There are over 17 million developers in India building on GitHub, representing an increase of 28% in 2024, and making India the fast-growing developer community in the world. Karan MV, director, international developer relations at GitHub, speaks to Sudhir Chowdhary on how the Microsoft-backed platform is supporting this momentum. Excerpts:
Q: Where does India fit into GitHub’s overall strategy?
With 17 million developers on GitHub, India is the fastest-growing on the planet. For perspective, that’s larger than the entire estimated population of Bengaluru city! This growth is due to the passion of developers here to solve problems using technology – especially open source and AI. We’ve seen students and academic institutions play a large role in shaping the next generation of developers, whom we support through our GitHub Education programmes. A Udemy study found GitHub to be one of the most in-demand skills in India — on par with English grammar. GitHub is helping fuel this innovation by providing an AI-powered platform for developers to solve problems faster and collaboratively with the power of Gen AI. This has led to India being the second-largest contributor to public GenAI projects on GitHub.
Q: How do you see developers driving large-scale transformation here?
The sheer size of India’s vibrant developer community alone signals incredible prosperity for 2025 – that’s because where developers are, innovation blooms and economic growth follows. Combined with the power of AI developer tools like GitHub Copilot, we predict that India’s developer community will fuel a new wave of homegrown tech multinationals, a fresh generation of disruptive startups, and an open source community that’s empowered like never before. These communities will leverage AI developer tools to create digital solutions that benefit society .
Q: Will AI-powered tools enable coding in native languages?
AI has created a new bridge between human and machine languages, and this will empower children in India to start programming in their native language before even learning English in school. With GitHub Copilot, students can learn to code in their own language, using AI as a personal programming assistant, much like a calculator for coding. This will seed a lasting wave of developers, surging India’s developer community by millions more and beyond. It will ensure that every student can explore STEM careers and express their creativity through code – without needing to learn English first.
Q: What is GitHub Spark?
AI is set to make it possible for anyone to turn their ideas into reality, all in natural language. This has never been more possible than with GitHub Spark – an AI-powered tool for creating and sharing micro apps (sparks) tailored to individual needs and preferences. While still in technical preview, we’re excited for a world where anyone and everyone is empowered to create software for themselves.