The National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India, in collaboration with Intel India, organised a National Leadership Dialogue on “Preparing the Future Workforce for the Agentic AI Era” at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.

The Dialogue brought together senior representatives from Government, foreign embassies, academia, industry and the skilling ecosystem to deliberate on the rapidly evolving Artificial Intelligence landscape and its implications for the future of work, education and workforce development in India.

The programme was attended by Shri Shashi Shekhar Vempati, Chairperson, Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) as the Chief Guest, Dr. M. M. Tripathi, Director General, NIELIT, Shri Sudeep Shrivastava, COO, IndiaAI Mission and Joint Secretary, MeitY, Mr. Anshul Sonak, Head & Global Director, Intel along with senior dignitaries and representatives from Government, academia and industry.

The Dialogue focused on the emerging opportunities and challenges presented by Agentic AI and the need to strengthen India’s workforce readiness for an increasingly AI-driven economy. Discussions centred around emerging skill requirements, industry-aligned curricula, experiential learning, faculty readiness, AI-enabled learning environments and stronger Government–academia–industry collaboration.

As AI evolves from predictive and generative systems towards Agentic AI-systems capable of reasoning, planning and executing complex tasks under human oversight-the skills required across industries are also evolving. The Dialogue highlighted the importance of preparing students, educators and professionals with the technical capabilities, adaptability and human-centric skills required to work effectively alongside increasingly capable AI systems.

Speaking at the occasion, Shri Shashi Shekhar Vempati, Chairperson, Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), highlighted the importance of preparing India’s future workforce for the rapidly evolving Agentic AI era. He emphasized that skills, employability, and continuous learning will play a critical role as technology transforms the nature of work.

He congratulated NIELIT and Intel India for the initiative taken on democratizing Agentic AI.He further highlighted the need for long-term skilling pathways that combine foundational and emerging technology skills with real-world exposure, industry-relevant case studies and practical datasets. He also underscored the importance of sustained collaboration among Government, industry, academia and skilling institutions to ensure that India's youth are prepared not only for current employment opportunities but also for the jobs of the future.

Dr. Madan Mohan Tripathi, Director General, NIELIT, said, “The rapid evolution of Artificial Intelligence is creating new opportunities as well as new requirements for our education and skilling ecosystem. As a national institution mandated to build capabilities in electronics, IT and emerging technologies, NIELIT is committed to ensuring that learners and educators are equipped to participate in this next phase of technological transformation. Our collaboration with Intel India combines NIELIT’s nationwide skilling reach with Intel’s technology expertise and industry perspective, enabling us to take Agentic AI learning closer to institutions and learners across the country.”

Highlighting the Government’s vision of democratizing Sovereign AI and building a strong and inclusive AI ecosystem in India, Shri Sudeep Shrivastava, COO, IndiaAI Mission and Joint Secretary, MeitY, emphasized the importance of building a strong AI talent pipeline for the country’s digital economy.

He highlighted the role of industry-led training, AI-focused educational programmes and digital learning initiatives in strengthening AI capabilities across educational institutions. He also emphasised the importance of developing AI talent, AI Data Labs and industry–academia partnerships to provide students, researchers and professionals with hands-on exposure to emerging AI technologies.

Ms. Shweta Khurana, Sr. Director, Asia Pacific & Japan, International Government Affairs, Intel, said, “As AI evolves from assistive tools to agentic systems and ultimately physical intelligence, it will fundamentally reshape education, work, jobs, and industries. In this new era, the defining factor of success will be human readiness as individuals will need the skills, adaptability, and judgment to collaborate effectively with increasingly capable AI systems. Investing in AI skills is therefore essential to strengthening economic resilience, expanding opportunity, and reinforcing technological sovereignty. Through our collaboration with NIELIT, we are taking an important step in translating this vision into action”.

A key outcome of the Dialogue was the launch of the NIELIT–Intel India Agentic AI Skilling Initiative, aimed at expanding access to industry-aligned Agentic AI learning opportunities and contributing to the development of a future-ready AI talent ecosystem in the country.

Under the initiative, two programmes have been introduced:

1. Agentic AI for Everyone

The programme introduces learners to workflow automation, AI agents and multi-agent systems, with a focus on improving productivity, enabling business transformation and supporting intelligent decision-making. The programme provides hands-on exposure to designing and governing AI-powered workflows and agentic systems using no-code platforms.

2. Engineering Agentic AI Systems

The programme focuses on designing, building and deploying AI-powered agentic systems. Learners will gain practical exposure to no-code/low-code platforms and code-based frameworks, covering areas including agent architecture, tool integration, orchestration, memory and deployment to develop scalable and production-ready solutions.

The National Leadership Dialogue and the launch of the Agentic AI Skilling Initiative mark an important step towards strengthening Government–academia–industry collaboration and building an education and skilling ecosystem that is responsive to the rapid evolution of Artificial Intelligence.

Through this collaboration, NIELIT and Intel India aim to expand access to industry-aligned, practical and future-ready Agentic AI learning, particularly for learners and institutions across the country, and contribute towards building a skilled workforce capable of participating in and driving India’s next phase of AI-led growth.

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Vinod Kumar / Kanishk Sharma