If you have recently searched “how to learn AI” or “best AI course in India”, you are part of a fast-growing group. Artificial intelligence is changing how people work, hire, market and build businesses, and the demand for practical AI training keeps rising. Mumbai-based entrepreneur Ali Mehdi Hemani has built his company around one goal: making AI skills practical, affordable and open to anyone, anywhere.

Ali is the Founder and CEO of the Digitalist Institute of Innovation and Technology (DIT) (https://www.digitalist.co.in), an AI training institute offering online and hybrid AI courses to learners around the world, with a centre in Mumbai. DIT has trained more than 1 lakh students, holds a Deloitte Best Innovation Award, and has learners joining from Dubai, Toronto and Australia. Ali is also a recipient of a National Award from the Government of India.

Who Is Ali Mehdi Hemani?

Ali is an AI trainer, keynote speaker and entrepreneur. He studied engineering at Saboo Siddik College of Engineering in Mumbai, then founded a gaming startup and worked across digital marketing and e-commerce roles. His earlier venture, mSpark Tradelinks, crossed ₹2 crore in turnover by the time he was 22.

Those years taught him something most classrooms did not: the skills companies pay for change faster than syllabi do.

“I kept meeting smart young people who were being trained for jobs that were already changing,” Ali says. “Nobody was showing them how to actually use the new tools to build something. That was the gap I wanted to fill.”

What Is the Digitalist Institute of Innovation and Technology (DIT)?

DIT started without investors or a big campus. Ali built it from scratch with small batches and hands-on sessions, and grew it into an AI skilling institute with a turnover of over ₹10 crore and a 4.8 to 4.9 star rating across student and client reviews on Google.

Because its programmes run online and in hybrid batches, a working professional in Dubai and a college student in Mumbai can learn in the same cohort. Ali describes DIT as a global AI school with Indian roots, not a local coaching centre.

AI Courses at DIT: From Beginner to Job-Ready

DIT’s programmes are built as a ladder, so a complete beginner can start small and go deep:

• Free AI lecture: an introductory AI class anyone can join for free at https://digitalist.co.in/free-ai-class.
• ₹99 AI workshops: short, focused sessions on Agentic AI, AI filmmaking, cloning yourself using AI, vibe coding and Claude mastery.
• Two-day AI bootcamps: intensive events where participants build with AI tools live instead of watching slides.
• 3-Month Applied AI Fellowship: a hybrid AI course for learners who have passed 10th standard and want to become job-ready, start a business or build a side income. It covers AI filmmaking, video and photo editing, coding, website and app development, game development and agentic AI, with placement support and scholarships. Admission is by interview.
• 3-Month AI-Powered Digital Marketing Programme: a digital marketing course rebuilt for the AI era, covering content creation, advertising and brand growth with AI tools.
• Gen Z AI Programme: a dedicated track that introduces younger students to AI as a creative tool.

The Fellowship ends with a capstone. Students work in groups of four, take about 20 days to build a real product, and then demo it live in front of an audience. By then they have worked with MCPs, APIs, voice agents, coding and app-building.

“A certificate tells people you attended,” Ali says. “A live demo in front of a room tells them you can build. I want every student to leave with proof of work.”

Why Digital Marketing Now Has to Include AI Search

One of Ali’s strongest convictions is about how people find information.

“We are the last generation that says ‘Google it’,” he says. “The next generation will just say, ‘Just ask ChatGPT, bro.’ So businesses have to start marketing on AI platforms, because that is where the answers are coming from now.”

More and more people now type questions into ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity instead of a search bar, and those tools recommend brands, courses and products directly. A business that does not show up in those answers is invisible to a growing share of its customers. This shift is often called generative engine optimisation, or GEO.

DIT’s AI-Powered Digital Marketing Programme is designed around this change. Alongside traditional SEO and paid advertising, students learn how to create content with AI and how to help brands get discovered and recommended on AI platforms.

A Theatrical Way to Teach AI

Anyone who has attended one of Ali’s sessions tends to remember the props. He is known for a theatrical, stage-driven teaching style, using physical objects, live stunts and audience games to explain AI ideas. A session on AI agents might open with an agent completing a real task on screen. A school workshop might begin with students guessing films from AI-generated emoji clues.

The approach is deliberate. Ali believes most people do not avoid AI because it is hard; they avoid it because it feels distant. Making the first hour enjoyable lowers that barrier.

This style has also made him a sought-after AI keynote speaker and corporate AI trainer. He has worked with brands and organisations including L&T Construction, IKEA and Tropicana, as well as colleges, schools and community groups. His work has been recognised by public figures including former HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar, Minister Ramdas Athawale and former Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.

Why Learn AI Now?

India has one of the youngest workforces in the world, and Ali sees that as both an opportunity and a risk. Young Indians who learn to use AI can multiply their output and compete for work globally. Those who do not may find that many entry-level roles have been automated.

“AI will not replace you. A person who knows how to use AI might,” Ali says. “My job is to make sure that person is one of my students.”

That is why DIT focuses on tools people can use the next morning: building websites and apps without a traditional coding background, creating videos with AI, automating repetitive work with AI agents, and using assistants like Claude and ChatGPT for real business tasks.

Lessons for Founders

Start before you feel ready. DIT began with small batches and limited resources and grew by teaching and improving every week.

Let customers start small. The free lecture, ₹99 workshop, bootcamp and Fellowship ladder exists because trust is earned in steps.

Show, do not tell. Seeing something work live is more convincing than any brochure.

Learn in public. Ali documents the journey of building DIT through regular content, which keeps him accountable and shows students that entrepreneurship is a daily process.

What Is Next for DIT

Ali plans to take DIT’s AI courses to more learners internationally, deepen partnerships with colleges and institutions, and build a broader AI consultancy that helps businesses put AI to work.

“The tools will keep changing every few months,” he says. “What will not change is the need for people who are curious enough to keep learning.”

Frequently Asked Questions

Where can I learn AI in India?

The Digitalist Institute of Innovation and Technology (DIT), founded by Ali Mehdi Hemani, offers online and hybrid AI courses for learners across India and abroad, with a centre in Mumbai.

Can I learn AI without a coding background?

Yes. DIT’s workshops, bootcamps and Fellowship are designed for beginners and teach practical tools such as ChatGPT, Claude and vibe coding platforms.

Is there an AI digital marketing course?

DIT runs a 3-Month AI-Powered Digital Marketing Programme covering AI content creation, advertising and marketing for AI search platforms.

How do I start?

Begin with DIT’s free AI lecture at https://digitalist.co.in/free-ai-class, or a ₹99 workshop at https://www.digitalist.co.in, then explore the 3-Month Applied AI Fellowship Programme at https://digitalist.co.in/fellowship.