> Karnataka to become the AI Skilling Lighthouse of India
> Karnataka aims to reach every young learner with entrepreneurship training by 2030
The inaugural edition of Bengaluru Skill Summit 2025 successfully concluded after three days of engaging sessions, global participation, and impactful discussions. Themed “Workforce 2030: Scale, Systems, Synergy,” the summit brought together government leaders, corporate pioneers, academic experts, and international partners to deliberate on strategies for building a globally competitive and future-ready workforce.
Following the inaugural day, the summit featured a series of masterclasses, policy roundtables, and innovation showcases, addressing core themes such as- ‘Emerging Skills for AI, Green Jobs, and the Digital Economy’, ‘Skills for All: Empowering Women, Youth, and Informal Workers’, ‘Global Skills and International Mobility’, and ‘Innovation in Training, Assessment, and Workforce Systems’. Having received an overwhelming response from various industries and participation in huge numbers, the event facilitated cross-border collaborations, knowledge sharing, and policy-level dialogue on emerging skill needs.
DAY 2 Highlights-
A keynote address by Shri Ravi Venkatesan, Chairman, Global Energy Alliance Former Chairman, Microsoft India & Bank of Baroda highlighted the speaker’s insightful take on “Shaping Karnataka’s Next Era Through Innovation”. He remarked, “Artificial Intelligence represents one of the most transformative forces of our time. As the world enters the age of AI, Karnataka must once again lead India’s growth story through innovation, inclusion, and intelligent adaptation.”
“To prepare our youth for this shift, we must focus on three foundational skill sets: digital literacy, entrepreneurship, and human skills and continue to collaborate with industry leaders, academic institutions and partner with organizations like Google, Microsoft, and Infosys ensuring no citizen of Karnataka is left behind in this digital revolution.” he added.
Another key highlight from the 2nd day’s discussion included a Ministers Panel on “Convergence of Education, Skills & Industry for a trillion USD Economy by 2032” presided by Dr. Sharanaprakash Rudrappa Patil, Hon’ble Minister for Skill Development, Entrepreneurship & Livelihood and Medical Education, Government of Karnataka; Priyank Kharge, Hon’ble Minister for Rural Development & Panchayat Raj, and Electronics, IT & BT, Government of Karnataka, and Dr. M. C. Sudhakar, Hon’ble Minister for Higher Education, Government of Karnataka moderated by Madan Padaki, Managing Trustee, Head Held High Foundation.
While Dr. Sharanprakash Rudrappa Patil, Hon. Minister for Skill Development, Entrepreneurship & Livelihood and Medical Education, Government of Karnataka highlighted unemployment as a biggest national challenge, he also mentioned Karnataka being a progressive state as always, with visionary leaders who built strong foundations in education and skill development. He underlined the need to restructure the curriculum ensuring skill development within the classrooms and collaborate with industry partners to identify skills and competencies required for employability. Assuring further that the department is ready to provide training facilities, bear skilling costs to ensure that every trained youth finds meaningful employment and make Karnataka the skill capital of India where learning meets opportunity, and every young mind contributes to the strength of the state.
Shri Priyank Kharge, Minister for Rural Development & Panchayat Raj, and E, IT & BT, Government of Karnataka expressed “ The world today faces a talent shortage of nearly 85 million people, a gap that skilled youth from our state are ready to bridge. With a dedicated investment of 5,000 crores under the state’s new skill policy, we aim to make over three million youth employable. Through initiatives such as the NIPUNA program, we are enabling a person skilled in Mysuru to work in Manchester with a vision of skilling locally and working globally. New incubators, accelerators, and centers of excellence are emerging across Belagavi, Dharwad, Bhagalkot, and Mangaluru, covering sectors like biotech, horticulture, AI, and space technology. Together, through collaboration between industry, academia, and government, Karnataka is shaping a generation that will lead globally in innovation and employability. The future workforce of Karnataka will not just be job seekers, they will be job creators and changemakers.”
Dr. M. C. Sudhakar, Hon. Minister for Higher Education, Government of Karnataka in his address, highlighted how India’s education and skill ecosystem is expanding rapidly from tier-one cities to tier-two and tier-three regions reshaping opportunities. He emphasized the government partnerships with Microsoft, HP, Kirloskar Group, Varma Foundation, and the Azim Premji Foundation and government’s focus on establishing Centers of Excellence within institutions to ensure students gain practical skills during their course duration.
Reflecting on India’s defining moment as a young nation blessed with the world’s largest working-age population, Mr. B. V. R. Subrahmanyam, Chief Executive Officer, NITI Aayog, Government of India stated that demographic strength alone cannot ensure prosperity unless it is converted into educated, skilled, and employable human capital. The key lies in transforming potential into productivity through systematic skilling, education, and employability initiatives.
The Skill Expo was also inaugurated on the 2nd day of the summit by Dr. Sharanprakash Rudrappa Patil, Hon. Minister for Skill Development, Entrepreneurship & Livelihood and Medical Education, Government of Karnataka, Shri Priyank Kharge, Minister for Rural Development & Panchayat Raj, and E, IT & BT, Government of Karnataka., Dr. M.C. Sudhakar Hon. Minister for Higher Education, Government of Karnataka, and Hon. Muhammad Reza Cassam Uteem, Minister of Labour and Industrial Relations, Government of Mauritius. It had over 50 exhibitors across industries showcasing innovations, global best practices, and scalable models facilitating B2B, B2G, and G2G networking.
The final rounds of Skillathon, a dynamic innovation challenge for youth and institutions, were held during the 2nd day of the summit. Team Saksham from Jain University, Bengaluru; Team Eco coders from Vidya Vardhaka College of Engineering, Mysore; and Team Skill Vault 360, BMSIT, Bengaluru were announced the winners of the competition closing the day’s discussions with a Grand Visual Dance Drama Production performed by Shivapriya School of Dance, Bengaluru and NANDA Performing Arts, Dubai honoring Karnataka’s rich legacy of nurturing performing arts.
Day 3 Highlights-
On the concluding day, the welcome address was given by Nagaraja N. M., IAS, Managing Director, Karnataka Skill Development Corporation setting the tone for an ambitious dialogue bringing together voices from government, industry, academia, and global partners to co-create strategies that prepare the youth for jobs that do not yet exist. Hon. Muhammad Reza Cassam Uteem, Minister of Labour and Industrial Relations, Government of Mauritius gave the opening keynote, trusting the Government’s objective to lead the transformation by building not just skills, but futures, and ensuring the state becomes one of the world’s leading sources of global talent.
A country partner session held by German Missions in India on Global Opportunities: Pathways to Germany highlighted Germany becoming one of the top destinations for Indian students, with over 60,000 pursuing education there. Offering high-quality, low-cost education, Germany maintains strong links between universities and industries to ensure post-study employment opportunities. With its supportive immigration policies following The 2022 Migration and Mobility Partnership Germany focuses on skills and continues to be a trusted partner for India in education, training, and talent development.
Dr. E. V. Ramana Reddy, IAS (R),Chairman – Karnataka Skill Development Authority (KSDA) presided over a CSR Roundtable themed “Public Private Partnership for Enhancing the Skilling and Placement Ecosystem in Karnataka" where he spoke about the urgent need to transform India’s skilling landscape, pointing out that while countries like South Korea and Japan have over 80 percent formally skilled workers, India has less than 5 percent skilled workers. He also explains Karnataka's strong commitment to skilling through its new Skill Development Policy and investment for ITI strengthening future ready training.
Subroto Bagchi, Co-Founder of Mindtree, Former Chairman of Odisha, Skill Development Authority opened his keynote address reminding everyone that skill development is not just an economic mission but a moral one about dignity, purpose, and nation-building. Skilling must not be treated as a charity or compliance. It is a shared movement where government, industry, and society work together to uplift youth. He said, “We have to make skill aspirational, not an alternative. When we invest in people, we invest in the soul of India.We have witnessed how strong public private partnerships can transform states. From Odisha to Karnataka, when purpose meets partnership, miracles happen. As technology like AI and automation change work, we must equip our youth not only with technical ability but also with empathy, adaptability, and lifelong learning.”
The panels and discussions concluded with the Kaushalya Karnataka Awards presented by
Dr. Sharanaparakash Rudrappa Patil, Hon. Minister For Skill Development, Entrepreneurship & Livelihood and Medical Education, Government of Karnataka; Smt. Shivakantamma (Kanta) Naik, Chairperson, Karnataka Skill Development Corporation, and Karnataka Vocational Training & Skill Development Corporation; and Vandita Sharma, Former Chief Secretary, Government of Karnataka under two award categories- Corporate Excellence Awards & Institutional Excellence Awards.
Dr. Sharanaparakash Rudrappa Patil, Hon. Minister for Skill Development, Entrepreneurship & Livelihood and Medical Education, Government of Karnataka congratulating the industries for joining hands to build a robust skilling ecosystem powered by Govt. of Karnataka announced the dates for the 2nd edition of Bengaluru Skill Summit to be held b/w 3rd to 5th of November 2026. The event was successfully managed by Trescon.
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