India is at the forefront of a global tech revolution, fueled by its thriving ecosystem of innovation and talent development. A prime example is the growth of Global Capability Centres (GCCs). According to EY, India accounted for 55% of the world’s GCCs in 2022, with the number of centres rising to 1,580 in 2023. Projections suggest this figure will surpass 1,900 by 2025 and reach 2,400 by 2030. Alongside this growth, the GCC sector is a significant employment generator, currently employing over 1.6 million professionals and expected to create opportunities for more than 4.5 million people by 2030. However, while these trends appear promising, one of the significant threats that could disrupt these projections is the rapid advancement of AI. AI not only has the potential to replace mundane and repetitive tasks but is also evolving to challenge even sophisticated job profiles. As a result, there is a critical need to redefine the industry’s approach to skilling, upskilling, and reskilling to ensure a future-ready workforce. In this context, Tech Achieve Media, recently spoke to Debashish Bhattacharyya, Chairman of PanIIT Alumni India.
With his leadership role in fostering collaboration among IIT alumni and driving initiatives to address critical skilling gaps, Debashish Bhattacharyya offered invaluable insights into how India is navigating this transformative journey. His perspective highlighted the pertinent role of talent, reskilling, innovation, and collaboration in shaping the future of India’s tech landscape.
TAM: Why is India emerging as the preferred destination for offshoring tech talent, and what factors contribute to its growing dominance in the global talent landscape?
Debashish Bhattacharyya: One of the key reasons we are often considered proficient in the global job market is our strong emphasis on STEM education. There is a noticeable, above-average interest in STEM fields here, largely because we’ve identified them as early and reliable pathways to employment.
Another factor is India’s price-sensitive market. Compared to global standards, the cost of manpower in India is significantly lower, making us a competitive choice for similar jobs. However, the growth projections for this sector are primarily based on current trends, and they don’t fully account for the disruptive impact of emerging technologies like AI.
In fact, AI is set to transform the industry drastically. It’s estimated that around 50% of the jobs we see today may no longer exist in the next five years. This decline is already underway, and within two to three years, many of these roles will likely disappear. This presents a major risk for us. While we excel in STEM and technology, our understanding of “technology” often remains limited to IT. This narrow focus, coupled with a degree of complacency, hinders our growth. For instance, many professionals cling to their coding expertise, viewing it as a core skill. While coding is undoubtedly valuable, this mindset restricts opportunities for skill development and adaptation.
As a result, when skill transformations occur, many find themselves unprepared and vulnerable. Over the last four years, we’ve seen this play out, particularly in competency centers based in India. Whenever there are mass layoffs, a significant portion tends to affect Indian workers, simply because a majority of these roles are concentrated here. This raises critical questions about how we engage with technology, its future impact, and, more importantly, how we prepare ourselves. It’s not just about holding our position in the global market but about anticipating changes and adapting our skill sets accordingly.
One initiative we are exploring is conducting research or publishing a position paper on the skills future engineers, and professionals in general, will need. While my perspective comes from an engineering background, the insights will likely apply to anyone entering the workforce.
The nature of work is evolving at a rapid pace. The way we’ve approached jobs over the last century will no longer suffice in the next few years. This is why rediscovering ourselves and committing to continuous upskilling is absolutely essential. Ensuring we remain adaptable and future-ready is not just important, it’s critical.
TAM: How can Indian companies leverage their tech talent to transform into global powerhouses, and what strategies are essential to tapping into this potential for sustained growth and innovation?
Debashish Bhattacharyya: Let’s start by looking at the genesis of Indian IT and technology companies. The foundation of these industries was built on the idea that we could deliver services at a fraction of the cost. Price was the defining factor, which shaped the types of roles and skill levels we pursued.
You may have heard terms like “sweatshops” being used in the context of technology. For a long time, that’s essentially what we were—focused on high-volume, low-value tasks. However, the problem with being a sweatshop is that it’s not only the most populous segment but also the most disposable.
Now, consider the rise of technologies like AI. To illustrate, let’s use a real-world example from our event planning. When we started, we needed a brochure. While we were deliberating, someone suggested using ChatGPT to create it in just 10 minutes. It’s a brilliant tool, but it highlights a concern: tasks are now being automated at an unprecedented pace, often at the expense of intellectual input.
If we reduce our contribution to simple, repeatable tasks, our chances of growth diminish drastically. True growth lies in moving up the value chain. For example:
- From coding to designing
- From designing to process optimization
- From process optimization to business strategy
Without this progression, we remain stuck at the lower end of the spectrum, where layoffs hit the hardest. It’s imperative to ask ourselves:
- What does the future look like?
- What new or advanced skills do we need to acquire to stay ahead?
India’s biggest advantage in technology was that we started fresh, without legacy systems holding us back. This allowed us to adopt cutting-edge technologies quickly, often outpacing developed countries. Now, we must embrace that same mindset again—viewing everything we’ve learned so far as a foundation, not the end goal.
The question is: What’s next? How can we prepare ourselves to contribute meaningfully over the next five years? This requires us to completely rethink how we approach skilling, upskilling, and reskilling. It’s not just about keeping pace but staying ahead of the curve to ensure we remain relevant and indispensable in the ever-evolving tech landscape.
TAM: How can partnerships between industry giants, educational institutions, and policymakers effectively bridge the skills gap and build a workforce ready for the demands of the future?
Debashish Bhattacharyya: The key word you used is bridge, and a bridge implies more than just connection. It requires us to look beyond our boundaries, step into someone else’s shoes, and view situations from their perspective. Unfortunately, today we often operate in silos, content to criticize those who don’t understand our domain. This mindset doesn’t build bridges; it burns them.
Another critical issue is the overuse of terms like industry-academia-government collaboration. It has become a buzzword, which is great for speeches and discussions but rarely backed by actionable substance. To make it meaningful, we must reverse-engineer the problem:
- Start from the field, and understand what people need to survive and grow.
- Work backwards to identify how education and policies can fulfill those needs.
Currently, our education system, right from school to higher education, focuses on rote learning. Students are expected to absorb what is taught and regurgitate it during exams. This approach results in zero contribution, zero output, and zero impact.
The shift from a theory-based education system to one that is practical, hands-on, and impact-driven requires significant effort. For instance, in Germany, engineering programs span 7–8 years. Each year includes 5 months of classroom study and 7 months of industry work. Students learn concepts in the classroom, apply them in real-world projects, and gain practical experience. This cycle not only reinforces learning but also builds a deeper understanding of concepts and their impact.
In contrast, our system resists such transformation. One reason is how we measure educators:
- Professors are evaluated based on the number of classes they teach.
- Their research output and guidance to students.
- Administrative responsibilities they manage.
These separate demands are overwhelming enough to compromise effectiveness in any one area. Add to this academic conceit, where educators believe they understand technology better than anyone and resist outside input.
On the other hand, industry suffers from its own form of conceit. Practitioners often dismiss academia as overly theoretical, forgetting that robust research is essential to solve complex, real-world problems.
Then there’s the government, the third stakeholder in this ecosystem. Many administrators are well-educated but lack understanding of education itself. Worse, they often refuse to listen. Instead, they impose decisions based on an assumed omniscience, without considering ground realities. This arrogance leads to zero or even negative outcomes.
Together, this trifecta of academia, industry, and government creates a lethal combination that prevents progress.
Adding to the challenge is our culture of instant gratification. With technology enabling quick fixes, we’ve become accustomed to contributing the bare minimum while expecting maximum returns. In such an environment, equity and outcomes suffer.
To move forward, each stakeholder must transform their mindset:
- Industry must recognize that academic institutions are best equipped to research and address their challenges.
- Academia must embrace real-world contexts, ensuring that both students and educators benefit from applied learning.
- Government must understand its role as a facilitator, listening to others to identify genuine needs rather than imposing ill-informed directives.
Without these changes, we’ll remain stuck in our silos, failing to build the bridges needed for meaningful progress.
TAM: How does PIWOT 2025 aim to serve as a platform for all stakeholders to collaborate on shaping the future of work?
Debashish Bhattacharyya: The purpose of a summit is to maximize opportunities for interaction among all attendees, whether they are delegates, speakers, organizers, exhibitors, or others. These events are designed to encourage meaningful exchanges that go beyond the formal sessions.
In most conference sessions, less than half the attendees actively listen to the speaker. Instead, many engage in conversations, exchange ideas, and share contact information. Exhibitions provide another platform for interaction, where attendees often discuss future possibilities rather than focusing solely on what is on display. Informal gatherings, such as conversations over tea, also play a crucial role in fostering connections.
The essence of a summit lies in facilitating these interactions. Out of hundreds of conversations, even a small number of meaningful exchanges can spark opportunities. For instance, if a summit with 1,000 attendees leads to 50 new collaborations or ideas, it can be considered a success. Our role is to create an environment that encourages interactions—formal, informal, and everything in between.
Key Elements of the PIWOT 2025 Summit:
- Conference Sessions: These sessions feature renowned speakers sharing their insights. While some attendees focus on the speakers, others use the opportunity to network. Approximately 20% of the audience may directly engage with the speaker, exchanging contact details and discussing potential collaborations.
- Hackathon: The hackathon invites students and professionals to solve real-world problems using open-source technology. The goal is to develop cost-effective, practical solutions. This setting fosters collaboration, with observers and participants often discussing ideas, forming teams, or exploring ways to expand the solutions presented.
- Startups and Investors: We collaborate with IIT Startups to showcase innovative ventures. Startups are selected from IIT incubation centers and wildcard entries outside the IIT system. Around 50-60 startups participate, pitching their ideas live to investors and engaging in one-on-one discussions. These interactions provide startups with access to mentors, potential investors, and resources for further development. For investors, it’s a curated platform to discover promising startups without the exhaustive evaluation processes.
- IIT Research Showcases: The summit offers IITs an opportunity to present their research to industry leaders. This ensures that groundbreaking work doesn’t languish in archives but finds pathways to real-world application. Collaborations between academia and industry can help bring research to market, benefiting both parties.
- Exhibitors: Exhibitors use the event to network rather than solely focus on product promotion. They interact with a diverse group, including policymakers, ministry officials, and researchers, fostering cross-disciplinary connections.
Ensuring Interaction
We encourage attendees to move around and engage with various groups rather than staying in one spot. By facilitating continuous movement and interaction, we increase the chances of meaningful exchanges. Whether through formal sessions, casual conversations, or networking at exhibits, these interactions create opportunities that extend beyond the summit. The outcome of these efforts is not always immediately visible, but when people connect and share ideas, possibilities emerge. The summit serves as a catalyst for collaboration, innovation, and progress.
