As generative artificial intelligence reshapes corporate workflows, Birlasoft faces a familiar challenge with an unfamiliar urgency: how to prepare employees for jobs that barely existed a year ago. The Indian technology services company’s response offers insights into how businesses might navigate the collision between human skills and machine capabilities.
“Agility is not a buzzword here—it’s a mindset,” explains Deepak Arora, the company’s vice-president for learning and development. His team has spent the past year redesigning Birlasoft’s training programmes around a central premise: as AI automates routine tasks, human skills like creativity and complex problem-solving become more valuable, not less.
The approach reflects a broader shift across India’s $254bn technology sector, where companies are grappling with AI’s dual nature as both disruptor and enabler. Whilst automation threatens to eliminate certain roles, it also creates demand for workers who can collaborate effectively with AI systems.
Beyond technical training
Birlasoft’s strategy rests on two pillars: developing human capabilities that complement AI, and ensuring employees can actually use generative AI tools effectively. The company has revamped its Digital Learning and Technology Leadership curriculum to emphasise skills such as complex problem-solving, creativity, and analytical thinking—areas where humans retain advantages over current AI systems.
“We have incorporated specific learning journeys designed to strengthen competencies such as complex problem solving—helping employees identify challenges and develop sound strategies based on reasoned judgments.”
Deepak Arora, VP-head L&D, HR tech & transformation, Birlasoft
“We have incorporated specific learning journeys designed to strengthen competencies such as complex problem solving—helping employees identify challenges and develop sound strategies based on reasoned judgments,” notes Arora. The modules also focus on leadership, social influence, and resilience.
This represents a departure from traditional corporate training, which often prioritised technical certifications over softer skills. Now, the company argues, empathy and judgement have become essential differentiators in AI-augmented workplaces.
The technical side involves democratising AI literacy across all business functions, not just technology teams. Each business unit must identify and implement generative AI use cases, supported by Cogito, Birlasoft’s in-house AI platform.
To systematise this effort, the company established a Generative AI Academy built on three components: foundational learning through “Generative AI Essentials,” domain-specific knowledge for different business areas, and technical depth for engineering teams. The academy ensures AI training connects to immediate business contexts rather than remaining theoretical.
Leadership in transition
Leadership development has required particular attention, given the stress and uncertainty that digital transformation often brings. Birlasoft has added modules on emotional intelligence, adaptability, and psychological safety to its management training.
“We’re not just preparing leaders to understand AI; we’re helping them lead in an AI-powered world—where change is constant, and empathy is a superpower,” explains Arora.
One notable addition is business storytelling training—helping leaders communicate strategy and build trust through narrative rather than purely data-driven presentations. The programmes extend beyond senior management to include first-time managers and individual contributors.
The company is also experimenting with AI-powered coaching tools that provide employees with judgement-free spaces to ask questions and receive guidance. “Sometimes, people need a safe zone to be vulnerable,” says Arora. “AI coaches are not replacements for human mentors, but they provide a constant, data-backed support system that’s available anytime.”
These virtual assistants help employees navigate learning journeys by providing supplementary materials and personalised recommendations based on performance and needs.
From campus to career
Perhaps most ambitious is Birlasoft’s campus-to-corporate programme, designed to bridge the gap between academic learning and professional requirements. Rather than brief onboarding sessions, new graduates enter a multi-year development track that combines technical training with behavioural essentials like communication and collaboration.
The “Next Step” component provides quarterly learning themes for two to three years, covering topics such as ownership, curiosity, and growth mindset. “What truly differentiates our approach is that the learning doesn’t end after a few onboarding sessions,” explains Arora.
This long-term approach reflects recognition that developing professional maturity requires sustained investment. The programme helps individuals map connections between current skill-building and future career aspirations—for instance, helping a developer understand how leadership and communication skills might support eventual management responsibilities.
Measuring impact
Evaluating training effectiveness involves three distinct measures: efficiency (reach and completion rates), effectiveness (engagement and retention), and outcomes (business impact). The first two are relatively straightforward to track through attendance data and assessments.
The third proves more challenging but ultimately more important. For skill-based programmes, Birlasoft monitors whether employees receive internal promotions or redeployments, whether their market value increases, and whether training translates into measurable business advantages.
“These indicators help us see whether the training has translated into measurable capability or business advantage,” says Arora.
The collaboration imperative
Many upskilling programmes incorporate group projects and peer learning exercises that simulate real business demands. When teams collaborate on solutions, they develop not only technical capabilities but also trust, alignment, and creative problem-solving skills.
This collaborative emphasis reflects the reality that modern technology projects rarely succeed through individual expertise alone. As AI handles more routine tasks, human workers must excel at the complex coordination and creative collaboration that machines cannot yet replicate.
Sustainable transformation
What distinguishes Birlasoft’s approach is its focus on developing learning as a skill itself. Rather than simply encouraging employees to acquire new capabilities, the company trains them to embrace continuous learning as a professional competency.
“Skills are just the starting point,” concludes Arora. “What really matters is building a workforce that knows how to think, adapt and thrive—no matter what technology brings next.”
As generative AI continues reshaping work across industries, Birlasoft’s experiment offers one model for managing the transition. The ultimate test will be whether investments in human capabilities prove as durable and valuable as the company hopes—particularly as AI systems themselves become more sophisticated.
For now, the approach reflects a fundamental bet: that in an age when machines can increasingly mimic human outputs, the real competitive advantage lies in uniquely human capabilities like connection, imagination, and care.