Dr. Santanu Paul, Founding CEO & Managing Director of TalentSprint, envisions a future where educational gaps are bridged and technological talent flourishes globally. Founded 15 years ago, TalentSprint has evolved from offering coding bootcamps for fresh graduates to providing comprehensive upskilling programs for seasoned professionals. As India grapples with rapid technological advancements and a shifting job market, Dr. Paul's insights shed light on the challenges and opportunities in tech education, workforce development, and emerging industries like semiconductors. His perspective offers a unique glimpse into how companies like TalentSprint are shaping the future of work and learning in an increasingly digital world.

Tell me about your vision and the inspiration behind TalentSprint.

We started 15 years ago. The vision at that point was to create a learning platform that would help young people graduating from college become ready for the tech industry.

TalentSprint helped students from less prestigious colleges become fully trained professionals that the tech industry wants to hire. This need still exists today.

We started coding bootcamps to help young people skill up and join the software industry, even though they may not have come from the most ideal educational backgrounds. These coding bootcamps were highly successful and over time, our coding bootcamps became global. Today, we operate across India and the US, collaborating with major global corporations like Google and Pegasystems.

Later, we added the whole upskilling program for the existing workforce, and not just people entering the workforce. We are pioneers in deep tech executive education wherein the vision is to help people who are in the industry and can improve by adopting new technologies. With AI, machine learning, and data-science led shifts today, people who were originally programmers, software engineers, architects, and product managers are upskilling to these new roles that are available today, which is a part of our story.

Whether it’s an 18 to 20 year old student graduating from college, or a 30-40 year individual trying to redefine themselves professionally, TalentSprint bridges skills for both groups. That's our vision and I think we've had enormous success in both of those areas.

How do you perceive India's approach towards addressing the skills gap among recent graduates from engineering colleges, particularly in light of the industry's ongoing complaints about their readiness for the workforce, especially in emerging fields like AI?

Despite the growing demand for these technologies, there seems to be more discussion than action. What are your thoughts on India's efforts to seize this opportunity and provide adequate training in these areas?

The gap is widening largely because industry requirements are not static. They change year after year with each wave of technology that transforms the industry. With the new emerging technologies of today, industry expectations are rising.

The academic system has not adapted anywhere near as fast. I always say, ‘Don't worry about what's being taught; worry about how it will be taught.’ That is what makes the difference. For example, the curriculum at MIT and Harvard is the same as the curriculum of any local engineering college in India, say in computer science technology, or electrical engineering. Why is the outcome different? The whole idea of technical learning is problem-solving. You must solve complex problems to become an expert. Therefore, academic systems need to upgrade to a more problem-solving-oriented, experiential learning-oriented curriculum.

Just as all large companies have their training institutions, TalentSprint provides a person from a medium-to-smaller technology company with its internal training solutions. That's the role we play in the ecosystem.

Ten years ago, getting a job as a software test engineer was very attractive and it paid well. But today, those jobs are gone because testing has been automated. The problem is no longer a skill gap alone. It's also unemployment but unemployability in India. Alongside employment, India and the US economy is growing without creating jobs. This shift raises deeper questions beyond mere training. It's a fundamental issue in labor economics concerning the future of work.

So it's more or less a policy issue also. And so many different players are going to be involved in solving this problem?

Yes, it extends beyond policy considerations. The crux of the matter lies in the inevitable trend of automation within industries. This trend is driven by the pursuit of profitability, making it unavoidable. Car manufacturers, software companies, and various other sectors are increasingly adopting automation. For instance, over the past two years, major IT services firms in India, which historically have been significant recruiters, have reduced their hiring numbers. While they used to hire 100,000 individuals previously, they now hire only 20,000. This shift highlights a clear challenge within the employment landscape.

The emergence of automation and AI is driving a notable shift, leading policymakers to explore solutions like universal basic income. Additionally, discussions encompass India's subsidies and food security initiatives within the broader context of job creation. On a positive note, there are promising developments, especially in the semiconductor sector. India's successful execution of large-scale projects like Aadhaar and UPI has demonstrated its capabilities and led to widespread adoption.

Now, there's a concerted effort to prioritize semiconductor manufacturing as a strategic initiative for the next decade or more. Despite India's current limited presence in the global semiconductor market, there's potential for substantial growth, with aspirations to capture a 10% market share by 2030.

What are the positive indicators currently observed in the semiconductor industry, and what trajectory do you foresee given the capital-intensive nature of the sector and India's perceived lagging behind leading players like Taiwan?

Additionally, considering India's potential as a destination for industries relocating from China, what strategies do you believe could enhance India's competitiveness in attracting semiconductor manufacturing investments?

India's economic landscape is marked by high import bills, particularly for oil and electronics. The exponential rise in smartphone usage over the past two decades has propelled India into a massive consumer market for electronic goods, notably mobile phones. Consequently, the country grapples with substantial import bills, primarily semiconductors, memory chips, CPU chips, and other essential components required for electronics assembly.

Addressing this, India is strategically positioning itself to bolster its semiconductor industry, historically lagging behind global counterparts like Taiwan, China, Korea, and Japan. Traditionally, focused on software development due to its capital-intensive nature, India now recognizes the urgent need to curb its import dependency and encourage indigenous production.

The India Semiconductor Mission emerges as a pivotal initiative aimed at incentivizing large companies to establish semiconductor manufacturing facilities within the country. Major players such as Vedanta, Foxconn, Micron, and indigenous giants like the Tata Group have announced substantial manufacturing ventures, indicating a shift towards self-reliance in semiconductor production.

However, it may take over a decade or more. Nevertheless, the Indian government's proactive stance in incentivizing domestic semiconductor manufacturing underscores its commitment to reducing import reliance and nurturing strategic industries with immense growth potential.

The semiconductor industry is a trillion-dollar market. By actively participating in this industry, India not only aims to meet its domestic consumption demands but also positions itself to capitalize on global market opportunities.

The semiconductor mission holds promise not only in terms of economic self-sufficiency but also as a catalyst for job creation and technological advancement. As the industry expands, it is expected to generate employment across various segments such as VLSI design, sensor technology, nanoelectronics, chip manufacturing, and beyond.

The semiconductor mission holds the potential to transform India into a formidable player in the global semiconductor landscape, catering not only to domestic needs but also contributing significantly to the global market.

What are the main obstacles that you see India facing?

So, I think from a policy perspective, finally we have some clarity, but we have a lot of red tape. Also, India’s reputation for doing business is not great. We are 63 out of 190 countries according to World Bank’s ease of doing business project. These are very long-term projects. When Governments at state and central levels change, there is the likelihood of policies changing.

For many large companies putting up plants in India, it is not an easy task to decide to invest billions of dollars in India's capital expenditure. These projects take time and a lot of people to come together, and they need stability of the investment for outcomes to happen.

Meanwhile, on the supply side, the training and education systems are nowhere near equipped to provide the kind of talent required for this industry.

So, you think that the university system should also be part of this thing because, when we talk about mission, we mainly focus solely on the business aspect. But whenever the general perception is that we already have that kind of talent, as you are saying, we still must do a lot of work in that area. So, if the university system is not made a part of that ecosystem, then it must be something, some sort of institute.

I think you're right, there must be some more purposeful initiatives. The good news is that India has been actively promoting computer science and electronics as B.Tech programs. And these are the two biggest streams today. And these have been around for the last 30 to 40 years because the software industry developed so quickly. Coincidentally, all electronic students also wanted to work in software jobs for the last 20 to 30 years.

India already has enough electronics students graduating in very large numbers. When we announced the WISH (Women in Silicon Hardware) program and opened the first cohort with 50 seats because it was a pilot cohort, there were over 11,000 applications from electronics engineers from third-year women students. So, if 11,000 women engineers with electronics degrees are applying for jobs, it tells you how much pent-up demand is there for such jobs. Therefore, I would not say the problem is that we don't have the seats, we have the seats, but we don't have the training because those electronics student graduates are not trained enough. That's why we need programs like WISH to upskill them to the point where they become relevant for the industry. So, the good news is that supply exists; the bad news is that it has to be truly upskilled. And that's where the opportunity lies.

So, could you just elaborate a little bit more on this program (WISH)?

TalentSprint has been working closely with Google globally for almost five years. And the first program we launched with Google in 2019 was called Women Engineers (WE). The vision was that we could create a program and offer it to capable and deserving first-year women engineering students in tier 2 and 3 colleges located in tier 2 cities or towns, who can be trained by TalentSprint to match global standards, so that when they finish their degree, they can get an opportunity to work with Google globally or they can go to work for other big tech companies.

So, in other words, we are looking at a way to take women engineers from non-IIT, non-privileged colleges and put them on par with IITians and even above IITians in some cases within two years of training through TalentSprint. And that program is highly successful today. And in the WE program for women engineers, we have so far enrolled around 1000 students across the country, across five cohorts till last year.

This year too, we have opened 200 seats and received over 30,000 applications to join the WE program. So, we thought ‘Can we have a similar program, not for the software industry but for the hardware industry?’ That is why we came up with ‘Women in Silicon Hardware (WISH), a sister program of WE which has recently started its sixth cohort. The idea of WISH is that we can take young electronics women engineers coming out of these second-tier towns again and put them in a similar program that will lead them to get absorbed by Google or companies such as those that are doing major hardware investments in India like AMD, Intel, or NVIDIA and so forth.

Again, the idea is to bring capable women students together for a hardware program, not from the best tier 1 engineering institutes but second-tier colleges. You create access for women, promote gender equality, and create socio-economic equality because you're bringing people into a program that can get you out of your circumstances. Surprisingly, 35–40% of the students that we have been taking in also come from families whose parents have not gone to college. So, these are first-generation college students. Imagine that they come from a certain socio-economic background! So, getting a job in this sector with such high-end companies as Google and so forth is not only a huge aspiration for them but also a huge economic jump for the families.

So that is the vision, and Google is working on this inclusion program in India, but we are also working with them in the US. Similarly, another program that we have today with Google in the US is TechWise, which is aimed at underserved communities such as African American, Latino, and Hispanic college students who are being prepared for Silicon Valley. So those are the examples, but WISH is specifically in India for young women engineers, in the hardware industry.

So you have partnered with colleges mainly in these programs?

In these programs, we don't partner with the colleges. For example, we just announced the WISH program nationally and any third-year female engineering students in electronics can apply. This year, we got 11,000 applications for 50 seats. The selection test has multiple parts; they get selected and learn online. They can be from any college across the country.

What factors should India consider when deciding where to focus its technological efforts among emerging fields like AI, IoT, and quantum computing, especially given the recent shift towards hardware engineering?

How might this focus impact India's position in the global tech landscape, and what strategies should be adopted to ensure success in this chosen area of emphasis?

The software industry's pivot towards AI isn't merely a choice; it's a necessity to stay relevant in the global IT landscape. Like transitioning from horse carriages to automobiles, embracing AI is essential to avoid being left behind on the technological highway. Even in the hardware realm, there is a compelling case for India to re-enter the hardware arena, driven by both national and global factors.

While China has dominated global hardware manufacturing, recent economic challenges and political uncertainties have raised concerns among Western companies. The shift in focus from China to smaller countries like Vietnam and Cambodia underscores the need for alternative manufacturing hubs. India, with its vast population and emerging market, presents a viable option. As Western companies seek more reliable production bases, India stands to capitalize on this opportunity by reviving its hardware industry and positioning itself as a preferred manufacturing destination.

What is the essence of design thinking, and how does it differ from traditional problem-solving approaches?

Design thinking was invented as a subject to help different professions apply creative and out-of-the-box thinking abilities to their domains.

If you can apply design thinking as a way of doing work itself, you will be able to look at problems from the perspective of consumers. For example, insurance companies could easily produce insurance without understanding how people think about insurance. I think there is a way of taking those non-design professions and giving them a more consumer-oriented, more aesthetic-oriented kind of view. Here design thinking is more of a management design problem than a technical design, though.

In this budget, the finance minister has said that a lot of funds will be provided for R&D. And so how do you think this thing is going to impact the entire ecosystem?

I think at a very high macro level, it's highly welcome because if you have to become a nation of innovation, maybe come up with new patents, new designs, new products, new molecules, new drugs—we need to have more money going into research.

If you look at the amount of global R&D money that is in the US market compared to the US GDP, it's much higher than that of India, which has the lowest spending on R&D, but it's in the world of developing countries, even compared to China.

I think it's high time that we started looking at R&D as a major investment thrust for India. And while we have seen a mixed record when it comes to implementation of some previous initiatives, maybe we can be more optimistic that some of these things will work. Whichever works will still be far better than where we are.

Now that you just spoke about the R&D situation in the US, how are university systems and industry coming together to develop some kind of IP? So when does this start happening in India? What are the major challenges that you see?

In the United States, research funding is robust and multifaceted, with significant investment from both the government and industry. Government agencies like the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health allocate substantial budgets to support research across academia and industry. This structured system has been in place for several decades, contributing to the country's remarkable track record in scientific achievements, including numerous Nobel Prize winners.

Industry in the US actively engages with academic institutions to drive innovation. Companies like General Motors, Apple, and Microsoft collaborate with universities to explore new ideas and develop cutting-edge technologies. This synergy between industry and academia fuels innovation and contributes to the country's success in research and development.

In contrast, India's research landscape faces different challenges. However, there is a growing recognition of the need to cultivate an innovative culture and create indigenous products. As India gradually shifts its focus towards innovation, collaborations between industry and academia are expected to increase. While progress may take time, India is on a trajectory towards building a more vibrant research ecosystem, akin to what the US achieved several decades ago.

TalentSprint in the short term you know five years from now? What are the areas that you want to focus on?

TalentSprint is an Edtech company whose primary mission has been and will continue to be upskilling people who are entering the workforce, or are already in the workforce. People between the ages of 18 and 45 are the target population for us in the knowledge sector, where they're working in technology, consulting, banking, and financial services. I think in five years, a global company with a global footprint will offer upskilling across the world.

We see employability as a global problem. We see diversity and inclusion, like including women and minorities, as a global problem. And they exist in every society. So, our view is that the template we have developed in India is a global template.

We can use it in any situation, but we must localize ourselves in those geographies as we go to make this happen. Of course, as a digital company, it's easier to set up rather than a physical presence everywhere. We just try to do this as much digitally as possible as we go.