This report seeks to explore the practices that underpin the AI data labeling industry in India through the lens of private entities and likely future evolution. Uncovering the evolving landscape of AI data labeling gives us an opportunity to re-envision and structure this labor to be just and equitable while generating employment for a diverse cross-section of India’s population. At the same time, it also complicates the narratives around automation which primarily focus on job loss. By throwing light on the emerging geographies of work—much of this new annotation work is digital, and concentrated in smaller towns and rural areas—it also interrogates the narratives around urbanization and migration. Equally, this report is timely as India grapples with growing post-pandemic unemployment.