Virudhunagar, a quiet town in southeastern India, is famous for temples that have stood for centuries. Yet behind those historic walls, locals are shaping the future, training artificial intelligence systems used across the world.
Bridging tradition and technology
Mohan Kumar teaches machines to understand and predict human behavior. “I work in AI annotation. I collect and label data to train models that recognize objects. Over time, they learn to make independent decisions,” he explains.
India has long been a global leader in outsourced IT services, with cities like Bangalore and Chennai dominating. Recently, companies have shifted work to smaller towns, where skilled labor is abundant and operational costs are lower.
This trend, called cloud farming, is turning towns like Virudhunagar into emerging AI hubs.
Bringing jobs to rural areas
Mohan Kumar sees no disadvantage in working outside a major city. “There’s no professional difference. We serve the same global clients and use the same tools and skills as city offices,” he says.
He works for Desicrew, founded in 2005, one of India’s first cloud farming pioneers. “We realised we could bring jobs to people instead of forcing them to migrate,” says chief executive Mannivannan J. K. “Cities had most opportunities. We wanted to prove quality work can come from anywhere.”
Desicrew handles software testing, content moderation, and AI dataset creation. “Currently, 30 to 40% of our work involves AI,” Mannivannan says. “That will soon rise to 75 or even 100%.”
Teaching AI to understand humans
A large part of Desicrew’s work involves transcription—turning speech into text. “Machines understand text far better,” Mannivannan explains. “For AI to sound natural, it must learn how people speak across different dialects and accents. Transcription provides that foundation.”
He says rural offices can match urban tech hubs. “People assume rural means outdated, but our centres are fully equipped with secure systems, fast internet, and reliable power. Geography is the only difference.”
About 70% of Desicrew’s workforce are women. “For many, this is their first salaried job,” Mannivannan says. “It transforms families by providing financial stability and better opportunities for their children.”
Unlocking small-town talent
NextWealth, founded in 2008, follows a similar model. Based in Bangalore, it employs 5,000 people across 11 smaller towns.
“Sixty percent of India’s graduates come from small towns, yet most IT jobs are in cities,” says co-founder Mythily Ramesh. “That leaves a huge pool of first-generation graduates untapped. Their parents—farmers, tailors, or shopkeepers—make sacrifices to fund education.”
NextWealth started with back-office work but shifted to AI five years ago. “Some of the world’s most advanced algorithms are trained and validated in India’s smaller towns,” Ramesh says.
Local talent, global reach
Nearly 70% of NextWealth’s business comes from the US. “Every AI model—from chatbots to facial recognition—relies on vast amounts of human-labelled data,” Ramesh explains. “That data is the backbone of cloud farming jobs.”
She expects rapid growth. “In three to five years, AI and generative AI could create nearly 100 million jobs. Small-town India can lead that wave.”
Ramesh believes India has a head start. “Countries like the Philippines may compete, but India’s scale and early adoption give a five to seven-year advantage. We must act now to maintain it.”
Challenges in rural AI
Technology advisor KS Viswanathan, formerly with India’s National Association of Software and Service Companies, sees cloud farming as transformative. “Silicon Valley builds AI engines, but India’s small towns keep them running,” he says.
He believes rural India could become the global hub for AI operations. “If growth continues, small-town India may repeat its IT success from two decades ago.”
Yet obstacles remain. “Internet speed and secure data centres are not always at metro standards,” Viswanathan warns. “Data security is an ongoing concern.”
Perception is another challenge. “Clients often doubt small towns can meet global standards. Trust must be earned through consistent performance,” he adds.
The people behind smarter machines
At NextWealth, Dhanalakshmi Vijay fine-tunes AI systems daily. When a model mistakes a denim jacket for a navy shirt, she corrects it. “Each fix teaches the AI. It’s like giving it experience — it improves with every correction,” she says.
Her work impacts millions of users. “We train AI that makes online shopping faster and more accurate,” she says. “We help machines understand human behavior better.”
A digital revolution beyond the cities
Across India’s smaller towns, young professionals and first-generation graduates are quietly shaping global AI. From Virudhunagar to countless others, innovation thrives outside skyscrapers and city tech parks.
In the shadow of ancient temples, India’s countryside is powering the future—where tradition and technology grow side by side.
