Hans News Service Vijayawada

Thefuture of India’s workforce will depend not merely on technological advancement but on the ability of industry, academia, government and society to work together to build a strong and future-ready talent ecosystem, said Dr Narayana Bharat Gupta, commissioner of higher education, Andhra Pradesh.

Addressing the CII Vijayawada HR Future Bridge Summit 2026 held here on Friday, Dr Gupta said India is witnessing an unprecedented transformation in the nature of work, driven by artificial intelligence, automation, digitisation and emerging technologies. While technology can automate processes and enhance productivity, people will continue to be central to innovation, trust, organisational culture and leadership.

Quoting the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report, he noted that significant changes are expected in the global employment landscape by 2030, with millions of jobs being created even as several existing roles and skills undergo transformation. “The future does not belong to the biggest organisations; it belongs to those who learn quickly,” he said. Narendra Kumar Saranam, chairman of CII Andhra Pradesh in his address said that talent competitiveness is economic competitiveness. For Andhra Pradesh, the quality of our talent ecosystem will influence investment, innovation, productivity, entrepreneurship and the ability of our youth to participate confidently in national and global opportunities, he lamented.

Abhinav Kotagiri, chairman of CII Vijayawada in his welcome address said, the future of work is arriving faster than our traditional systems of education, hiring and workforce development were designed to respond.

Founder and chief strategist of The Strategist K Srinivas Rao set the context for the summit by emphasising the need for a collaborative ecosystem involving academia, industry, government and society.

ITC Limited vice president-HR P Veeraswamy emphasised that HR professionals can become genuine business partners only when they understand the business and demonstrate measurable value. Prof P Arulmozhivarman, vice-chancellor, VIT-AP University and co-convenor, CII Andhra Pradesh Education, People Skills and Entrepreneurship Panel, said the conversation around education must move from employability to lifelong relevance and adaptability.

Anvesh Dasari, vice-chairman, CII Vijayawada Zone and director, Electronics Systems, Prof C S R K Prasad, vice-chancellor, JNTU-K; Prof G P Raja Sekhar, vice-chancellor, Andhra University and others also spoke in the summit.