Degrees are important, but being job-ready is crucial in AI age

As AI disrupts entry-level jobs and industries struggle to find skilled graduates, corporate leaders have called for greater investment and deeper partnerships between companies and universities to overhaul education, build practical capabilities and prepare India’s work - force for emerging employment opportunities.At TOI Ideas for India 2026, Rajendra Gandhi, founder and managing director of StoveKraft, said India’s large workforce would not automatically translate into global competitiveness unless its capabilities matched industry requirements.“Today, industry is actually forced to do what universities are supposed to do,” Gandhi said, pointing out that companies were spending time and resources training fresh graduates who lacked job-ready skills.He advocated shifting the emphasis from degrees and certificates to demonstrable capabilities, particularly in manufacturing, robotics, automation and emerging technologies. Industry and academia, he said, must jointly shape education during students’ learning years rather than leaving companies to bridge the gap after recruitment.Prashant Mehra, partner and chief people and culture officer at Grant Thornton Bharat, said the corporate sector must also accept responsibility for employability instead of blaming universities. Highlighting the firm’s partnerships with universities, he said industry professionals were helping design courses and serving as faculty members.At one university in northern India, 250 of 600 students received appointment offers from Grant Thornton on Day Zero, Mehra said. “Ultimately, education is application.”The challenge is becoming more complex with AI agents taking over routine tasks traditionally assigned to junior employees. Mehra said the conventional corporate employment pyramid was gradually becoming a diamond, with greater emphasis on human validation, critical thinking, judgement and supervision of technology.“So that pyra - mid is slowly becoming a diamond,” he said, stressing that continuous upskilling would be essential rather than fearing technological displacement. Gandhi urged startup and private-equity investors to look beyond tech ventures and invest in manufacturing entrepreneur - ship. “If startup or private equity capital is chasing something, it should chase manufacturing,” he said.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.