upGrad Collaborates with Microsoft and IIIT Bangalore to Launch Industry-First Generative AI for Leaders Certification

4-month Certification with applied learning concepts to train mid-career and seasoned professionals with core AI competencies

upGrad, one of Asia’s largest integrated learning skilling and workforce development majors announces a new Certification on its portfolio in GenAI for Leaders with Microsoft and IIIT Bangalore to build a larger community of AI-ready business experts in India. This unique 4-month course is designed with applied learning concepts to train mid-career and seasoned professionals with core AI competencies, positioning them as formidable forces within the tech field.

This industry-first curriculum leverages an inclusive framework enabling learners to assess, design, and transform business problems by applying acquired knowledge in real-life situations. The curriculum is bolstered by strong tech faculty support from India’s premier research university, IIIT Bangalore. It includes live sessions with Microsoft, setting the right tone for India Inc. to upskill and lead the global AI talent supply chain.

The pedagogy also includes other elaborative elements such as:

• Build Your Own Business (BYOB) Case allows learners to bring their own business cases and develop solutions throughout their learning journey, ensuring relevant and hands-on experience
• Engage with industry stalwarts with extensive tech backgrounds, including the Chief Technology Officer of Capgemini, an Entrepreneur and Former Partner at Tata Insights and Quants, the AI/ML Lead at Jio Platforms Limited, and a Former Principal Data Scientist at Hewlett-Packard (HP India), through live sessions and masterclasses
• Include six modules encompassing understanding and application of AI and Gen AI in business, and crafting strategies with ROI-focused project planning
• Curated Capstone Projects to apply learned concepts to a comprehensive project, demonstrating mastery
• Reverse-engineered content and workshops with Microsoft and certification to enhance professional credentials
• 25+ live classes, multiple workshops, and access to cutting-edge AI tools such as ChatGPT, DALL-E, etc.

"As Generative AI revolutionizes the workforce, mastering AI-driven productivity tools is crucial for professionals. This course not only teaches leadership in the AI era but empowers leaders to implement and spearhead GenAI initiatives practically. By joining forces with upGrad and IIIT Bangalore, we offer real-world exposure and seamlessly integrate AI tools into educational frameworks. Our strategic industry-academia collaboration equips professionals with the skills to thrive in the evolving tech landscape, driving innovation, and sustainable growth in India’s tech sector,” said Venkat Krishnan, Executive Director of Public Sector, Healthcare, and Education at Microsoft India.

Commenting on building a skilled nation and contributing to India’s 2047 dream, Dr V Sridhar, Professor In-charge of Continuing Professional Education, IIIT-Bangalore explained the programme is structured to be in line with the market requirements. “AI, and in particular Generative AI is making inroads into every aspect of business processes including marketing campaigns, customer service, and process automation across varied industries such as transportation, hospitality, manufacturing, healthcare, and retail to name a few. When technologies such as these get embedded into businesses, it is the need of the hour for senior leaders to understand how such technologies can be deployed optimally within their organisations to reap the maximal benefits for all stakeholders including customers, employees, and business partners. With this in mind, we at IIIT-Bangalore, in collaborative partnership with the tech industry, offer this programme targetted at business leaders to understand and deploy effective AI solutions in their organisations.”

"This course is not about teaching leadership in the AI era but empowering leaders to adopt and lead GenAI initiatives in a practical way. With the rapid evolution of the industrial landscape, mastering Generative AI is no longer optional but essential," concluded Mayank Kumar, Co-founder & MD, upGrad. "Our collaboration with Microsoft and IIIT-Bangalore brings together the best of academia and industry, providing professionals with the skills needed to stay ahead. Leaders need to understand and leverage AI for driving business results and therefore, upskilling in such industry-ready skills will drive the next wave of talent and economic growth in India."

Certificate in GenAI for Leaders is set to become a pioneering force addressing the dynamic needs of today's workforce - also ensuring that learners emerge as adept AI leaders. Learners completing the course and graded projects will be eligible for a completion certification from IIIT-Bangalore along with a 1-day offline immersion at both - the Microsoft Development Centre and the IIIT-Bangalore campus (each).

upGrad is inviting enrolments and more details on the program, curriculum, and admission can be found through here: https://www.upgrad.com/generative-ai-for-business-leaders-iiit-bangalore/

IIM Bangalore - NSRCEL begins the Women Startup Program with an overwhelming response

NSRCEL, the startup and innovation hub at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, has launched the third cohort of the women’s startup program, one of India’s largest startup programs for women. First launched in 2016, with the support of Goldman Sachs, the program continues to catalyze aspiring women entrepreneurs reach their goals. 

The program focuses on the Government of India’s vision of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ and ‘Vocal for Local’. 

The third cohort of the Women Startup Program received more than 10,000 applications from 34 states and union territories across India. The applications received are from early-stage and idea-stage startups of female founders between the ages of 18-60 years. 

Encouraging response 

The majority of the applications received for the program are from the tier-2 and tier-3 cities of the country. The top enrollment states are Delhi NCR, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. The program has also attracted the interest of women entrepreneurs from the North East states and Jammu and Kashmir.

 

“The sheer size of the response to this cohort of the program is overwhelming.  COVID may have slowed down a few entrepreneurs, but it has clearly not dented the spirit of entrepreneurship in this country.  Going virtual has made it easier for us to reach aspiring women entrepreneurs in places like Kashmir and Mizoram.  Now that they are here, we, along with a large network of institutions, will make sure that they stay and progress in this journey,” said Prof. Venkatesh Panchapagesan, Chairperson, NSRCEL at IIM Bangalore. 

Program structure 

The program is conducted through a five-week online training course offered on the Government of India’s online learning platform, Swayam, from August 31. 

Shortlisted startups from the online certification course will receive mentoring, startup workshops and potential incubation at NSRCEL.

With endorsement by the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, NSRCEL works with iCreate, IIMN Foundation for Entrepreneurship Development (InFED), IIMV Foundation for Incubation, Entrepreneurial Learning and Development (FIELD), Indian Institute of Management Indore (IIM Indore), Indian Institute of Management Jammu (IIM Jammu), IIT

 

Guwahati-Technology Incubation Centre (IITG-TIC), Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM), Mizoram University Incubation Centre (MZUIC) and WE Hub to deliver this program.

 

 For details, please visit:

https://www.nsrcel.org/women-startup-program/

IIIT Bangalore’s largest convocation in 21 years, with edtech major upGrad

2800 working professionals attended the online convocation in the presence of Chief Guest Mr. Pravin Rao, COO, Infosys and Chairman of NASSCOM, and senior leaders from IIIT Bangalore and upGrad

India’s largest online higher education company, upGrad in partnership with ‘The International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore’ (IIIT-B), the premier research-based innovation institute hosted an online graduation ceremony for approximately 2800 learners, this Sunday morning.

Gracing the event with their presence were, Chief Guest Mr. Pravin Rao, COO, Infosys and Chairman of NASSCOM, along with Professor Chandrashekar Ramanathan, Dean (Academics) - IIIT Bangalore, Professor S Sadagopan, Director - IIIT Bangalore, Ronnie Screwvala, Executive Chairman & Co-founder, upGrad, and Mayank Kumar, Co-founder & MD, upGrad. 

upGrad and IIIT-B celebrated the successful completion of PG Diploma programs in Data Science, Machine Learning (ML) & Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Software Development/Blockchain, respectively. These included seasoned working professionals with a range of 8-11 years of work experience, from organizations including Fortune 500 Companies. 20 graduating students were awarded the ‘Top Performer’ award for achieving the highest CGPA in their respective programs.  

Academic Star Award - convocation

upGrad and IIIT-B also recognised over 100 learners who went beyond the academic curriculum including those who went out of their way to help their peers. Some even set inspirational benchmarks for others, pushing them to do better, while many achieved stellar career transitions. 

The uptake for online education has rapidly grown in India, especially among working professionals, and this has only been accelerated due to the pandemic. In fact, upGrad has doubled its course capacity to keep up with the growing demand, as it allows for Continuing Professional Education (CPE). By partnering with renowned universities like IIIT-B, upGrad provides students access to the latest content, mentors, and reputed faculty from IIIT-B to help with their learning. 

“We are aware that education can never be measured ‘complete’ by any yardstick and recognize that goalposts keep changing. At IIIT-B, we closely monitor these changing demands and provide flexible opportunities for working professionals to stay competitive and relevant.   With upGrad, our aim is to provide avenues of quality education for individuals to pursue continuous learning. I wish to congratulate all the graduating students from the batch of 2020 who have seized this opportunity,” said Professor Chandrashekar Ramanathan, Dean (Academics) - IIIT Bangalore while addressing the graduates.   

“IIIT-B has always been at the forefront of creating innovative ways of inculcating the spirit of innovation amongst technology students. Our vision of quality at scale is realized today as we graduated in one day, what we did in 20 convocations over 21 years! With upGrad’s learning platform we hope to continue to equip students with the new-age tools to upskill and be future-ready,” said Professor S. Sadagopan, Director, IIIT Bangalore. 

Commenting on the occasion, Ronnie Screwvala, Executive Chairman and Co-founder, upGrad, said, “The graduation ceremony is a critical part of the learning experience and we were determined to deliver that experience to our learners. Once individuals start working, it can be difficult to prioritize learning and upskilling, but it's this tough decision that sets apart our learners from everybody else and the graduation ceremony is a celebration of their perseverance, their hard work and dedication.”

Pravin Rao, COO, Infosys, the guest speaker at the Graduation Ceremony spoke about India’s resilient IT sector, the current era of unprecedented disruption, and the commitment to continuous learning, “As corporates are reinventing themselves, individuals also need to reinvent themselves to stay relevant. Shelf-life of skills are becoming short, 2-3 years. Machines and algorithms in the workplace are expected to create 133 million new roles. People need to unlearn, learn new stuff and therefore commit to lifelong learning. This is critical to stay relevant and employable.” 

Talking about his experience, Sajjad Yunus Mohammed, IIIT-B upGrad alumnus said, “I got hired in AstraZeneca through upGrad which brought me into the field of Data Science. Later, using the knowledge which I gained through the rigorous program module at upGrad, I was able to achieve further in my career.” He has recently bagged an opportunity to work with Philips, as a Senior Data Scientist.  

Another alumnus, Vijay Narayan, spoke about his experience and learning from the program. He said "The biggest lesson for me is to never stop learning in this information era. Data science was a new skill and capability that I learned after 22 years of professional experience. Never shy away from achieving your dreams, because they are only yours to have and no one can take them away from you." 

The graduation ceremony had special elements for the learners which included a live performance by Maati Baani, a band founded by Hindustani vocalist Nirali Kartik and award-winning music composer/producer Kartik Shah.  

The PG Diploma in Data Science is India's largest Data Science program with over 10,000 alumni and learner-base. This program in partnership with IIIT-B is India’s first-ever PG Diploma to be recommended and validated by NASSCOM and is aligned to Government approved National Occupational Standards (NOS).

About upGrad

upGrad is India’s largest online higher education company. Founded in early 2015, upGrad has onboarded over 32K paid learners and impacted more than half a million individuals globally, within a short span of 5 years.

upGrad provides online programs in the areas of Data Science, Technology, Management and Law to college students, working professionals and enterprises. These programs are designed and delivered in collaboration with top-notch universities like IIT Madras, IIIT Bangalore, MICA, NMIMS Global Access, Jindal Global Law School, Duke CE, Deakin University, Liverpool John Moores University and others. 

With an 80% program completion rate, robust tech platform, outcome-based learning approach, industry-relevant curriculum, finest university credentials, strong mentorship, and steadfast placement support, upGrad has established its position as the leader in the Indian education system. upGrad, through a virtual hiring drive offers its existing users/alumni an opportunity to interview with 300+ hiring partners ensuring successful career outcomes.

IIIT Bangalore and upGrad's PG Diploma in Data Science is India’s first-ever PG Diploma to be recommended and validated by the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM). The program is India's largest Data Science program with over 10,000 alumni & learner-base, which now provides learners with certification from NASSCOM FutureSkills, thereby making the program aligned to Government approved National Occupational Standards (NOS) to facilitate the upskilling of India’s IT workforce and make them abreast of the new-age skills. Through this first-of-its-kind collaboration, upGrad joins NASSCOM’s mission to make India a hub for innovation and a global hotspot for a skilled talent pool.

upGrad has been awarded the title of ‘Best Tech for Education’ by IAMAI in 2019. upGrad received the ‘Best Education Brands’ award by Economic Times in 2018, Most Innovative Companies in India' by Fast Company in 2017 and has made it to LinkedIn’s ‘Top 25 Start-ups’ two years in a row in 2018 and 2019.

About International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore (IIITB): 

IIIT Bangalore is a premier institute focused on Post-Graduate IT education and research, located in the heart of Electronic City, Bangalore. It contains state-of-the-art infrastructure, world-class faculty, a vibrant alumni community, cutting-edge research facilities and close industry collaborations. 

The institute’s specially designed courses make the students cognitive of the current technologies and practices, thereby equipping them with the tools and knowledge to solve contemporary real problems. Since the founding of the Institute in 1999, IIITB has enjoyed 100% placement every year, on

India'a 1st Blockchain Platform to Digitize COVID-19 Records & Data Goes Live

BelfricsBT, a Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia-headquartered global blockchain startup, along with YoSync, a startup incubated at IIITB-IMACX Studios, has signed a research collaboration in agreement with International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore (IIIT Bangalore) to jointly develop India’s first COVID-19 blockchain platform, BelYo.

Funded by Mphasis F1 Foundation - the CSR arm of Mphasis, BelYo uses the BelfricsBT Belrium blockchain platform to convert Covid-19-related clinical and vaccination data of citizens currently from the physical form into digital assets, which can be retrieved by contact tracing apps like Aarogya Setu via application programme interface (API).

Using these APIs, an individual can scan and retrieve data (colour-coded results) through a QR code and the process would be 100% contact-less and seamless at any point of entry during and post Covid-19 period. This project has been funded by Mphasis F1 Foundation as part of their larger outreach programme to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic in India.

Currently, the BelYo platform is being tested in a few clinics and aims to reach out to over 700 government labs and about 270 private labs starting August second week.

BelYo plans to issue certificates for Covid-19 clinical records and immunisation certificates on blockchain at a cost price of less than ₹20

BelfricsBT is the blockchain development arm of the Belfrics Group - a fintech firm present in over 10 countries spanning Asia, Africa, Middle East and Europe.

Praveenkumar Vijayakumar, Founder & CEO of Belfrics Group said, “COVID-19 infections are on the rise both within India and across the world and there is a need to use technology to deal with this grave situation. With the help of this financial support, we would be able to expedite our platform rollout, expand our operations and onboard testing centres (hospitals and private labs) by the end of 2020. Going forward, BelYo is looking at a 5 percent market share by 2023 of the total 100,000+ clinical labs in India which would help us to reach a gross revenue target of $200 million within 5 years. We are also currently in talks with more investors to raise our Series A by the end of 2020.”

SOURCE - CNBCTV18