Virudhunagar, a modest town in southeastern India, is better known for its centuries-old temples. Yet behind those ancient walls, a quiet digital transformation is taking shape. Here, locals are helping train the artificial intelligence systems that drive the modern tech world.
Ancient roots meet digital dreams
Mohan Kumar spends his workdays teaching machines to think. “I work in AI annotation. I collect and label data to train AI models so they can identify and predict objects. Over time, they start making independent decisions,” he explains.
India has long been a global leader in outsourced IT services, with cities like Bangalore and Chennai leading the charge. But today, companies are spreading that work to smaller towns where talent is abundant and costs are lower.
This shift, known as cloud farming, has turned towns like Virudhunagar into unexpected players in the global AI industry.
Work that comes to the people
Mohan Kumar says living outside a major city doesn’t limit his career. “There’s no difference between city and small-town work,” he says. “We handle global clients from the US and Europe using the same skills and tools.”
He works for Desicrew, a pioneer in cloud farming founded in 2005. “We realised we could bring jobs to people instead of forcing them to move to cities,” says chief executive Mannivannan J. K. “Opportunities were always concentrated in urban centres. We wanted to change that and prove quality work can happen anywhere.”
Desicrew’s projects range from software testing to content moderation and AI dataset creation. “At present, 30 to 40% of our work involves AI,” says Mannivannan. “That will soon rise to 75 or even 100%.”
Teaching machines to speak human
Much of Desicrew’s AI work involves transcription — converting audio to text. “Machines understand text far better,” Mannivannan explains. “To make AI sound natural, it must learn how people speak across different accents and dialects. Transcription builds that foundation.”
He insists that rural India can match any urban hub. “People assume rural means outdated, but our centres are as advanced as those in cities. We have secure systems, fast internet, and stable power. The only difference is the landscape.”
About 70% of Desicrew’s workforce are women. “For many, this is their first salaried job,” Mannivannan says. “It brings confidence, financial security, and better opportunities for their families.”
Unlocking rural potential
NextWealth, founded in 2008, follows the same path. Based in Bangalore, it employs 5,000 people in 11 smaller towns across India.
“Sixty percent of India’s graduates come from small towns, but most IT jobs are in cities,” says co-founder and managing director Mythily Ramesh. “That leaves a huge pool of first-generation graduates untapped. Their parents — farmers, tailors, or policemen — often take loans to fund their education.”
NextWealth started with back-office work before shifting to AI about five years ago. “Some of the world’s most advanced algorithms are being trained and validated in India’s small towns,” says Ramesh.
A global market built in local offices
Nearly 70% of NextWealth’s projects come from the US. “Every AI model, from chatbots to facial recognition, relies on massive amounts of human-labelled data,” Ramesh explains. “That’s the backbone of our business.”
She expects the industry to grow fast. “In the next three to five years, AI and generative AI could create nearly 100 million jobs in training and validation. India’s small towns can lead this global movement.”
Ramesh believes India’s head start gives it an edge. “The Philippines and others are catching up, but India’s scale and early experience offer a five to seven-year advantage. We must seize it.”
The hurdles ahead
Technology advisor KS Viswanathan, formerly with India’s National Association of Software and Service Companies, sees cloud farming as the next big shift. “Silicon Valley designs the AI engines, but India’s small towns keep them running,” he says.
He believes this could make small-town India the world’s AI operations hub. “If the trend continues, rural India will do for AI what it did for IT two decades ago.”
Yet challenges persist. “Reliable internet and secure data centres are not always up to metro standards,” Viswanathan warns. “Data protection remains a constant concern.”
Perception is another barrier. “International clients sometimes doubt small towns can meet strict security standards,” he says. “That trust must be built through consistent results.”
The invisible hands behind AI
At NextWealth, Dhanalakshmi Vijay fine-tunes AI models daily. When an algorithm mistakes a blue denim jacket for a navy shirt, she corrects it. “Each fix teaches the model something new,” she says. “It’s like updating its memory to make it smarter and more accurate.”
Her work influences millions of users. “We train AI systems that make online shopping faster and easier,” she says. “It feels good knowing our efforts improve everyday experiences.”
A digital future rooted in the countryside
Across India’s smaller towns, a quiet revolution is underway. From Virudhunagar to countless others, young professionals are proving that innovation doesn’t belong only to glass towers and city tech parks.
In the shadow of ancient temples, India’s next generation is coding the future — one data point at a time.
