Professionals are today grappling with the challenges of staying relevant in a world where technologies like AI are dramatically changing businesses. In our webinar last week, industry experts delved into the opportunities that young engineers have in this landscape, and the skills they need to build a successful career.
Suresh Kandula, CTO of integrated services and director of marketing & sales technology at Ford Motor Company, said opportunities are particularly good in India, since the country now plays a strategic role in the global tech ecosystem and is no longer just maintaining and managing services. “We are building new capabilities that are foundational,” he said, noting that Ford’s team in Chennai is working on platforms that are core to Ford in terms of their e-commerce, EV, and hybrid technologies.
This, in turn, means that engineers are now required to possess skills that go beyond “keeping the lights on” and focus on building modern technologies and be strategic in their approach to problem-solving.
The domestic market in India is also seen to present opportunities, with the pre-Covid startup economy taking off and unique challenges in areas such as mobility and the gig economy emerging. As Suresh put it, “The engineering talent required to build solutions for India, in India, is also increasing.”
He further noted that while AI/ML tools are incredibly useful, they do not negate the need for fundamental skills. “You still need to know what to ask the AI tools. You still need to be able to get the last 20% of the work done on your own without needing any help,” he said. Which is why communication skills and domain expertise, he said, are extremely crucial skills. You need to know how to apply AI in the particular context of an industry.
Abhilasha Gaur, CEO of Nasscom’s IT-ITeS sector skills council, pointed out a few other demand-side factors at play that should give aspiring engineers hope, like the fact that the need for tech skills is no longer confined to IT sectors but is spreading across various industries. “Even in construction and building management you see a lot of IoT sensors are being used for functions like lighting, heating, ventilation and air conditioning,” she said.
But Abhilasha noted that there is also a critical need to upgrade skills and be industry ready. “There are skilling gaps that need to be addressed by both govt and industry.”
Nasscom, she said, has introduced several initiatives, such as the Future Skills Prime platform, which offers over 500 courses in partnership with industry and academia. Most of them are subsidised or free of cost.
The govt, she noted, is also playing a role in facilitating lifelong learning, by establishing the Academic Bank of Credit (ABC) system and the Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry (APAAR ID) that allows for a more comprehensive view of an individual’s skills and qualifications beyond traditional degrees.
Dhananjay Nair, head of HR at Ford Business Solutions for India, said that since the ability to unlearn and relearn on the fly is increasingly being seen as a crucial skill, organisations have a responsibility now to provide learning platforms for employees to upskill and to foster ecosystems where people leaders mentor and support employee development. “That said, the primary responsibility for development still lies with the employees,” he said.
