Rahul Attuluri, Co-founder and CEO of NxtWave and NIAT, who was invited to the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting of the New Champions or Summer Davos on June 25, 2025 in Tianjin, China, e spoke on how agentic AI is disrupting the entry-level roles and how this disruption into meaningful career opportunities for the next generation.
Attuluri spoke in the session titled “Career Pathways: Rewired”. During the session, he remarked, “We are living in uncertain times. India has a 60% young population, which is a double-edged sword. When we nurture this talent, it’s a blessing for the country—but if left unaddressed, it becomes a great challenge.”
He noted that during any technological disruption, the impact often follows a J-curve. “In the short term, things look gloomy. We are already witnessing significant layoffs and hiring freezes. Entry-level roles like customer support are disappearing as companies optimise operations and adopt AI,” he added.
However, Rahul emphasised that these are short-term disruptions. “Three to five years down the line, there will be a global shortage of people skilled in AI. Generative AI will create exponential opportunities, and India must be ready,” he said.
“With agentic AI rapidly automating entry-level tasks, the traditional pathways to employment are being redefined. In the current age, industry and academy collaborations are essential, and skills should be prioritised along with traditional degrees, with a stronger focus on credentialing skills,” added Rahul.
Emphasising the role of AI in education, he said, “Students should learn AI using AI, and companies must actively share the skillset they expect, so that learning can be aligned with real workforce needs.”
He highlighted that initiatives are being taken by both the Government of India and various State Governments to upskill new generations and make them career-ready in the AI age. He emphasised that efforts from the government, academia, and industry are converging to drive large-scale upskilling. In response, he urged the youth to actively develop new-age AI skills, human-centric skills, and interpersonal communication, and become AI-fluent to stay relevant and deliver real value to the industry.
Rahul further added, “Access to AI infrastructure is crucial to prevent a digital divide and ensure that AI tools are made available from the very beginning of the learning journey. Particularly, students can build new projects using no-code to low-code tools, and make use of AI agents in their learning and projects to deliver greater value to industry once they enter the workforce.”
