EducationAdmin11/8/2025
Bengaluru, 8th November 2025: The inaugural edition of Bengaluru Skill Summit 2025 successfully concluded after three days of engaging sessions, global participation, and impactful discussions. Themed “Workforce 2030: Scale, Systems, Synergy,” the summit brought together government leaders, corporate pioneers, academic experts, and international partners to deliberate on strategies for building a globally competitive and future-ready workforce.
The summit featured masterclasses, policy roundtables, and innovation showcases on themes such as Emerging Skills for AI, Green Jobs, and the Digital Economy, Skills for All: Empowering Women, Youth, and Informal Workers, Global Skills and International Mobility, and Innovation in Training, Assessment, and Workforce Systems. The event facilitated cross-border collaborations, knowledge sharing, and policy-level dialogue on emerging skill needs.
Day 2 Highlights
Keynote Address: Shri Ravi Venkatesan, Chairman, Global Energy Alliance and Former Chairman of Microsoft India & Bank of Baroda, spoke on “Shaping Karnataka’s Next Era Through Innovation.” He emphasized AI as a transformative force and stressed the importance of digital literacy, entrepreneurship, and human skills, calling for collaborations with industry leaders, academic institutions, and organizations like Google, Microsoft, and Infosys.
Ministers’ Panel: Dr. Sharanaprakash Rudrappa Patil, Minister for Skill Development, Entrepreneurship & Livelihood and Medical Education, Karnataka; Priyank Kharge, Minister for Rural Development & Panchayat Raj and Electronics, IT & BT, Karnataka; and Dr. M. C. Sudhakar, Minister for Higher Education, Karnataka, moderated by Madan Padaki, discussed “Convergence of Education, Skills & Industry for a Trillion USD Economy by 2032.”
Dr. Patil highlighted unemployment as a national challenge and emphasized restructuring curricula to embed skill development, collaborating with industry partners, and ensuring every trained youth finds meaningful employment.
Shri Priyank Kharge stressed bridging the global talent gap with Karnataka’s skilled youth, highlighting initiatives like the NIPUNA program and state investment of INR 5,000 crores for skilling over three million youth.
Dr. Sudhakar noted India’s expanding education and skill ecosystem and partnerships with Microsoft, HP, Kirloskar Group, Varma Foundation, and Azim Premji Foundation to establish Centers of Excellence for practical learning.
Skill Expo: Inaugurated on Day 2, the expo featured over 50 exhibitors showcasing innovations, global best practices, and scalable models for B2B, B2G, and G2G networking.
Skillathon: The innovation challenge concluded with winners Team Saksham (Jain University, Bengaluru), Team Eco Coders (Vidya Vardhaka College of Engineering, Mysore), and Team Skill Vault 360 (BMSIT, Bengaluru). The day ended with a Grand Visual Dance Drama Production by Shivapriya School of Dance, Bengaluru, and NANDA Performing Arts, Dubai.
Day 3 Highlights
The summit concluded with an address by Nagaraja N. M., IAS, Managing Director, Karnataka Skill Development Corporation, focusing on preparing youth for jobs that do not yet exist. Muhammad Reza Cassam Uteem, Minister of Labour and Industrial Relations, Government of Mauritius, highlighted the global talent-building objective.
Country Partner Session: German Missions in India discussed Global Opportunities: Pathways to Germany, emphasizing high-quality, low-cost education and employment opportunities for Indian students.
CSR Roundtable: Dr. E. V. Ramana Reddy, IAS (R), Chairman, Karnataka Skill Development Authority, emphasized the urgent need to transform India’s skilling landscape, citing that while countries like South Korea and Japan have over 80% formally skilled workers, India has less than 5%. Karnataka’s new Skill Development Policy and ITI investments aim to strengthen future-ready training.
Keynote Address: Subroto Bagchi, Co-Founder of Mindtree, highlighted skilling as both an economic and moral mission, stressing collaboration among government, industry, and society to make skill development aspirational and aligned with nation-building.
Awards: The Kaushalya Karnataka Awards recognized Corporate Excellence and Institutional Excellence, presented by Dr. Sharanaprakash Rudrappa Patil, Smt. Shivakantamma (Kanta) Naik, and Vandita Sharma.
Announcement: Dr. Sharanaprakash Rudrappa Patil announced the second edition of Bengaluru Skill Summit, scheduled from 3rd to 5th November 2026. The event was successfully managed by Trescon.