As India’s digital workforce expands rapidly, experts in the industry noted that a growing number of professionals are navigating fragmented career ecosystems where job searches, networking, AI tools, and skill development exist across multiple disconnected platforms. Against this backdrop, AI hiring platform Redrob AI has partnered with developer engagement platform Hack2skill to launch “INDIA RUNS”, a nationwide innovation initiative aimed at discovering and developing AI-driven talent across India.
The programme, which carries a prize pool exceeding Rs 50 lakh, is open to participants across all academic streams, cities, and professional backgrounds. Registration is free, with organisers positioning the initiative as an attempt to widen access to India’s fast-growing AI and technology ecosystem beyond elite institutions and metro cities, according to an official statement.
According to a recent report by the World Economic Forum, nearly 69 million new jobs are expected to emerge globally by 2028 due to advances in artificial intelligence and automation, while LinkedIn’s Economic Graph data has shown a sharp increase in demand for AI literacy and digital skills across Indian industries.
Industry experts have also repeatedly highlighted the need to bridge the opportunity gap between Tier 1 urban talent hubs and emerging talent pools in smaller cities.
“India has 600 million working-age people. Most AI tools available to them were built in a different country, for a different context entirely — a different job market, a different language reality, a different set of career paths. We built Redrob AI from the ground up for this one,” Felix Kim, Founder and CEO of Redrob AI said.
The INDIA RUNS programme has been divided into three competitive tracks. The first track focuses on developers and challenges participants to build an AI-powered candidate ranking system capable of going beyond traditional keyword-based hiring filters. Participants will work with datasets containing professional profiles, career metadata, and platform activity signals alongside detailed job descriptions. The challenge will be evaluated on the basis of outcomes and problem-solving approaches rather than the choice of technology stack, the statement mentioned.
The second track will function as an ideathon and feature three separate problem statements aimed at different participant groups. The third track centres on a social media challenge encouraging participants to share perspectives on artificial intelligence and the future of work in India across digital platforms and content formats.
Hack2skill, which is co-hosting the programme, claims to have a registered community of over eight million developers and students, along with a campus ambassador network of more than 12,500 individuals. The company said its outreach network extends deeply into Tier 2 and Tier 3 college ecosystems, which Redrob AI considers a largely untapped source of skilled talent.
Redrob AI stated that its platform has been developed specifically for Indian employment patterns and multilingual workforce realities. The company claims its ecosystem currently includes access to over 790 million profiles, 20 million live jobs, six integrated products, and support for more than 30 languages accumulated through six years of data development.
