Education Technology | Innovations and Insights - Edinbox

A new Scaler-CyberMedia Research study reveals a stark "AI confidence-capability gap" among Indian engineers: 89% claim AI readiness, but only 19% have hands-on experience building AI/ML systems, threatening the nation's tech workforce edge.

Illusion of Preparedness

Surveying 400 engineers and recruiters, the report shows engineers often mistake API usage or basic AI exposure for true expertise in model training, deployment, and scalable infrastructure. Recruiters demand proof through live coding, project demos, and production experience over certifications.

Organizational Hurdles

55% cite workload pressures leaving no upskilling time; 49% point to training costs. India's service-based IT model prioritizes billable hours over experimentation, trapping mid-career professionals between deadlines and reinvention needs.

Gender Divide Emerges

Women engineers face acute barriers: 65% report work-life imbalances curbing learning; 56% lack AI mentors/role models. Without structured pipelines, AI's rise risks widening senior-level representation gaps and stalling career mobility.

Recruitment Shifts

86% of recruiters struggle sourcing genuine AI talent, tightening criteria with technical tests and simulations. "Evidence-of-work" now trumps resumes, sidelining theoretical skills in a market valuing deployment over declarations.

Path Forward

The study urges corporate learning time allocations, subsidized advanced training, and institutionalized mentorship—especially for underrepresented groups—to convert ambition into global competitiveness. AI demands systemic overhaul, not individual effort alone.

This paradox challenges India's engineering export model amid NEP 2020's tech-education push, signaling urgency for skill-depth over scale.

On 23 February, Central Manufacturing Technology Institute (CMTI) held a top level stakeholder consultation to discuss India's draft advanced manufacturing strategy. The meeting was co-organized by the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India and the Ministry of Heavy Industries.

The consultation brought together about 220 stakeholders from all segments of the ecosystem, including the Central government departments, industry leaders of the private sector, MSMEs, startups, academic institutions, and R&D organizations.

The true objective was to formulate a manufacturing roadmap for India that would harness innovation, technology adoption, and collaborative research to enhance competitiveness.

Currently, the areas of focus for the manufacturing competitiveness enhancement plan are the development of CNC machine tools and indigenous controllers, the manufacturing of advanced precision machinery, robotics integration, testing and metrology infrastructure, and advanced additive manufacturing technologies. The participants were discussing how high, end machine tools import dependency could be lowered by domestic design and production capabilities being improved concurrently.

Officials pointed out the essential need to ensure that research and development activities are in line with the requirements of the industry. The discussions also considered collaborative research and development projects between public research institutions and private sector players, with very detailed discussion on budgets, schedules for implementation, and risk management. 

Stakeholders emphasized that a one off injection of funding cannot be the solution and that a full package of supportive policies needs to be put in place to speed up the innovation cycles. The consultation is one of the components of the broader initiative to make India a global manufacturing hub by using the latest technologies and upgrading the industrial infrastructure. 

The specialists pointed out that without solid CNC systems, automation, and additive manufacturing the defence sector, automotive thereby aeronautics and heavy industries cannot be modernized. The results of the discussion should go towards a well defined national advanced manufacturing roadmap that will facilitate the increase in productivity of the industry, support technological self reliance, and enhance India's positioning in the global supply chain integration for the high precision manufacturing spheres.

Bharti Airtel Foundation and the CK-12 Foundation launched one of India's most comprehensive AI-integration initiatives for teacher empowerment on Monday.

The partnership integrates over 45 AI-enabled teaching tools into TheTeacherApp, a free digital platform currently utilised by more than 2 lakh educators across the country. This integration aims to scale the platform by providing advanced resources to teachers across the K-12 spectrum and the entire school education system.

Press release stated, AI, powered version of TheTeacherApp integrates an assistive layer in teaching workflows to facilitate teachers with real, time, classroom, aligned support. The project is targeted at meeting everyday classroom thinking and freeing the teachers time for other goods while enriching the instruction in all subjects and grades.

Open to deep meaning of National Education Policy

This collaboration is a move towards NEP (National Education Policy) 2020 that presents a vision for Viksit Bharat 2047, where the emphasis shifts from basic digital access to meaningful digital engagement.

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan mentioned that the NEP 2020 concentrates on teachers and also provides them with the roadmap for school education transformation.

"The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has enlightened us with a clear plan for the transformation of education, and we are still concentrating on teachers and their support at every stage. Hence, they can equip every learner at every grade level with quality resources that address their diverse needs, and now AI is no longer a luxury but a necessity."

Pradhan also remarked that, "This technology, driven step will indeed be a milestone in the implementation of the education policy in our country." Having been part of TheTeacherApp's launch in 2024, it is inspiring to witness this next step supporting the integration of AI into the classrooms across India, " he said.

The TeacherApp was launched in 2024 and since then has gathered more than 200, 000 educators who have together logged hundreds of hours of learning experiences over the last 15 months. There are currently 2, 500 hours of training on the platform, with topics ranging from foundational literacy, numeracy, and digital literacy. It also features a collaborative Teachers' Lounge and the content is based on the insights of 20 years of Satya Bharti Schools.

Empowering Educators for a Future, Ready India

Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Vice Chairman, Bharti Enterprises and Co, Chairman, Bharti Airtel Foundation, expressed the essential role of teachers as the most powerful change agents for the country.

Empowering Educators for a Future, Ready IndiaRakesh Bharti Mittal, Vice, Chairman, Bharti Enterprises and Co, Chairman, Bharti Airtel Foundation, highlighted the significance of educators as agents of change for the nation.

"Today, through our partnership with CK, 12, we are providing teachers with more resources by embedding smart classroom materials so that teachers can spend less time preparing and more time inspiring students. When India is getting ready for Viksit Bharat@2047, this project demonstrates how AI that is well integrated can really help teachers become more effective and, thus, support the country's vision of equitable, future, ready education, " he explained.

Neeru Khosla, Co-Founder and Executive Director of CK-12, remarked that AI in education is no longer optional. "AI in education is no longer optional. Teachers today need adaptive, intelligent support tools that truly understand classroom realities. This partnership allows us to combine TheTeacherApp's scale with CK-12's technology leadership to deliver meaningful, future-ready support for every teacher," she noted.

At the NDTV AI Summit 2026, Dayananda Sagar University announced a collaboration with NVIDIA to establish what it describes as India’s first Academic AI Factory — a high-performance computing facility designed to help students build and train advanced artificial intelligence models.

Pro-Chancellor D. Premachandra Sagar said the initiative marks a shift from merely using AI tools to creating them within universities. The facility will run on 20 NVIDIA B200 Blackwell nodes delivering 160 GPUs, providing large-scale computing power typically available only in industrial research labs.

The infrastructure will allow students to train foundation models and develop a proprietary DSU GPT platform. According to the university, the aim is to enable hands-on AI research rather than limiting learners to application-level exposure.

Beyond core AI, the factory will integrate robotics, augmented and virtual reality, cybersecurity through cyber-range collaborations, and digital twin technologies. The programme will also extend across disciplines — including law, medicine, engineering and management — promoting interdisciplinary learning.

Sagar said the initiative intends to democratise access to high-end computing for nearly 40,000 students, especially those studying in tier-2 institutions. By equipping the campus with industry, grade infrastructure, the university aims to nurture talents who can create AI systems instead of relying on technologies imported from abroad.

This undertaking is a sign of a more extensive movement in India's higher education ecosystem to build homegrown AI capabilities and reshape India from being a global technology consumer to a creator.

In the lead to technology, driven governance and sustainable agriculture, the Andhra Pradesh Department of Agriculture sealed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Wadhwani AI, New Delhi, through which the two organizations will combine efforts to bring artificial intelligence to agricultural management and farmer services.

The MoU was signed at the Velagapudi Secretariat by Agriculture Director Dr Manazir Jeelani Samoon in the presence of Special Chief Secretary (Agriculture) B Raja Sekhar. JP Tripathi, Director at Wadhwani AI, was the signatory on behalf of the AI research organisation.

The use of artificial intelligence in farmer services is one of the primary goals of the partnership, which sees the introduction of AI, powered tools for real time crop monitoring, early identification of pest and disease outbreaks, and farmers' data driven advisories. Such an initiative signifies a radical departure from traditional reactive approaches towards predictive and preventive agricultural management.

Government officials revealed that AI will be used to study satellite imagery, weather data, and field level inputs for predictive analytics that will be able to pinpoint patterns of crop losses, the proper use of water and fertilisers, and overall farm productivity.

These predictive insights are expected to help farmers and government officials to make timely and evidence- based decisions.

The project will be launched gradually, Wadhwani AI will provide technical support, capacity building, and training to agriculture department officials and farmers. The goal is to ensure that AI tools are user, friendly, locally relevant, and scalable to district level.

Officials pointed out that the project conforms well with India's Digital Agriculture Mission and the agriculture sector's shift towards data- driven governance in general.

Against a backdrop of challenges, such as climate variability, pest resistance, and increasing input costs, AI based solutions are becoming indispensable, through their capability to support the development of climate, resilient and sustainable farming systems.

The Andhra Pradesh government has been quite proactive in leveraging digital tools in agriculture besides mobile, based advisories, monitoring of soil health, and precision farming. The partnership with Wadhwani AI will be a great addition to these initiatives by means of providing farm analytics and machine learning capabilities on a wide scale.

According to experts, these types of collaborations not only lead to better farm productivity but also help in developing skills, spreading agri, tech knowledge, and fostering innovation; thus, they play a crucial role in bringing the latest technology research in line with the everyday needs of farmers at the grassroots level.

At Vasavi Education Trust (VET) First Grade College, college students are realising that having artificial intelligence (AI) skills is not merely a matter of choice, but a must for their future careers, as brought out during a recent interaction.

Students of VET First Grade College on Thursday learned first hand how Artificial Intelligence can be used as a tool to make one more productive during a Times of India in Campus (TOIC) Partnership Talk at the school's JP Nagar campus. The session was led by Shankar G Rao, Chief Digital and Information Officer, Bosch India, who pointed out that AI is becoming more and more significant in all sectors.

Rao told students that they should have a good understanding of data and be able to analyze it since these are the skills that will be in demand in jobs where AI is used. He drew a diagram showing how AI, machine learning, and deep learning are related, thus explaining the basics of artificial intelligence. Consequently, the students could comprehend better how different technologies are integrated in real world scenarios.

Rao stressed the significance of people learning without getting in a certain time and referred to how AI is being used in various areas such as manufacturing, finance, healthcare, and services."The value you bring to the table is essentially a reflection of what AI enables you to do, rather than what you can do that AI cannot, " he told the students after he had pointed out AI as a partner tool to them and not a threat to their jobs.

He went on to encourage the students to take the initiative in gaining new skills so that they can remain relevant in the rapidly evolving digital world. He said that the future successful career individuals will be those who can adapt and solve the problems. "The factor that determines your value is not what you are capable of doing that AI cannot, but rather what AI enables you to do, " he said to the students, urging them to view AI as a tool partner instead of a threat to their jobs.

Moreover, he advised the pupils to take the initiative to gain new skills so that they can still be relevant in the rapidly changing digital world. He pointed out that the ones who will be successful in their careers in the future are those people who can adapt and solve problems.

The speaker and students had a lively discussion on various topics which was made possible by R Parvathi, Principal and Academic Advisor, VET First Grade College, through a moderated session. The participants raised issues related to career readiness, ethical usage of AI, and the key skills that employers are starting to value more and more in fresh graduates.

The conference showcased how crucial it is for the industry and academia to work hand in hand in preparing the students with the right skill set to stay relevant amidst technological changes. It also pointed out that colleges should integrate AI consciousness and skills acquisition into their main curriculum.