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WeSchool Hosts Marketing Legend Prof. V. Kumar on Aligning Academia, Industry & the Future Workforce

Newsmantra — Fri, 01 May 2026 09:45:00 +0000

Mumbai | 30^th April: Prin. L. N. Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research (PGDM), Mumbai, hosted an important session by global Marketing Legend, Prof. V. Kumar, on April 24, 2026. The session, titled “Aligning Academia, Industry, and the Future Workforce in the Era of New Age Technologies,” brought together faculty, students, and industry practitioners for an intellectually stimulating and practically grounded exploration of how new age technologies (NATs) — including artificial intelligence, generative AI, machine learning, blockchain, the Internet of Things, robotics, drones, and the metaverse — are fundamentally reshaping the future of education, work, and organisational strategy.

Prof. Kumar opened the address by stating that alignment between academia and industry should not be viewed as a compromise, but rather as a strategic intersection where innovation, growth, and opportunity can flourish. He outlined the dramatic transformation taking place in the global workforce, noting the millions of jobs being displaced by automation and technology, while several newer job roles are anticipated to emerge. In this regard, he underscored the importance of ensuring the employability of the graduates as an urgent need in bridging the widening skills gap. The session also examined the changing nature of work, tracing the transition from humans performing all tasks independently to humans collaborating with NATs, and ultimately to NATs increasingly executing tasks autonomously. In this context, Dr Kumar stressed the importance of NATs that are fundamentally reshaping how businesses operate and how skills are defined.

A major highlight of the session was the introduction of the “3Es Framework” for alignment — Education, Experience, and Engagement. He noted that Education is delivered to academia, enabling personalised learning pathways, AI-driven curriculum curation, immersive simulations through virtual and augmented reality, and real-time knowledge dissemination. Experience is delivered to industry through real-world-simulated internships, work-integrated learning (WIL), digital twins, and co-creation platforms. Engagement of the workforce is delivered to the future workforce through tools that foster agency, purpose-driven learning, and self-directed growth paths powered by AI personalisation. Here, Dr Kumar further elaborated on transformative dimensions shaping modern business ecosystems.

The address then turned to the five transformative domains – transformative education, transformative marketing, transformative branding, transformative operations, and transformative strategy – through which the 3 Es are operationalised. Particularly, he emphasised the power of transformative education models driven by dynamic curricula, lifelong learning initiatives, and self-learning platforms to be critical. He also discussed the concept of “University as a Platform (UaaP)” as a significant theme, describing the evolution of universities from location-based institutions into scalable, technology-enabled ecosystems facilitating global and flexible education delivery. Citing examples from leading global organizations such as Nike, Zara, Lego, Amazon, Sephora, BMW, and JPMorgan, among others, Dr. Kumar illustrated how the five transformative domains are using NATs to enable personalisation, predictive intelligence, operational agility, hyper-automation, and enhanced user engagement.

Prof. Kumar closed his address by bringing together the threads of the session into a call for structural alignment among the three actors. He contrasted the current state — siloed institutions, lagging curricula, frustrated employers, and under-skilled graduates — with the vision of a NAT-powered networked ecosystem that produces work-ready graduates, gives industry active co-creators of knowledge, and allows academia to earn relevance, reach, and revenue simultaneously. The address concluded with a call to action directed at each of the three stakeholder groups. Academia was urged to stop designing curricula for yesterday’s jobs and start building platforms, not pipelines. Industry was urged to stop waiting for work-ready graduates and start co-creating them — and branding that effort. The future workforce was urged to stop consuming education passively and start building its ecosystem.

An engaging discussion followed, where participants raised thought-provoking questions regarding the role of policy, the prioritisation of meta-skills, and the inclusivity of educational institutions. Dr. Kumar emphasised that policy frameworks serve as a critical fourth pillar in enabling collaboration between academia, industry, and workforce ecosystems. He further advocated for a shift from degree-centric education to capability-driven learning focused on adaptability, critical thinking, and continuous skill development.

Dr. Kumar concluded the session with a powerful message on the need to collaboratively shape the future of work by stating that “The future of growth is not in any one of the three spaces. It is in the space they share.”

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India’s Employability Moment Needs Action, Not Dialogue: Leaders Share What Actually Works

Newsmantra — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 10:00:09 +0000

Senior leaders like across industry, academia, and policy converge to discuss scalable solutions to India’s employability challenge

New Delhi, 02 April 2026: As India stands at the intersection of a demographic advantage and rapid economic expansion, a critical challenge continues to define its workforce story. The gap between job creation and employability remains a challenge. Only 1 in 5 institutions (16.67%) achieve 76%–100% placements within six months of graduation. While opportunities are expanding across sectors, the focus is now shifting from access to jobs to readiness for work, with increasing emphasis on skills, application, and industry alignment.

Against this backdrop, a closed-door gathering of senior leaders from industry, academia, and policy was convened in Delhi. Hosted by Vaishali Nigam Sinha, Co-Founder, ReNew, the session brought together voices shaping India’s employability agenda to share actionable solutions, real-world experiences, and scalable models that are already demonstrating impact.

The discussion comes at a time when hiring trends themselves are evolving. According to TeamLease EdTech’s Career Outlook Report HY1 2026, 73% of employers intend to hire freshers in the first half of 2026, marking a steady recovery in entry-level hiring. At the same time, hiring models are shifting toward demonstrable capability, with employers increasingly valuing internships, live projects, and proof-of-work alongside formal qualifications.

With hiring intent being stable and open, leaders at the gathering emphasised that addressing employability at scale requires moving beyond fragmented interventions. With industries looking for skilled individuals, education institutions need to move towards integrated, outcome-driven models that connect education, skilling, and industry demand.

Shantanu Rooj, Founder and CEO, TeamLease EdTech, added, “India’s employability challenge is no longer about access alone, but about alignment between education and work. The data shows hiring intent is strong, but equally important is how hiring is being evaluated. Employers are increasingly relying on demonstrable capability, such as internships, projects, and applied learning, as indicators of readiness. The next phase of employability will be defined by how effectively institutions, employers, and policymakers work together to build pathways that integrate learning with real-world application at scale.”

Vaishali Nigam Sinha, Co-Founder, ReNew, said: “India has both the talent and the opportunity. What is needed now is alignment. We have to move from intent to execution by embedding employability into the system itself. Models that combine industry exposure, practical learning, and early engagement with real-world problem solving are showing results and need to be scaled across sectors.”

Dr. Chenraj Roychand, Chancellor, Jain (Deemed-to-be) University & Founder-Chairman, JAIN Group, said, “The role of higher education institutions is undergoing a shift from being degree providers to becoming ecosystem enablers. Universities that integrate industry-linked learning, apprenticeships, and continuous skill development into their frameworks are better positioned to prepare students for evolving workforce demands.”

Prof. M. Jagadesh Kumar, Chairman, Board of Governors, IIM Calcutta and Former Chairman, UGC, noted, “India’s higher education system is at a pivotal point where flexibility, multidisciplinary learning, and industry collaboration are becoming essential. The focus must be on creating pathways that allow students to acquire both knowledge and applied skills in parallel.”

Dr. T.N. Singh, Director, IIT Patna, added, “Bridging the gap between academic learning and industry expectations requires deeper engagement between institutions and employers. Research, innovation, and experiential learning must play a central role in shaping future-ready graduates.”

The discussion also drew from insights and learnings captured in the book “Accelerating Impact. Enabling Dreams – Making India Employable,” By Shantanu Rooj, Jaideep Kewalramani, Kavita Rooj, Uditendu Bose, which brings together life stories of leaders like Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw Dr. Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and other prominent leaders who have contributed significantly towards making India employable. The session explored key themes from the book, including scalable skilling models, industry-academia collaboration, and outcome-driven learning frameworks, highlighting practical approaches that can be replicated across the ecosystem.

During the event, TeamLease EdTech Foundation launched its new initiative, ‘Project SEED’ – a national initiative designed to bridge the gap between education and employability for underserved youth in India. Emerging from extensive conversations with leaders across academia, industry, and policy, the initiative focuses on early intervention at the school level to help students make informed career choices and find work-integrated career pathways. By creating a structured pathway from school education to higher education and employment, Project SEED aims to enable access, provide direction, and unlock meaningful career opportunities for these learners at scale.

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