The Impressive TimesNew Delhi, September 3, 2026; The National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT), under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), in collaboration with Intel India, organised a National Leadership Dialogue on “Preparing the Future Workforce for the Agentic AI Era” at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi.
The dialogue brought together senior representatives from the Government, foreign embassies, academia, industry and the skilling ecosystem to discuss the rapidly evolving Artificial Intelligence landscape and its impact on education, employment and workforce development in India.
The programme was attended by Shashi Shekhar Vempati, Chairperson, Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), as the Chief Guest, along with Dr. Madan Mohan Tripathi, Director General, NIELIT; Sudeep Shrivastava, COO, IndiaAI Mission and Joint Secretary, MeitY; Mr. Anshul Sonak, Head & Global Director, Intel; and other senior dignitaries.
The discussions focused on the opportunities and challenges emerging from Agentic AI and the need to strengthen workforce preparedness for an increasingly AI-driven economy. Key areas included emerging skill requirements, industry-aligned curricula, experiential learning, faculty readiness, AI-enabled learning environments and stronger Government–academia–industry collaboration.
As Artificial Intelligence evolves from predictive and generative systems towards Agentic AI, capable of reasoning, planning and executing complex tasks under human oversight, workforce requirements are also changing. The dialogue highlighted the importance of equipping students, educators and professionals with technical expertise, adaptability and human-centric skills to work effectively alongside advanced AI systems.
Speaking on the occasion, Shashi Shekhar Vempati emphasised the importance of preparing India’s workforce for the rapidly changing Agentic AI era. He stressed that skills, employability and continuous learning will remain crucial as technology transforms the nature of work.
He congratulated NIELIT and Intel India for their initiative to democratise access to Agentic AI and called for long-term skilling pathways combining foundational and emerging technologies with practical exposure, industry case studies and real-world datasets.
Dr. Madan Mohan Tripathi, Director General, NIELIT, said the rapid development of AI was creating both new opportunities and new requirements for India’s education and skilling ecosystem. He highlighted NIELIT’s commitment to equipping learners and educators with capabilities in emerging technologies and taking Agentic AI learning closer to institutions and students across the country.
Sudeep Shrivastava, COO, IndiaAI Mission and Joint Secretary, MeitY, highlighted the Government’s vision of building a strong and inclusive AI ecosystem and developing a robust AI talent pipeline. He emphasised the importance of industry-led training, AI-focused educational programmes, AI Data Labs and stronger industry–academia partnerships to provide hands-on exposure to emerging technologies.
Ms. Shweta Khurana, Sr. Director, Asia Pacific & Japan, International Government Affairs, Intel, said the evolution of AI towards agentic systems and physical intelligence would significantly reshape education, jobs and industries. She stressed that human readiness, adaptability and sound judgement would be critical for effectively collaborating with increasingly capable AI systems.
A key outcome of the event was the launch of the NIELIT–Intel India Agentic AI Skilling Initiative, aimed at expanding access to industry-aligned and practical Agentic AI learning opportunities across the country.
The initiative introduces two programmes:
Agentic AI for Everyone: This programme provides learners with an introduction to workflow automation, AI agents and multi-agent systems. It focuses on productivity, business transformation and intelligent decision-making while offering hands-on exposure to AI-powered workflows and agentic systems through no-code platforms.
Engineering Agentic AI Systems: The programme focuses on designing, developing and deploying AI-powered agentic systems. Learners will receive practical exposure to no-code, low-code and code-based frameworks, covering agent architecture, tool integration, orchestration, memory and deployment for building scalable and production-ready solutions.
The National Leadership Dialogue and the launch of the skilling initiative mark a significant step towards strengthening collaboration among Government, academia and industry. The partnership between NIELIT and Intel India aims to expand access to practical, industry-aligned Agentic AI education and contribute to building a future-ready workforce capable of driving India’s next phase of AI-led growth.
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