The second edition of Bengaluru Skill Summit 2026, organised by the Department of Skill Development, Entrepreneurship and Livelihood, Government of Karnataka, hosted by the Karnataka Skill Development Corporation (KSDC), in association with the Karnataka Skill Development Authority (KSDA), and with the Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM) as Knowledge Partner, successfully concluded after three days of discussions, industry and academic engagements, and knowledge-sharing sessions.
The Summit recorded a total footfall of 9,500, bringing together government leaders, policymakers, industry representatives, academic experts, international stakeholders and youth to discuss future workforce requirements and employment opportunities. Japan was the Country Partner for the 2026 edition.
Themed ‘Workforce 2030: Scale, Systems, Synergy,’ the Summit explored strategies to build a future-ready workforce and strengthen Karnataka’s skills ecosystem. Its programme was structured around four thematic tracks: Emerging Skills, focusing on green jobs, AI, Industry 4.0 and the digital economy; Skills for All, advancing inclusion across women, youth, informal workers and the gig economy; Innovation, showcasing global and local best practices in skilling; and Global Skills, positioning Karnataka’s workforce for global employability and mobility.
Across the three days, the Bengaluru Skill Summit 2026 featured ministerial discussions, industry-led sessions, keynote addresses, panel discussions, the Skill Expo and Innovation Stage engagements. Key themes included ‘Workforce 2030: Karnataka’s Roadmap from Policy to Execution’, ‘Preparing Young People for Their First Job in an AI-Enabled Economy’, ‘AI, Employability and the New Skills Economy’, ‘The Rise of Hands-On Careers: New Opportunities in Skilled Employment’, and ‘The Care Economy: Preparing Talent for Global Opportunities’. The program also explored international workforce mobility, Japanese approaches to skills development, emerging career pathways and the role of AI in shaping future jobs.
Day 2: Yuva Udyoga Sethu launched, Expo Zone inaugurated and Skillathon held
The second day, on 4 November, saw the launch of Yuva Udyoga Sethu, a digital employment platform for the young job seekers from Karnataka, by Honorable Chief Minister Shri D. K. Shivakumar, Government of Karnataka. The platform aims to connect skilled talent with employment opportunities and strengthen the link between jobseekers and employers.
The day also featured the inauguration of the Expo Zone by Dr. Sharanprakash R. Patil, Honorable Minister for Medical Education and Skill Development, Entrepreneurship and Livelihood, Government of Karnataka. The Expo provided organisations, industry representatives and training institutions with a platform to present their initiatives, technologies, training models and contributions to the skill development ecosystem.
The Bengaluru Skill Summit 2026 also featured a Skillathon (A National Ideas Competition on Labour Market Intelligence for Karnataka) on 4 November, inviting individuals, teams, startups and organisations from across India to explore how Karnataka can use labour market data to align skill development with actual industry demand. Participants were encouraged to use publicly available government data to map jobs, sectors and emerging skill trends, validate insights, identify data gaps and examine how information from multiple sources could be securely integrated on a digital platform. The initiative aimed to generate data-driven inputs to guide the state’s skilling priorities and investments, while contributing to the design of the Karnataka Skills Intelligence System (KSISU).
InUnity – Innovation for Community, from Mangaluru, emerged as the winner of the Skillathon.
The day also featured a felicitation ceremony for the winners of the Karnataka Skill Olympics 2025–26, organised by the Karnataka Skill Development Corporation (KSDC) to identify and nurture grassroots talent across more than 50 skill categories. The competition provided young achievers with a platform to showcase their skills and progress towards national and international competitions.
A total of 138 medal winners were recognised, comprising 59 Gold, 45 Silver and 34 Bronze medalists. The ceremony acknowledged their dedication, talent and achievements, while recognising the role of skill competitions in promoting vocational excellence and aligning Karnataka’s skilling ecosystem with global standards.
The awards were presented by Dr. Sharanprakash R. Patil, Hon’ble Minister for Medical Education and Skill Development, Entrepreneurship and Livelihood, Government of Karnataka; Smt. Shivakantamma (Kanta) Naik, Chairperson, Karnataka Skill Development Corporation and Karnataka Vocational Training and Skill Development Corporation; Shri Subodh Yadav, IAS, Principal Secretary to Government of Karnataka, Department of Skill Development, Entrepreneurship and Livelihood, and Dr. Ravi M. Tirlapur, KAS, Managing Director, Karnataka Skill Development Corporation and Karnataka Vocational Training and Skill Development Corporation, were also among the dignitaries associated with the ceremony.
A key session was the Hon’ble Ministers’ Panel Discussion on Workforce 2030: Karnataka’s Roadmap from Policy to Execution. Moderated by Dr. Gayathri Vasudevan, Chief Impact Officer, Sambhav Foundation, the panel brought together Dr. Sharanprakash R. Patil and Shri Priyank Kharge, Hon’ble Minister for Home, Information Technology and Biotechnology, and E-Governance, Government of Karnataka.
The Innovation Stage featured the launch of Nuvepro’s publication, The State of Task Intelligence 2026, by Dr. Ravi M. Tirlapur, KAS, Managing Director, Karnataka Skill Development Corporation and Karnataka Vocational Training & Skill Development Corporation. The publication examines how organisations can understand tasks, roles and workflows to inform decisions on workforce capacity, skills and AI-enabled ways of working.
Day 2 also featured a special address by Ms. Alina Alam, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Mitti Café, titled ‘The Smart Economics of Human Potential: Why Inclusion Is Not Charity, but Good Business’. The session explored how inclusive workplaces and social enterprises can create meaningful employment opportunities for persons with disabilities while driving innovation, productivity and economic participation.
Also read: Bengaluru Skill Summit 2026 Inaugurated in the Presence of Karnataka Ministers and Industry Leaders
The program also included a fireside chat on Preparing Young People for Their First Job in an AI-Enabled Economy, featuring Gopal Devanahalli, President, Skills Development Network, and Dr. Padmini Ram, Founding Director, Urban Ethnographers. A keynote on AI, Employability and the New Skills Economy: Building a Workforce Ready for 2030 was delivered by Bhavya Suri, Director, Corporate Affairs, Pearson.
Day 3: Discussions focus on skilled careers, AI, international mobility and workforce excellence
The final day’s program on 5 November focused on emerging career pathways, industry requirements and the capabilities needed for the workforce of the future.
Plenary Stage
The Plenary Stage began with a keynote address by Smt. Debashree Mukherjee, IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India. The morning programme also featured the panel discussion ‘The Rise of Hands-On Careers: New Opportunities in Skilled Employment’, which explored changing opportunities in technical and vocational careers across sectors such as aerospace, advanced manufacturing, infrastructure, energy and logistics.
Smt. Debashree Mukherjee, IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India said, “ We have to show children their pathways, where to go, how to go, and what are the opportunities in their different pathways. Our biggest failure, we are failing our children, because we are not able to show them what is the pathway. Where can you go? What does the system offer you. And how can you actually create a good livelihood for yourself.”
Other key discussions included ‘Learning from India’s Leading Skills Ecosystems’, bringing together representatives from different states to share approaches to skill development and implementation, and ‘Turning Skills into Global Careers’, which examined recognised qualifications, international standards, language skills and the support needed to connect skilled talent with overseas employment opportunities. The session ‘The Care Economy: Preparing Talent for Global Opportunities’ addressed workforce preparation for growing international demand in healthcare, eldercare and other care services.
The fireside discussion, moderated by Mr. Sanjeev Kumar Gupta, CEO, KDEM, brought together Vivek Raghavan and Ankush Sabharwal to explore how Artificial Intelligence can augment workforce capabilities and reshape the future of skills and employment. The conversation highlighted the need to move beyond the narrative of job replacement towards AI-led augmentation, with a focus on domain-specific and vertical-wise skilling, industry-academia collaboration and continuous learning.
The discussion also underscored the importance of democratising access to AI through multilingual technologies, strengthening talent ecosystems beyond Bengaluru, and enabling greater workforce participation, particularly among women and youth. Emphasising the need to prepare Karnataka’s workforce for the evolving AI landscape, Mr. Sanjeev Kumar Gupta, CEO, KDEM, said, “The most valuable worker is not the one who is competing with AI, but the one who is working alongside AI.”
The afternoon program featured the keynote ‘From Workforce to Imagination Force’ by Mr. Biren Ghose, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Astra Studios, which examined the growing role of creativity, original intellectual property and human imagination in an AI-enabled economy. The panel ‘Skill Champions: Beyond Medals – Inspiring Through Passion, Perseverance & Performance’, moderated by Ranjan Choudhury, Honorary Member, WorldSkills International, brought together Karnataka’s WorldSkills medal winners, including Smriti Nambiar, Silver Medal and Best of Nation Award winner in Bakery, and Abhishek Shignalli, Medallion for Excellence recipient in Robot Systems Integration, to share their experiences of preparing for international competitions and achieving excellence in their respective skill areas.
The program also included ‘Traditional Skills in Karnataka: Can Heritage Become the Next Generation of Enterprise?’, featuring Ms. Arati Hiremath, Founder, Aartikrafts, and Dr. Arun Yogiraj, Sculptor Artist, and exploring how traditional knowledge can create opportunities through training, entrepreneurship and market access. This was followed by a special address on ‘Developing an Astronaut Mindset towards Nation Building’ by Mr. Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair (Kirti Chakra), Astronaut, ISRO, and Air Commodore, Indian Air Force.
Innovation Stage
The Innovation Stage opened with a special address by Mr. Madan Padaki, Founder, JānAI and Member, Vision Group for Skills Development, Government of Karnataka, titled ‘From Rural AI Skills to Local Economic Opportunities’. The session examined how AI can help young people in rural and peri-urban communities identify local opportunities, address community needs and build pathways to entrepreneurship and employment.
Madan Padaki, Founder, JānAI and Member, Vision Group for Skills Development, Government of Karnataka, speaking during his session at Bengaluru Skill Summit 2026, said: “There is infinite potential in every one of you. Only if you believe. The moment you start believing, you can do anything. Our thought was, it is not that Gen AI that is required for India, but JānAI. How do you make AI work for the people”
The stage also featured the panel discussion ‘Workforce 2030: Bridging Academia, AI, and Human Capability for Next-Gen Talent’, which examined how educational institutions, industry and government can work together to prepare learners for an AI-enabled workforce. Another discussion, ‘Building a Future-Ready Talent Pool through Skilling and Global Collaboration’, brought industry, academia and international stakeholders together to discuss industry-aligned training, talent gaps and global collaboration.
Further sessions included ‘Yuva Voices on Building a Future-Ready Workforce from the Classroom’, which explored how school and college experiences can help young people develop critical thinking, collaboration and problem-solving skills. The keynote ‘Industry 5.0: What Skills Will the Next Industrial Revolution Demand?’ examined the changing skill requirements of the next phase of industrial development. The stage also featured discussions on ‘Digital Education: A Silver Bullet Despite Challenges’, and ‘Higher Education and Skills: Preparing Graduates for the World of Work’, focusing on access to quality education, practical learning and stronger links between academic programmes and industry requirements.
The programme also featured Skill Champions: Beyond Medals – Inspiring Through Passion, Perseverance and Performance, a panel discussion with Karnataka’s WorldSkills medal winners. The session recognised the achievements of skilled participants and provided a platform to discuss their experiences, preparation and journeys in their respective skill areas.
Kaushalya Karnataka Awards
The final day also featured the Kaushalya Karnataka Awards, presented by Dr. Sharanprakash R. Patil, Hon’ble Minister for Medical Education and Skill Development, Entrepreneurship & Livelihood, Government of Karnataka, and Smt. Shivakantamma (Kanta) Naik, Chairperson, Karnataka Skill Development Corporation and Karnataka Vocational Training & Skill Development Corporation.
The awards recognised excellence across various categories in skill development, vocational training and entrepreneurship, including:
- ITI Excellence: Best Performing ITIs (Government, Aided and Private), Best ITI Principals, Best Junior Training Officers (JTOs) and Best ITI Trainees.
- GTTC and KGTTI Excellence: Best Performing GTTC Centres, Best Trainers, Outstanding Trainees from GTTC and KGTTI, and Best GTTC Alumni in Corporate/Academic and Industrialist/Entrepreneurship Excellence.
- Community and Rural Development: Best Self-Help Groups (SHGs) under the State’s National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) and Best Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETIs).
- Skill Competitions: Best Institutions in Skill Competitions.
- Corporate Excellence: Awards recognising achievements across Large Enterprise, Mid-Market and Growth Enterprise categories.
Advancing Karnataka’s workforce priorities
Across its three-day program, Bengaluru Skill Summit 2026 brought together government, industry, academia and international stakeholders to examine how Karnataka can strengthen its skills ecosystem and respond to changing workforce requirements. Discussions covered industry-led training, lifelong learning, inclusive skilling, AI, emerging occupations, international workforce mobility and the recognition of skilled professions.
The Summit’s focus on Scale, Systems and Synergy reflected the need to expand access to quality skilling, strengthen institutional frameworks and improve collaboration between government, industry and educational institutions.
