, Managing Director and Partner, India Leader - Global Advantage Practice at BCG, stated:
“India continues to be a critical cog in the wheel in every major talent category globally.”
He urged governments to build state and city-level innovation hubs to attract and retain top talent.
Global Mobility Craters Amid Policy Shifts
Worldwide, highly skilled professional movement fell from 3.7 million in 2024 to 3.3 million in 2025 — a drop of 11.6%, or roughly 430,000 fewer movers. STEM talent mobility slid 13%, AI talent 12%, and research professionals 19%.
The tracker analyzed real-time mobility data on 221 million highly skilled professionals across more than 200 destinations through end-2025. A new category — research talent comprising PhD holders — was introduced as a leading indicator of future science and innovation concentration.
New Hubs Emerge as Old Powers Wane
The United Arab Emirates surged as a rising talent hub, rapidly closing the gap with the UK in highly skilled and AI talent rankings. Canada, however, fell from the top three to seventh place in attracting highly skilled workers.
Saudi Arabia posted the highest talent retention ratio among major destinations at 2.6 times, signaling its growing ability to keep the talent it attracts. In Europe, France and Spain gained across all talent categories, while Germany rose to third place globally as a destination for research talent, reflecting a shift of PhD-level professionals toward continental Europe.
BCG noted that countries leading in talent for a given technology are 17 times more likely to also lead in that technology, underscoring the strategic stakes of attracting and retaining skilled workers.
