India Remains LinkedIn’s Standout Growth Engine as AI Rewrites Hiring and Skills

LinkedIn’s APAC chief Feon Ang has highlighted India as one of the platform’s most energizing growth stories, crediting a tech-savvy workforce, fluid career mobility among Gen Z, and rapid adoption by small and midsize businesses. The market is simultaneously navigating an AI transition that is reshaping hiring, with recruiters seeking adaptable talent trained on emerging tools rather than narrow job titles. As employers compress hiring cycles, they are leaning on Skills, Learning, and Recruiter products that surface candidates based on capabilities, certifications, and work samples rather than pedigree alone.
A major shift is the move from degrees to demonstrable capabilities. Indian members are stacking micro-credentials in data, cloud, and AI, then signaling them through updated profiles and project portfolios. That loop allows recruiters to match based on verified skills, not just pedigrees, while learners move faster into opportunity. SMBs, in particular, are using LinkedIn to source flexible talent for project-based work and to build brand with prospective hires and customers in the same feed.
India’s scale also feeds LinkedIn’s product roadmap. The region generates rich data on fast-changing skills, which informs recommendations and helps employers design learning pathways that keep teams current. As AI assistants land in recruiting and productivity suites, LinkedIn’s data advantage could deepen, connecting workers to roles, mentors, and training more efficiently. The test ahead is inclusion: ensuring non-metro talent, career returners, and first-generation graduates benefit from the same changes. If LinkedIn can expand localized learning content, strengthen assessment credibility, and support vernacular discovery, India could shape best practices adopted worldwide. Expect more AI-driven job recommendations, richer skills verification, and partnerships with universities and state skilling missions to bring newcomers online with market-ready portfolios. The opportunity is broad, urgent, and increasingly global in impact. Indeed.