On World Youth Skills Day 2026, NCN brings together industry leaders to share their perspectives on empowering young talent with future-ready AI, cybersecurity, digital, and engineering skills for a stronger, innovation-driven India.
Mr. Santosh Kulkarni, Senior Director, Learning and Development, Vertiv
“India’s ambitions in AI and digital infrastructure are only as strong as the talent pipeline that supports them. As data centres become more complex and power-intensive, the demand for engineers who understand AI workloads, critical power and cooling systems is only going to accelerate. We see this as a shared responsibility, which is why we strive to work closely with institutions like the IITs to curate programmes that help close the gap between what industry needs and what academia teaches. Building this talent base across India even including Tier2 and Tier3 cities is how we support future-ready critical digital infrastructure in India.”
Mr. Sunil Sharma, Managing Director & VP – Sales (India & SAARC), Sophos
“India’s cybersecurity talent gap is real, and it’s widening faster than most training pipelines can keep pace with and that gap is exactly what ‘Skills for a shared future’ should be pushing us to close. Certifications and classroom theory only get someone so far, but what actually prepares young talent is time spent on real tools, real attack scenarios, real incident response, before they’re thrown into a live SOC. That’s the thinking behind our Authorized Training Centre in India – giving students and early-career professionals hands-on exposure rather than just credentials on paper. At the end of the day, cybersecurity is a people problem before it’s a technology one, and the industry doesn’t get to complain about a talent shortage if it isn’t willing to invest in building that talent itself.”
Ms. Anjali Sharma, VP- HR and Director – Global Head of L&D, Fulcrum Digital
“Skills for a shared future is exactly the right lens for where L&D needs to go. We’ve moved past the idea that learning happens once, early in a career, and then you’re set for the next twenty years – that model is already broken. What works now is pairing the digital fluency young talent brings in with the judgment and context that experienced mentors bring, and building real structures around that exchange, not just onboarding decks. At Fulcrum Digital, our upskilling programs are built around this: hands-on exposure to AI and automation tools alongside active mentorship, so people learn by doing, not just by sitting through modules. If businesses want a genuinely shared future, they have to treat youth skilling as core infrastructure, not a CSR line item.”
Mr. Sandesh Naik, Chief Financial Officer, AB Energia Solutions
“India’s renewable energy ambitions are ultimately translated into reality on project sites, where engineering expertise, technical precision and execution capabilities determine the pace of progress. As the sector scales, the demand for skilled professionals is expanding beyond conventional engineering to areas such as project management, digital construction, quality assurance, and advanced renewable technologies. At AB Energia, technical roles already make up 55% of our workforce, and that share will only grow as our projects become more complex. Bridging this skills gap is essential to delivering renewable projects efficiently, safely and at scale. This year’s World Youth Skills Day theme, ‘Skills for a Shared Future,’ is a reminder that investing in technical talent is not just about creating employment – it is about strengthening India’s capacity to build the clean energy infrastructure of the future.”
Mr. Pratap Mane, President & India Head, Colt Data Centre Services
“The AI era is fundamentally redefining the relationship between infrastructure, energy, and talent. While investment in digital infrastructure will continue to accelerate, the true differentiator will be the availability of highly skilled professionals who can build, manage, and evolve increasingly complex digital ecosystems.
From engineering and critical operations to energy optimisation and sustainability, the capabilities required to power the future of AI infrastructure are becoming increasingly specialised and strategically important. India’s demographic advantage presents a unique opportunity to develop a globally competitive talent base that can support the country’s digital ambitions and contribute to the global digital infrastructure ecosystem.
Realising this opportunity will require collaboration between industry, academia, and policymakers to ensure skills development evolves alongside technological progress. On World Youth Skills Day, the conversation should move beyond preparing talent for the jobs of today and focus on building the capabilities that will define the industries of tomorrow. Investing in future-ready talent is ultimately an investment in India’s long-term digital resilience, innovation, and global competitiveness.”
Dr. B.K Chakravarty, Dean, School of Design Innovation, Mahindra University
“Skills for a Shared Future’ goes beyond preparing students for their first job; it is about equipping them to address challenges that have yet to emerge. Technological competence with creativity, empathy, critical thinking, sustainability and an entrepreneurial mindset must be combined by graduates to make them future-ready. A new model making strong industry partnerships, experiential learning, interdisciplinary collaboration the norm is vital. Continuous learning and adaptability will be the defining skills of the future as digital transformation reshapes every sector. At Mahindra University’s School of Design innovation, we believe education must integrate academic rigour with real projects from industry, enabling students not only to succeed in a rapidly evolving global workforce but also to become innovators and responsible leaders who create meaningful impact for society.”
Ms. Bhagwati Chhabbarwal Shetty, CHRO, Comviva
“The rapidly evolving digital landscape demands that we move beyond legacy, template-driven talent frameworks towards ecosystem-wide skill integration. We believe the focus now must be on equipping young talent to play on a world stage by building future-ready capabilities while moving beyond template careers to thrive in cross-functional innovation environments.
At Comviva, we are translating this philosophy into action by building sustainable talent pipelines through stronger industry-academia engagement. We hire extensively from leading institutions, including IITs, NITs, IIITs and other premier universities, bringing in talented young professionals who contribute across high-impact areas such as AI, data science, fintech and digital engineering. Through curated learning journeys and a culture of continuous skill reboot, we enable them to build future-ready capabilities, earn mobility with merit, collaborate across disciplines and solve for billions. The goal is not just to help the next generation adapt to technological change, but to empower them to shape the future of digital transformation.”
Mr. Agendra Kumar, Managing Director, Esri India
“Youth drive national development by acting as the primary engines of economic growth, technological innovation, and social change. To be able to create maximum impact, they need strong technical knowledge and skills in advanced technologies like GIS, AI, and machine learning. At Esri India, we are committed to empowering youth with industry-relevant knowledge, hands-on experience, and future-ready skills in geospatial and emerging technologies. Through initiatives like the GIS Academia Council of India (GACI), we bring academia and industry together to strengthen GIS education, shape industry-aligned curricula, and foster interdisciplinary learning, enabling students to develop innovative GIS- and AI-enabled solutions for governance, business, and sustainable development. We believe that investing in these capabilities today will enable India’s youth to build a more resilient, inclusive, and shared future.”
Ms. Manisha Dubey, Head of IDEMIA India Foundation
“On World Youth Skills Day, we must redefine how we measure the success of skilling initiatives. The true metric is not how many young people we train, but how many we empower with meaningful employment. Skills must translate into livelihoods, confidence, and long-term careers. At IDEMIA India Foundation, we are proud that 92% of the youth graduating from our employability programs have secured jobs. This reinforces our belief that industry-aligned, outcome-driven training can create lasting social impact.
Equally important is ensuring that no one is left behind. Our inclusive skilling programs for hearing-impaired youth and young adults on the autism spectrum are helping unlock talent that is often overlooked. Every young person deserves the opportunity to build a future with dignity and purpose. The future of skilling lies in continuously upgrading curricula, embracing emerging technologies, strengthening industry partnerships, and providing real-world exposure that prepares young people for evolving workplaces. Investing in quality, relevance, and inclusion is the key to building a workforce that is ready for tomorrow and an economy that leaves no talent behind.”
Mr. Navneet Kaushik, CHRO, Invenia-STL Networks
“World Youth Skills Day is a reminder that skills are the bridge between potential and opportunity. As industries evolve and technology reshapes how we work, the ability to learn, unlearn, and adapt matters more than any single qualification.
At Invenia-STL Networks, we have worked with our partner to rebuild a science lab from the ground up at a government school in Jammu and trained teachers on AI-assisted teaching tools. Real skilling means giving people the infrastructure and the confidence to solve problems with their own hands, not just theory on a page.
When we invest in young people’s skills, we’re not just preparing them for jobs of the future; we’re building more inclusive economies, stronger communities, and a generation capable of leading meaningful change. This is a responsibility every industry, institution, and individual must share.”
Mr. Gautam Sharma, Managing Director, Viasat India
“As India cements its position as a global hub for space technology and digital innovation, empowering young people with future-ready skills is no longer just an educational priority, it is an economic imperative. Satellite communications is emerging as a foundational technology for the future, enabling resilient connectivity across aviation, maritime, disaster response, remote communities, defence, IoT and the broader digital economy. Realizing this opportunity requires a workforce equipped with specialized, industry-relevant skills. At Viasat India, we are helping bridge the gap between academic learning and real-world application through our strategic partnership with BSNL at BRBRAITT, Jabalpur, where we have introduced specialized satellite communications courses for engineering students and early-career professionals.
Complementing this are initiatives such as our ‘Space for Good’ challenge and our upcoming Centre of Excellence focused on IoT and UAV innovations, which encourage young innovators to apply deep-tech solutions to real-world challenges. By embedding industry-grade satellite technology skills into India’s talent pipeline today, we are helping build a highly skilled, inclusive and globally competitive workforce that can power the country’s expanding space economy for decades to come.”
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Vice Chancellor at World University of Design
“World Youth Skills Day is a reminder that the most valuable skills of the future will not simply be technical. They will be deeply human. As artificial intelligence automates routine tasks and even augments specialised knowledge, the real differentiators will be creativity, critical thinking, empathy, ethical judgement and the ability to solve complex problems across disciplines. The jobs of tomorrow will increasingly belong to those who can imagine possibilities, design meaningful experiences and translate ideas into innovations that improve lives.
At World University of Design, we believe creativity is not confined to the arts; it is an economic capability and a driver of entrepreneurship, sustainability and social transformation. Our responsibility is not merely to prepare students for existing careers, but to equip them with the mindset and skills to create entirely new opportunities in a rapidly evolving world. That, ultimately, is what future-ready education should aspire to achieve.”
Mr. Diwakar Mehrotra, Vice President – GroupAR, Europe & Africa
“India’s automotive aftermarket sector is evolving faster with technological advancement and colour innovations in car manufacturing than our talent pipeline can keep pace with. We’re manufacturing more, and producing cars with advanced and vibrant hues, finishes and textures, but the country still faces a real shortage of trained paint and colour technicians i.e. the skilled and knowledgeable people who actually execute quality on the job. This isn’t a future problem; it’s already showing up as a bottleneck for manufacturers, bodyshops, and distributors today. At Nippon Paint India, we believe closing this gap is as much an industry responsibility as it is a CSR commitment. Through Project Rangshala, we are training underserved youth in practical application and colour matching skills including digital tools usage, and workplace readiness. If India wants its manufacturing ambitions to hold up, we need to invest in the hands that build it.”
Mr. Subhadeep Guin, Head of Engineering at Whatfix
“World Youth Skills Day is an opportunity to rethink what it truly means to be ‘work-ready.’ Young people entering the workforce today are more digitally native than any generation before them, yet they are stepping into workplaces defined by increasingly complex software, AI-powered tools, and workflows that evolve far faster than traditional education can keep pace with.
In this environment, technical proficiency alone is no longer enough. The most valuable skill is the ability to continuously learn, adapt, question assumptions, and apply technology to solve real-world problems. AI will undoubtedly reshape how work gets done, but the future will belong to people who combine technological fluency with critical thinking, creativity, empathy, and sound judgment.
At Whatfix, this belief is reflected in our philosophy of Userization, the idea that technology should adapt to people, not the other way around. Learning shouldn’t end when someone leaves the classroom, nor should employees be expected to pause their work to master every new tool. The future of learning is contextual, continuous, and embedded directly into the flow of work, enabling people to build confidence as they perform real tasks rather than relying solely on formal training. This thinking also led us to build Whatfix Mirror, an AI Simulation Training platform where users get hands-on practice mastering real-world workflows and customer conversations in a safe, risk-free environment, building the confidence and proficiency they need before going live.
As organizations accelerate AI adoption, preparing the next generation is no longer just about teaching them how to use new technologies. It’s about equipping them to work alongside AI, think independently, and continuously develop new capabilities as technology evolves. When learning becomes an integral part of everyday work, technology becomes an enabler rather than a barrier.
The responsibility before all of us, educators, employers, and technology leaders is not to ask young people to constantly catch up with change, but to create systems that help them grow with it. By investing in lifelong, human-centric learning, we can empower the next generation to become confident innovators, problem-solvers, and leaders in an AI-driven world.”
Covered By: NCN MAGAZINE / Youth Skills
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