Abstract
As AI reshapes economies, industries, and careers, universities face a critical challenge: how to ensure graduates are equipped with the skills needed to thrive in an increasingly complex and technology-driven world? For India, home to one of the world’s largest economies and fastest-growing higher education systems, the answer will depend on a new era of collaboration. Drawing on insights from datasets including the QS World Future Skills Index 2027, this panel will explore how Indian universities can better align education with emerging workforce needs through partnerships across academia, industry, government and the wider innovation ecosystem, and what lessons these approaches offer institutions in other geographies and contexts.
The discussion will explore the capabilities that matter most in the age of AI, from advanced technical expertise to the distinctly human skills that drive creativity, leadership, adaptability and critical thinking. Panellists will consider how collaborative approaches to curriculum design, research, innovation and lifelong learning can help institutions respond more rapidly to changing economic realities and talent needs. The discussion will be a reflective examination of what has worked, what has not, and the practical approaches that leaders can adapt and apply within their own organisations.
Bringing together leaders from some of India’s most forward-thinking universities, this session will use India as a lens for exploring challenges facing higher education systems globally. Participants will gain practical, transferable insights into building partnerships, adapting curricula and connecting education more closely with changing skills needs, with a focus on approaches that can be applied across different institutions, systems and economies.
Learning objectives
- Understand how AI and technological disruption are reshaping workforce needs and redefining the skills universities must develop.
- Explore insights from the QS World Future Skills Index on India’s readiness to meet future talent demands and compare their relevance to other higher education systems and economies.
- Identify transferable approaches to collaboration between universities, industry, government and innovation ecosystems that can strengthen skills development.
- Examine how institutions can balance technical competencies with the human skills that remain critical in the age of AI, and consider how this can inform their own curricula and learning models.
- Evaluate partnership models, including their successes and challenges, and identify approaches that could be adapted to strengthen employability, lifelong learning, research and workforce alignment in different contexts.
- Draw practical lessons from the experience of Indian universities that can inform the development of future-ready, human-centred higher education systems elsewhere.
- Leave with actionable ideas that participants can adapt within their own institutions and ecosystems to strengthen talent development, innovation, societal impact and economic progress.
Target audience
University leaders, international office professionals, academic innovators, partnership directors, policymakers, and industry collaborators interested in future skills, employability, AI, workforce alignment, university–industry collaboration, and the future of higher education in India and the Asia-Pacific region