Driving Economic Growth in Emerging Economies: An Interview with Dr Ajay Kela

The Wadhwani Foundation’s mission to accelerate job growth in emerging economies is making a significant impact on millions of lives. Dr. Ajay Kela, CEO of the Wadhwani Foundation, shares insights into their initiatives, success stories, and the innovative approaches that are driving sustainable economic empowerment.

1. Creating Jobs, Changing Lives

Can you elaborate on how the Wadhwani Foundation’s mission to accelerate job growth in emerging economies is shaping the future for millions? What are some success stories that highlight the impact of your initiatives?

The Wadhwani Foundation’s mission to accelerate job growth in emerging economies focuses on transforming lives through sustainable economic empowerment. By bridging the gap between traditional education and future workforce skills, we provide individuals with tools for meaningful employment and career advancement, generating new jobs across the ecosystem.

One flagship initiative is the Wadhwani Skilling program, which has empowered over 3 million high school learners and more than 3 million adult job seekers across 15 countries. In India, our programs are freely accessible on platforms like Skill India Digital, Bharat Skills, NASSCOM Foundation, SwayamPlus, and state portals like Naan Mudhalvan. This initiative focuses on essential job skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and adaptability.

Our approach includes both Skilling and Entrepreneurship. Through the Wadhwani Skilling initiative, we aim to upskill and place 10 million people in family-wage jobs globally by 2030, using high-quality training programs, an AI-powered global skilling platform called GenieAI, and partnerships with governments, educational institutions, and employers.

The Wadhwani Entrepreneurship Initiative supports entrepreneurs with the goal of generating 1 million new jobs by 2030. In the past five years, we have helped over 5,000 businesses scale and educated over 150,000 students in entrepreneurship. Through a range of programs, including Ignite (for inspiring youth to consider entrepreneurship as a career choice), Liftoff (to help existing entrepreneurs navigate complexities and meet their funding goals), and Accelerate (to help small and medium businesses achieve accelerated growth), we enable job creation, as every time a new business takes wings, at least 5-10 new jobs are created.

Additionally, through collaboration with academic institutes like IITs, C-Camp, and government bodies like AICTE, the Foundation empowers researchers to commercialize their innovations and thereby drive real-world impact. With over 100 projects funded, resulting in 10 commercial spinoffs, the Wadhwani Research Centre for Bioengineering at IITB has been a pioneer in this space. Now, with the Wadhwani Innovation Network, we plan to scale the impact manifold with a focus on areas such as AI, Bioengineering, Healthtech, Synthetic Biology, Semiconductor Technology, SpaceTech, and Quantum Computing.

Our government digital transformation initiative, operating at the convergence of technology and governance, trains thousands of Indian officials annually on emerging technologies like cybersecurity, GenAI, drones, and blockchain in partnership with iGOT.

To maintain focus, the Foundation takes no external funding and offers all services to partners and beneficiaries at no charge. Our innovative and sustainable solutions have empowered millions, bridging the employability gap, fostering technological innovation, and transforming governments. We are confident that our continued efforts will create sustainable livelihoods and drive economic development in emerging economies, investing in a brighter future for all.

2. Entrepreneurship

What unique challenges do aspiring entrepreneurs in emerging economies face, and how does the Wadhwani Foundation’s customized interventions help them not just start but also survive and thrive in their ventures?

Aspiring entrepreneurs in emerging economies face unique challenges that often hinder their ability to start, sustain, and grow their ventures. These challenges include limited access to capital, lack of infrastructure and resources, regulatory hurdles, skill gaps, and market access challenges.

With entrepreneurship in our DNA, we understand these challenges well and have developed customized interventions to address them, not just helping entrepreneurs start their ventures, but also ensuring they have the resources and support to survive and thrive in the long run. Over the last five years, we have supported over 5000 businesses across different stages of their journey. We facilitate access to funding through partnerships with microfinance institutions, impact investors, and other financial organizations. We also offer training on financial management and investment readiness to help entrepreneurs secure funding. Additionally, we connect entrepreneurs with experienced mentors and industry experts who provide guidance, support, and access to networks. This helps entrepreneurs navigate challenges, gain valuable insights, and build relationships with potential partners and customers.

We offer comprehensive training programs on various aspects of business management, including financial planning, marketing, operations, and legal compliance. This equips entrepreneurs with the skills they need to make informed decisions and run their businesses effectively. We also help entrepreneurs identify and access new markets, develop distribution channels, and build brand awareness. This includes providing training on market research, product development, and marketing strategies.

By addressing the unique challenges faced by entrepreneurs in emerging economies through these customized interventions, we aim to help entrepreneurs not just navigate the ecosystem but grow and thrive.

3. Skilling

With the rapid evolution of job markets, what new-age employability skills are critical for job seekers today? How does the Wadhwani Foundation equip individuals with these skills to ensure they secure family-wage jobs?

The future workforce demands a blend of technical and soft skills. While technical skills can be acquired through traditional education or short-term courses, our research shows a significant gap in employability skills like critical thinking, problem-solving, adaptability, and customer-centricity. These soft skills are crucial for new hires to be immediately effective. Our end-to-end skilling solution addresses this gap by providing employability skills, while our partners (academia, employers, etc.) focus on technical skills, ensuring young people are job-ready.

Our flagship Skilling program empowers job seekers with a comprehensive curriculum covering both technical and soft skills. Central to our program is the AI-powered GenieAI platform, which offers personalized learning experiences. Using GenAI, we provide interactive, adaptive learning tailored to individual needs, equipping learners for today’s dynamic job market. The platform includes interactive content, learner analytics, and a blend of GenAI and human support services to maximize the potential for securing family-wage jobs.

Our collaborative approach involves partnering with academia, employers, skilling organizations, and governments to deliver a holistic training experience. By working with industry experts, we ensure our curriculum is up-to-date and relevant, providing learners with the skills employers seek.

We emphasize outcomes and impact in our programs. Robust assessments ensure genuine skill acquisition, leading to successful job placements. We measure success by tracking job placements, career progression, and overall impact on participants’ lives, ensuring our efforts lead to tangible outcomes and sustainable economic empowerment. We monitor learners’ progress from course completion to job placement and beyond.

We believe that by equipping individuals with the right skills and support, we can help them achieve their full potential and contribute to their communities’ economic growth. By focusing on outcomes, we continuously improve our programs to deliver the most value to our learners and the communities we serve.

4. Innovation & Research

In the domains of AI, biotech, and advanced computing, what groundbreaking innovations has the Wadhwani Foundation supported? Can you share examples of how academic research has successfully transitioned to commercialization under your programs?

Wadhwani Foundation is deeply committed to fostering groundbreaking innovation in AI, biotech, and advanced computing. We believe that supporting academic research and facilitating its transition to commercialization is crucial for driving economic growth and societal impact.

Our Wadhwani Innovation Network (WIN) initiative focuses on nurturing research and development in emerging technologies by partnering with top academic institutions in India and other countries. Through our initiative, we are expanding our support to multiple top-tier institutions, fostering a vibrant ecosystem of innovation and entrepreneurship. We are also collaborating with the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to co-fund innovation across 100+ institutes across India that will scout for innovative ideas and support their transformation into products and startups. The WIN-COEs established in collaboration with AICTE and top institutes like IIT Delhi, IIT Kanpur, IIT Hyderabad, IISc Bangalore, and C-CAMP are pivotal in our mission.

These centers will receive substantial funding to support interdisciplinary projects, particularly in emerging technologies like AI, synthetic biology, quantum computing, and health tech. 

We’re building upon the remarkable success of the Wadhwani Research Centre for Bioengineering (WRCB) at IIT Bombay, which has funded hundreds of projects, leading to the commercialization of innovative bioengineering projects. This initiative has resulted in multiple product licenses to large organizations and 900+ publications and 80+ patents, showcasing the effective translation of research into real-world applications. ImmunoAct, Alograthmic Biologics, Convalesce, MetFlus, EffecMed, Clarity Bio are some of the companies that have emerged from here.

The Wadhwani Electronic Labs (WEL) at IIT Bombay is another prime example of our impact that nurtures cutting-edge research and innovation in electronics. Over the past two decades, WEL has become a hub for various electronics activities, with state-of-the-art facilities for projects and product development. We have reached over 400 colleges across India, benefiting over 2,500 teachers and students. In fact, more than 1,700 students use WEL each year for laboratory courses and projects.

Furthermore, with Romesh on the board of the newly announced National Research Foundation (NRF) or Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), we are very excited to partner with the government to drive the innovation agenda forward.

5. Government Digital Transformation

How is the Wadhwani Foundation working with governments to upskill them in emerging technologies? Can you discuss some of the population-scale projects and new-age policies that have been implemented as a result of these collaborations?

Wadhwani Foundation actively collaborates with the government of India to enhance their capabilities in emerging technologies. The Foundation upskills government officials with emerging technologies, enabling them to stay abreast of rapidly evolving technology ecosystems and make informed decisions for public good. Till date, over 300,000 officials have been upskilled through the iGOT platform and offline workshops. We have also seen 400+ ideas emerge with 15 ideas under incubation.

We are also partnering with the Government on driving its AI mission forward. A dedicated AI and Digital Transformation Team, led by a Chief AI and Digital Transformation Officer (CAIDO) is working closely with three Ministries – Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare, Ministry of Women and Child Development and Ministry of Education. By developing customized AI strategies and roadmaps, the team aims to tackle the challenges of digital transformation, optimizing government services, and prioritizing transparency when deploying AI, particularly where AI impacts public policy or citizen rights.

Our commitment to working with governments is unwavering, and we are excited about the potential of these collaborations to transform societies and economies.

Through our various initiatives, we remain committed to “Creating Jobs, Changing Lives” at scale.