India must shift its focus from training to employability if it is to bridge the widening innovation gap, Infosys chief marketing officer Sumit Virmani, who is also on the board of the IT firm’s financial software products subsidiary Edgeverve, has said.
Speaking to Moneycontrol on the sidelines of the Infosys Foundation Aarohan Social Innovation Awards, Virmani said India continues to produce millions of graduates each year, yet struggles to convert educational attainment into meaningful work.
“Skilling is valuable but not if it fails to translate into sustainable livelihoods,” he said. “We have a large cohort of young people entering the workforce annually without adequate employment prospects, and that is complicating the challenge. Developing technology-led solutions that link education and training to real job opportunities could be transformative for the country.”
From learning to earning: the missing link
According to Virmani, India’s next wave of social innovators must focus on turning education and training into tangible employment outcomes.
While the Infosys Foundation has long invested in education and skilling programmes, it now aims to support ideas that connect the dots — from learning to earning.
He suggested that innovations like live job registries, skill-matching marketplaces, and tech-enabled vocational training ecosystems could improve the employability landscape, particularly for India’s vast youth population.
“It doesn’t have to be technology skills alone,” he said. “Vocational and local skills, when paired with the right digital infrastructure, can make a huge difference.”
Scalable, tech-driven solutions
Through initiatives like Aarohan, the Infosys Foundation continues to identify and support social innovators building scalable, affordable, and tech-powered solutions across education, healthcare, and sustainability.
On November 21, Infosys Foundation announced the winners of the Aarohan Social Innovation Awards 2025, recognising eight innovators developing solutions in education, healthcare, and environmental sustainability.
The fourth edition of the awards selected the winners from more than 2,000 entries and granted a total of Rs 2 crore, it said in a release. The foundation awarded Rs 50 lakh each to the top innovators across three categories.
These examples, he said, demonstrate how Indian innovators are leveraging technology to address real-world problems at scale.
Bridging India’s future
As India’s demographic dividend matures, Virmani said the country’s innovation ecosystem must evolve to focus on employability and livelihoods not just access to education.
“Education creates knowledge, but employment creates dignity and purpose,” he said. “We need innovations that ensure every skilled young person in India finds a meaningful place in the economy.”