Building India’s Future-Ready Workforce
By Dipak Kurmi
When the United States under President Donald Trump imposed a steep 50 per cent tariff on imports, policymakers in New Delhi were faced with the challenge of shielding Indian industry from the tremors of protectionism. The Modi government took urgent measures to minimise the impact, ranging from recalibrating trade strategies to supporting domestic industries. Yet, even as these immediate steps cushioned the shock, the episode underlined a larger truth: India’s long-term resilience cannot rest on reactive measures to external shocks but on a sustained inward transformation. The most promising pathway lies in the philosophy of “Vocal for Local” and the larger vision of “Atmanirbhar Bharat.”
This philosophy is not a retreat into protectionism, nor a nostalgic call to return to insular markets. Instead, it is about positioning Indian enterprises to compete with the best in the world by building from within—creating products, technologies, and platforms in India, by Indians, but for global markets. The approach safeguards India’s industrial landscape, reduces dependence on external vulnerabilities, and simultaneously prepares the country to step confidently into the future. And that future, increasingly, is being shaped by Industry 5.0.
From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0: The Evolution of Industrial Thought
Industry 4.0, a term coined in the early 2010s, marked the beginning of large-scale digital transformation. Smart factories integrated automation, robotics, data analytics, and the Internet of Things to drive efficiency. Machines communicated with one another, supply chains became increasingly automated, and human labour was reorganised around optimised, digital systems.
While transformative, Industry 4.0 also exposed its limitations. Its central narrative was about replacing human input with machine efficiency. Productivity increased, but concerns grew around job displacement, loss of human creativity, and widening inequality. The COVID-19 pandemic only sharpened these concerns, revealing the fragility of global supply chains and reminding the world that resilience cannot come from machines alone.
Industry 5.0 emerges as a response to these limitations. Rather than positioning technology as a replacement, it envisions technology as a partner—placing humans back at the centre of the industrial ecosystem. Its goal is not simply optimisation but harmony: collaboration between human creativity and machine intelligence. In this vision, artificial intelligence, robotics, digital twins, and advanced data systems augment human ingenuity rather than supplant it. The emphasis shifts from productivity alone to resilience, sustainability, inclusion, and well-being. It is a philosophy that re-humanises industrial development while leveraging the frontier of technology.
Why India’s Transformation Hinges on Industry 5.0
For India, embracing Industry 5.0 is not a matter of choice but of necessity. The ambition of building a “Viksit Bharat” by 2047 rests on creating an economy that is globally competitive, technologically advanced, and deeply inclusive. India’s demographic dividend—its large pool of young, skilled talent—will be wasted if the workforce is not prepared for the human-machine partnerships that Industry 5.0 demands.
To succeed in this transition, India’s industries cannot rely merely on scale or cost competitiveness. They must innovate continuously, create world-class products, and achieve best-in-class quality at affordable prices. This demands an ecosystem in which innovation and design are driven domestically, by Indian engineers, scientists, and entrepreneurs, with global aspirations in mind. India must position itself not just as a global factory but as a global hub of brainpower, creativity, and problem-solving.
The “Vocal for Local” philosophy thus acquires new depth in the context of Industry 5.0. It is not about rejecting globalisation but about ensuring that Indian products—born of local innovation—can stand tall in international markets. Only then can India move towards true self-reliance while also shaping global technological and industrial trends.
The Workforce Challenge
The shift from Industry 4.0 to 5.0 requires a radical rethink of workforce preparation. The previous wave demanded digital literacy and familiarity with automation; the new wave demands far more nuanced capabilities. Workers must be proficient in frontier technologies—artificial intelligence, robotics, data analytics, cybersecurity, and the Internet of Things—but they must also excel in distinctly human competencies. Creativity, emotional intelligence, adaptability, and ethical reasoning are indispensable.
It is this unique blend—technical mastery and human-centric skills—that will enable workers to thrive in an environment where intelligent machines are collaborators. Industry 5.0 imagines factories where AI analyses data patterns, robots perform precision tasks, and digital twins simulate outcomes, while human designers and managers bring empathy, ethics, and creativity into decision-making. A workforce that lacks either half of this equation will falter.
This challenge cannot be left to individuals alone. It requires a systemic transformation of education, training, and industrial policy. Governments, educational institutions, and industries must work together in unprecedented collaboration. Curricula must become interdisciplinary, merging engineering with social sciences, computer science with philosophy, robotics with psychology. Lifelong learning must be institutionalised, allowing workers to continually upgrade their skills in response to technological evolution.
India’s Roadmap: The Need for Strategy
If India is to lead rather than follow in Industry 5.0, a clear national roadmap is essential. Such a roadmap must identify potential skill gaps, define sectoral priorities, and establish policies that encourage innovation. It should not only prepare the youth for future jobs but also guide industries towards sustainable and human-centric growth.
Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities will play a decisive role in this transformation. These regions, often overlooked in earlier waves of industrialisation, are rich in skilled youth, traditional industries, and grassroots innovations. They have the potential to become new hubs of growth, driving inclusive development. By strengthening innovation clusters across these geographies, India can avoid the over-concentration of opportunities in metros and build a more balanced industrial map.
AICTE’s Role in Shaping the Future
The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has recognised the urgency of preparing the next generation for Industry 5.0. Several initiatives mark this forward-looking approach. Declaring 2025 as the “Year of AI” is a bold step, aimed at integrating artificial intelligence into curricula and preparing over 40 million students for a future where human-machine collaboration will define work.
Complementary efforts such as the QIP-PG Certification and ATAL Faculty Development Programmes equip educators with expertise in emerging technologies like robotics, smart manufacturing, and AI. By training teachers, AICTE ensures a cascading effect, enabling them to prepare students for future-ready roles.
The push does not stop with technical knowledge. Through hackathons, the Institution’s Innovation Councils (IICs), the KAPILA Startup Policy, Productisation Fellowships, and Industrial Fellowships, AICTE is actively promoting entrepreneurship and innovation. These initiatives encourage students to move beyond conventional employment aspirations and instead develop technology-driven solutions that address real-world challenges. In doing so, the AICTE is fostering a generation of innovators who can build, scale, and globalise Indian ideas.
Global Momentum and India’s Opportunity
Globally, Industry 5.0 remains in its early adoption stage. Though not yet mainstream, it is gaining momentum, with analysts predicting widespread adoption by 2030. The pace will vary across countries and industries, depending on policy readiness, technological infrastructure, and workforce skills.
For India, this timeline is both a challenge and an opportunity. It provides a narrow but crucial window to prepare a workforce that can lead rather than follow. If India builds an Industry 5.0-ready workforce in the next five years, it could become a global leader in shaping industrial norms, standards, and innovations. This would not only strengthen domestic industries but also establish India as a partner of choice in global supply chains, even in a fragmented and protectionist world.
Education, Ethics, and Human-Centric Development
One of the most profound shifts Industry 5.0 demands is an emphasis on ethics, sustainability, and human well-being. Advanced technologies such as AI and robotics bring immense potential but also risks—bias in algorithms, surveillance concerns, data privacy issues, and job polarisation. To navigate these, workers must not only be technologically skilled but also ethically grounded.
Educational institutions must therefore integrate ethics and social responsibility into technical curricula. Engineers must understand the social impact of their designs; coders must be aware of algorithmic fairness; managers must be trained to prioritise human well-being alongside profits. Such integration ensures that India’s Industry 5.0 story does not become another tale of disruption and displacement but a model of inclusive and responsible growth.
Building a Culture of Innovation
At the heart of Industry 5.0 is innovation. For India to become a global hub, it must foster a culture that values experimentation, risk-taking, and problem-solving. This requires strong intellectual property frameworks, access to capital for startups, industry-academia collaboration, and government support for research and development.
The Modi government’s initiatives under Atmanirbhar Bharat, such as production-linked incentives and startup incubators, provide a foundation. But these must be scaled and diversified. Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, with their grassroots innovation potential, must be integrated into the national innovation network. Large corporates must mentor and partner with startups, while universities must function as research engines that power industries.
A Future-Ready India
By 2030, when Industry 5.0 is expected to become mainstream globally, India’s success will be judged by whether it has managed to reorient its workforce, its industries, and its innovation systems towards human-centric, technology-driven development. If successful, India will not merely withstand external shocks like tariffs but thrive as a global industrial leader. It will move from being a participant in global supply chains to shaping them.
The journey from “Vocal for Local” to “Atmanirbhar Bharat” to “Industry 5.0” is not linear but interconnected. Each step reinforces the other. Local innovation feeds national self-reliance; self-reliance creates global competitiveness; global competitiveness cements India’s place in the Industry 5.0 revolution.
India today stands at a historic inflection point. The external shocks of protectionism remind us that the global order is uncertain. Yet, within this uncertainty lies an opportunity: to build from within, to innovate for the world, and to shape the industrial future. Industry 5.0 offers a framework that aligns perfectly with India’s aspirations—leveraging technology, celebrating human creativity, and ensuring inclusive growth.
But this transformation hinges on one decisive factor: the readiness of India’s workforce. Governments, industries, and educational institutions must act now to prepare young Indians for a world where machines are not rivals but collaborators. If we succeed, India can truly lead the world into a future where growth is not only faster but also fairer, more sustainable, and deeply human.
In doing so, the vision of “Viksit Bharat 2047” will not remain a slogan but become a lived reality—an India that is not only self-reliant but also globally admired as a hub of innovation, resilience, and human-centric industrial leadership.
(the writer can be reached at dipakkurmiglpltd@gmail.com)
