According to the article, a 2026 job market gap exists where employers cannot find enough people with applied AI skills, making an AI and ML course a sought-after degree after Class 12. BCA with AI and ML is a three-year undergraduate course combining Computer Applications with Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning from the first semester, teaching programming, algorithms, databases, Python, neural networks, deep learning, natural language processing, and data analysis. The article cites ManpowerGroup’s 2026 Talent Shortage Survey, stating 82% of Indian employers are struggling to find needed talent, above the global average of 72%, with AI capability topping their hardest-to-hire list. Rajiv Kumar, who heads Microsoft’s India Development Centre, wrote in June 2026 that AI will create more jobs than it disrupts. The article notes that BCA graduates without applied AI training are being filtered out of roles, as employers reject résumés showing no evidence of working with AI.