Ronnie Screwvala’s upGrad crosses 20k learners, commits to transform 1mn working professionals by 2026

The first thing you wonder when you meet media baron and entrepreneur Ronnie Screwvala is: What brought him to education in his second innings? His response displays sharp focus. “Storytelling is the most powerful tool for effective LifeLongLearning and India has the potential of being the teaching capital of the world. How can I pass up on an opportunity to play a role in transforming the education space not just in India, but globally?” says Screwvala, executive chairman and co-founder of upGrad.
“I feel blessed that I can migrate all my life’s learnings, of thinking scale, building long-term credible brands, disrupt a sector that is waiting for serious non-linear thinking and break glass ceilings, all at upGrad, a company I co-founded with Mayank Kumar, Phalgun Kompalli and Ravijot Chugh.”

In less than three years, upGrad has become a market leader in the online higher education space. “India is a priority market for us to make the maximum impact before expanding to SE Asia, Middle East and Africa,” says Screwvala.

The company now has over 30 courses across diverse fields aimed at upgrading the working professional with careers of tomorrow and with over 10 deep alliances with universities and academic partners. The company’s core differentiator is its deep investment in tech and the learning experience and a high-touch model to ensure the highest rates of completion by any online player in the world and a focus on outcomes with a 30-member team just to ensure successful career transitions.


How is education and learning evolving in this decade?
In the digital era, everyone is a student and a learner. It’s important for everyone to accept that education is no longer an event. We need to change mindsets that education stops once the job starts.

I worry that the existing workforce will sink in a deluge of redundancy if they don’t buy into the fact that here on, it’s a lifelong necessity to stay relevant. The government’s most recent push for online education will lay the foundation for what the future holds for learning in this decade. A lot of students in India start earning at an early age. Online degree programs will provide them with the means to get the degree while working and have access to the best faculty in the country.

Where are the next 100 million jobs in India coming from?
Well, it can’t be from a work-for-hire or a cost-arbitrage culture. India can’t be the third largest economy without putting careers of tomorrow at the forefront and making our working professionals on par with the best in the world. While the world is celebrating advancements in Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, Natural Language Processing, digital marketing, cloud, product management and data science, India can’t continue to struggle with quality higher education, nor can it be a choice of a select few.

Even for MBA programs, it’s time we enhance the learning to produce leaders who are ready to deal with the digital space. Every graduate and working professional must have access to global level learning and without leaving their job. At upGrad, we are working to make this a reality. The next tsunami of work will come from highly-skilled innovators on the job and from entrepreneurs who create businesses made to last and that employ many.

What are the attributes that are needed to see change?
In two words, it’s ambition and inspiration. We need to lift our ambition and aspiration levels of our working professionals, way above the present. The fear of redundancy among so many in today’s time is a major cause of demotivation. This, in turn, impacts growth of organisations.

We need a confident and inspired workforce. Confidence can only come from being well-informed, relevant and on top of your workplace. Inspiration can only come from great storytellers who lead by example and share their failures and learnings. Are organisations moulding to the new ways?

Slowly and it’s almost as if they are waiting to be pushed into change. It is important for companies to encourage creative and critical thinking. It’s also about creating a collaborative yet competitive work environment that nudges their employees to commit to LifeLongLearning and upgrading.

Many large and medium organisations like Wipro, Infosys, AstraZeneca, Fractal Analytics and Adfactors PR have understood the need for constant learning and making their teams stay relevant. They have tied up with EdTech companies like upGrad to provide L&D solutions, pre-boarding lessons for new recruits and much more.

So what kind of jobs will draw the highest salaries in the next decade?
The answer is not what job, but what level of working professionals will command this. It lies in that right mixture of the ambitious self, facing up to the urgency of learning and upgrading, building self-confidence and domain knowledge that keeps you ahead of the curve.

If in the universe of over 100 million in the workforce, at this level, even if 10 million set their ambitions and are committed to the hard work that goes with it, we could have the most dynamic working environment and organisations of the future. For those who enlist for this — the 200 per cent to 400 per cent salary hikes would not be an exception, but the norm, as they would have got themselves re-rated and not just up-skilled.

To break the final barrier and adopt online and LifeLong Learning, you will need to change a culturally-ingrained mindset that education stops at a certain age or stage. EdTech is one of the biggest opportunities coming out of India today. At upGrad, we aim to push the envelope and drive the market size of this sector over the next decade.