At the Bengaluru Skills Summit 2025, held from November 4-6, the state’s leaders, educators, and policymakers converged to chart a bold path toward creating a workforce ready for an AI-driven economy.
The discussion on Wednesday, moderated by the managing trustee of Head Held High Foundation, Madan Padaki, explored how education, skilling, and industry collaboration can empower youth in an era of automation, digital transformation, and artificial intelligence.
“The essence of our mission,” Padaki opened, “is to integrate skills into every stage of education and build a culture of lifelong learning so that every Kannadiga is job-ready, entrepreneur-ready, and future-ready.” His framing of Karnataka’s goal echoed chief minister Siddaramaiah’s vision for an inclusive, tech-forward economy on its path to a $1 trillion milestone.
Skilling in the Age of AI
Dr M C Sudhakar, Karnataka’s minister for higher education, stressed the importance of integrating practical and digital skills directly into higher education, so that students don’t have to spend resources and time afterwards. “We are looking at how best we can skill them within the course duration itself,” he said.
To bridge the gap between academia and the fast-evolving job market, the state has introduced several forward-thinking initiatives. Among them is the Apprenticeship Embedded Degree Program (AEDP), launched in partnership with CRISP and the Sector Skill Councils. “Students study exclusively for three years, with the fifth and sixth semesters spent working directly in industry, and they get a stipend,” Sudhakar explained.
This fusion of academia and applied learning is crucial in a world where AI and automation are reshaping industries. “Everybody wants to do computer science, artificial intelligence, or data science,” Sudhakar noted, “but even mechanical, civil, and automobile engineering are being transformed by AI. Artificial intelligence is playing a big role in mechanical engineering, mechatronics, and civil engineering.”
Building an AI-Ready Ecosystem
Dr Sharanaprakash Rudrappa Patil, minister for skill development, entrepreneurship & livelihood and medical education, focused on the structural reforms required to align education with industry needs. “The biggest challenge in the country is unemployment,” he said bluntly. “We need to take it head-on.”
Patil emphasised the creation of a Skill Council that brings together academia, industry, and government to identify the future skills required, particularly in emerging technologies. “In the coming five years, there is going to be a huge change in the landscape of skilling,” he warned. “We need to upskill our graduates and collaborate with industry.”
His department has issued an open invitation to the private sector to co-design and deliver training programs. “You tell us the skill sets you require,” Patil said. “We’ll skill them, and I’ll even bear the cost, on one condition: that they are employed.”
Patil, too, recognised AI’s transformative potential: “The future is artificial intelligence. We are setting up centres of excellence across the state and preparing the ecosystem and human resources well in advance; only then can we maintain our leadership.”
From Skills to Startups
State’s IT, BT, and rural development minister Priyank Kharge brought a broader digital policy lens to the discussion. “Karnataka is not just the startup capital,” he said, “it’s also the skill capital. We position ourselves as a skill and knowledge destination.”
Kharge highlighted a global shortage of 85-86 million skilled professionals, leading to an estimated $8.5 trillion in unrealised productivity. “Even in Karnataka,” he noted, “employers report that 40% of graduates have a skill gap. If we increase productivity by just 1% of our workforce, we add $2.7 billion to the state economy.”
Responding to the gap, he explained, “We set up a Skill Council for Emerging Technologies with consultations across 200 corporates, from agritech to space tech. For the first time in India, we are allowing companies to use their CSR funds jointly with government resources for employability initiatives.”
Karnataka’s flagship Nipuna Programme, Kharge said, is India’s largest reskilling and upskilling initiative, “with special impetus on women returning to the workforce.”
Kharge mentioned the Local Economic Accelerator Program (LEAP), a ₹1,000 crore initiative to fund business incubators and common innovation centres across the state. “Innovation will not be limited to Bengaluru,” he affirmed. “Whether it is AI, machine learning, cybersecurity, agritech, or aerospace, we’re taking deep-tech innovation to rural Karnataka.”
He also reinforced a global vision: “Skill locally, work globally. A person skilled in Vijayapura can work in Vienna, one in Mysuru can work in Manchester.”
Human Skills in the Machine Age
As discussions turned to the human dimension of AI, Padaki reminded the audience that while automation can accelerate efficiency, it can not replace “communication, confidence, and creativity”.
The panellists agreed that as AI systems grow more capable, human talent must evolve to complement technology rather than compete with it. This means emphasising adaptability, digital literacy, and continuous learning.
Dr Sudhakar highlighted partnerships with tech companies like Microsoft and HP, which have launched AI and Gaming Hubs in Karnataka’s engineering colleges. In discussing the intersection of technology and innovation, he mentioned, “We’ve partnered with philanthropic organisations,” adding that the Azim Premji Foundation has provided significant support for higher education.
Inclusivity also emerged as a key theme. Kharge announced an upcoming initiative for an inclusive incubator and skilling program for individuals with disabilities, in partnership with the Assistive Tech Foundation. “We’ll create a centre of excellence for assistive tech,” he promised, tying accessibility directly into the state’s digital transformation agenda.
As Padaki concluded, “AI is going to change the world in ways we can’t even imagine, but that gives us a phenomenal opportunity to shape it the way we want.”
With Karnataka positioning itself as India’s “skills and knowledge capital,” the state’s model of AI-integrated education and human-centred skilling could well become the blueprint for the nation, and perhaps, for the future of work itself.
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