How AI Disrupted Job Sectors in South Asia?_Mushfiqur Rahman_Sajid Amit_October 2025:
Artificial intelligence is transforming labor markets across South Asia by changing how work is performed and the skills required. Historical shifts from industrial mechanization to digital computing illustrate how technology reconfigures employment, and AI now accelerates this process. Routine-intensive roles in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bhutan face growing displacement, while emerging AI-related roles such as data annotation, prompt engineering, and workflow integration remain limited and demand skills that are scarce in the region. Adoption rates vary, with India leading and smaller economies in early stages due to infrastructure and institutional constraints. The analysis underscores the need for targeted reskilling, industrial policy, and inclusive governance to ensure AI contributes to equitable and sustainable economic development.
How AI Will Disrupt the Job Market in South Asia?_Md. Mushfiqur Rahman_August 2025
Artificial intelligence in South Asia is not a marginal innovation; it is a paradigmatic shift that unsettles the architecture of work itself. For decades, routine-intensive roles such as clerical support, RMG shop-floor operations, transcription, and call centers functioned as transitional ladders from informal economies into structured employment. Those ladders are collapsing. The emerging AI-driven roles such as annotation, prompt design, and model testing are real but narrow in scope, demanding rare skills and institutional ecosystems that are still embryonic in the region. The consequence is a widening structural gap: rising output without commensurate employment absorption. This is not simply automation replacing jobs, it is the erosion of buffers that stabilized South Asia’s demographic dividend. The strategic question, therefore, is whether states and institutions can reimagine complementarities: education that blends judgment with digital fluency, policies that localize AI for agriculture, logistics, and health, and governance frameworks that reclaim sovereignty over data. In short, AI is not just an economic variable, it is a developmental crossroad that will determine whether South Asia spirals into jobless growth or engineers a future of inclusive productivity.
Fortune at the Bottom of the Bay Investment Prospects in the Bay of Bengal_Mushfiqur Rahman and Sajid Amit_April-2025
This white paper takes an investment-driven approach to unlock the true potential of Bangladesh's Blue Economy. While the concept of the Blue Economy is not new to the country, its contribution to the national GDP remains a modest 3.2%, valued at just $16 billion, which is far below its global potential. With the right investments and policy focus, the Blue Economy could increase up to estimated $34 billion by 2035.
To fully realize this growth, the paper divides the Blue Economy into two critical blocks: traditional and emerging sectors, each with distinct short-term and long-term growth focus. Traditional sectors like marine fisheries, coastal tourism, and shipbuilding, while established, are held back by outdated practices and technology gaps. Meanwhile, emerging sectors: offshore oil and gas, renewable energy, and marine biotechnology are not yet explored but has a global case for high return business. By exploring both sectors, the paper identifies key barriers and investment opportunities that could significantly increase economy size in coming future.