SUNIL SIROHI
VP - NIIT

New age technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), Data Science and robotic process automation (RPA) are changing the way work is going to happen. Coming to more hardcore technologies, there’s a strong move towards Self-Driving Network (SDN2). Similar to a self-driving car, SDN2 is the next frontier — an autonomous network that is predictive and adaptive to its environment.  It simultaneously increases economies of scale and efficiencies, while decreasing operating costs and delivering an optimized and customized quality of experience inexpensively to the end-user. In this changing scenario the current way of work will make a dramatic shift, with the adoption of these mentioned technologies, hence the current workforce with current skills will not serve the purpose any longer. With future of work changing, it is better to #BeFutureReady. 

In the new digital era human potential and technology adaptation can be a perfect recipe for growth. Technology advances create opportunities of job transformation. If machines take over the mundane tasks of running a network, what is the human role? There is a misplaced fear of job reduction due technology adoption, however one needs to know that technology enables more jobs than it eliminates. A Gartner report on Artificial Intelligence suggests that there is a potential of net increase of jobs to over two million by 2025. That includes not just software engineers but a variety of positions that will train Artificial Intelligence systems to recognize objects, human activity, among others. While Digital Transformation is one of the important agenda of each enterprise, upskilling, cross skilling and reskilling of workforce is the key focus area for L&D leaders. For example - RPA is helping in process automation of standard tasks and releasing people time for better and complex jobs thus providing an opportunity to upskill. The workforce that is employed for todays work, will need reskilling to take up new roles in an organization.

One of the big job / role shifts, in history happened during the industrial revolution, today we are at a cusp of similar job/role shift due to the new age technologies. As per a report of McKinsey Global Institute, by 2030, as many as 375 million workers—or roughly 14 percent of the global workforce—may need to switch occupational categories as digitization, automation, and advances in artificial intelligence disrupt the world of work. An estimated 40% of IT professionals in India must upskill to nurture the country’s digital reality. With Artificial Intelligence expecting to add $957 billion to India’s GDP by 2035, we will face a demand-supply gap of more than 200,000 data science, analytics, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and robotics professionals by 2020. Learning and Development (L&D) Leaders have an interesting challenge to skill people for future work environment. The staff members have a key challenge of keeping themselves employable. Each person who wishes to be employed, must “learn what matters” and align his/her skillset to what the future workplace demands. 

One should select the right institute and right course that makes one future ready.
#BeFutureReady.