In an exclusive conversation with APAC Media and CXO Media, Sunil Dahiya, Executive Vice President Skilling at Wadhwani Foundation, shares his vision for skilling in India, the role of AI and digital learning, and the foundation’s strategies to bridge the skill gap. He further highlights the impact of AI co-pilots, key partnerships, and upcoming innovations, ensuring a future-ready workforce in an evolving job market.
Wadhwani Foundation has been at the forefront of skilling initiatives. What is your vision for skilling in India, and how does the foundation plan to bridge the skill gap?
Our vision is to create a future-ready workforce by leveraging technology-driven skilling initiatives. With India’s young population, it is critical to equip individuals with relevant skills that align with industry needs. The Wadhwani Foundation focuses on making skilling programs more accessible and effective through AI-driven tools, digital learning platforms, and strategic partnerships. By bridging the socio-economic divide, we ensure that individuals from underserved communities have equal opportunities to acquire employable skills, ultimately driving economic growth and job creation in the country. We have upskilled more than 5 million learners across the country and more than 6 million across the world.
What role does technology, particularly AI and digital learning, play in your skilling initiatives?
Technology is at the core of our skilling approach. AI and digital learning enhance the effectiveness of training by offering personalized, adaptive learning experiences. AI-driven tools provide real-time feedback, helping learners improve their skills efficiently. Additionally, virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) bring immersive, hands-on training experiences to those in remote areas. These technologies ensure that learners receive high-quality education regardless of their geographical location, making skilling more scalable, inclusive, and impactful in preparing individuals for the evolving job market.
In recent times, the Wadhwani Foundation has launched multiple AI co-pilots for different purposes. Could you shed light on how each one of them is bridging the skill gap?
Our AI co-pilots, such as MyTutor, MyMentor, and MyInterviewCoach, cater to different aspects of skill development. MyTutor helps learners acquire job-ready skills, MyMentor provides personalized content for faculty, and MyInterviewCoach enhances interview preparation. These AI-driven solutions are designed to support faculty and disadvantaged learners, providing them with real-time assistance and tailored learning experiences. By leveraging AI, we ensure that skilling is not only accessible but also aligned with the rapidly changing job market, making individuals more employable and confident in securing better opportunities.
Can you share some success stories where Wadhwani Foundation’s skilling initiatives have significantly transformed lives?
The Wadhwani Foundation has significantly impacted students by equipping them with employability skills through innovative, technology-driven skilling programs. Here’s how the foundation is transforming student employability:
- 6 million+ learners have benefited from these AI-powered tools in 15+ countries, with India being the largest contributor.
- With a network of over 500 partners across government, corporates, and academia, we are scaling student upskilling efforts to create a future-ready workforce.
- We also assist students with interview and placement preparation, ensuring they have not only technical knowledge but also crucial employability skills like communication, teamwork, and adaptability.
- The AI-driven skilling solutions have been tailored based on inputs from 2,000+ employers, ensuring that students gain skills that directly enhance job placement rates.
How do you ensure that skilling programs reach rural and underserved communities?
Reaching rural and underserved communities is a priority for us. We leverage AI, VR, and MR to provide immersive and engaging learning experiences, bridging the gap caused by the lack of high-quality trainers. Additionally, our digital skilling platforms ensure that learners in remote areas can access the same level of education as their urban counterparts. By offering these programs free of cost, we can scale our impact and reach more underserved communities. Leveraging partnerships with local institutions and mobile-first learning strategies, we ensure that our skilling programs are inclusive and transformative, empowering individuals from all socio-economic backgrounds.
What partnerships have been instrumental in scaling your skilling initiatives across different sectors?
Collaborations with industry leaders, educational institutions, and government bodies have been key to scaling our skilling programs. Our no-cost, plug-and-play model seamlessly aligns partner training modules with industry requirements, ensuring learners gain relevant, in-demand skills. By integrating our AI-driven skilling tools into existing education and corporate training ecosystems, we have been able to reach a broader audience and create meaningful career opportunities for individuals across various sectors. Our high-impact partnerships include national skilling portals like SWAYAM Plus, Skill India Digital, Bharat Skills, NASSCOM Prime Plus, and state initiatives like Kerala Knowledge Economic Mission, Nan Mudhalvan etc. We also collaborate with mass skilling partners such as ICT Academy, Tech Mahindra Foundation, Ambuja Cement Foundation, Smile Foundation, etc., along with leading academic institutions, VTIs, and ITIs nationwide to drive scale and impact.
With automation and AI changing job roles, what are the key skills that the workforce of the future must focus on?
As automation and AI continue to reshape job roles, individuals must focus on digital literacy, problem-solving, adaptability, and critical thinking. Soft skills like communication and teamwork are also becoming increasingly important. Lifelong learning is essential, and individuals must continuously upgrade their skills to stay relevant in the workforce. At Wadhwani Foundation, we emphasize skill adaptability and provide innovative learning tools to help individuals embrace these changes and remain competitive in an AI-driven job market.
What are the biggest challenges in skilling India’s vast workforce, and how is the foundation addressing them?
Challenges such as unequal access to quality training, lack of awareness, and rapidly evolving demands of the job market pose significant hurdles to skilling India’s workforce. The Wadhwani Foundation addresses these issues by integrating AI-driven, personalized learning tools that make skilling more effective and scalable. Our focus on digital skilling ensures that even those in remote areas can access high-quality training. By partnering with governments and industries, we ensure our programs remain aligned with market needs, creating a more agile and job-ready workforce.
Are there any new or upcoming initiatives by Wadhwani Foundation that aim to redefine the skilling landscape in the country?
The Wadhwani Foundation is relentlessly innovating to make GenieAI our Gen AI-powered skilling platform more accessible and impactful. Here’s a glimpse into our exciting future plans:
- Global Expansion: We’re committed to making Genie’s plug-and-play model more accessible. By partnering with more esteemed organizations, we aim to empower individuals in India and worldwide with the skills needed to thrive in the job market.
- Enhanced Self-Service: We’re continuously expanding our library of self-service learning modules. This will allow learners to access in-demand skills training anytime, anywhere, completely free of cost.
- Democratizing Access: We’re working to develop multilingual interfaces and compatibility with low-bandwidth environments, ensuring everyone can develop their skillset.
- Industry-Responsive Course Upgradation: Our focus on industry relevance remains paramount. We’ll leverage data and expert insights to continuously update our course content, ensuring learners acquire the skills most sought after by employers.
- New CoPilot Features Coming Soon: Apart from the existing AI Co-pilot features, we are preparing to introduce a few more to support learners through personalized job objectives and provide empathetic support to employees. We are also aiming to advise employees on discussing career advancement with their supervisors, making communication more transparent.
We are constantly innovating to enhance skilling in India. Our upcoming initiatives focus on expanding AI-driven skilling solutions and strengthening partnerships with educational institutions and industries. We are also exploring new ways to integrate emerging technologies like VR and MR into training programs to make learning more engaging and effective. By continuously evolving our approach, we aim to redefine the skilling landscape, ensuring that India’s workforce is prepared for the jobs of the future.
