Bengaluru: India’s demographic dividend will depend increasingly on how effectively its education system prepares young people for an AI-driven workplace, according to Johannes Heinlein, Interim President & CEO and Chief Growth Officer, Project Management Institute (PMI).
India has a large and growing pool of educated people, but the country needs to use that advantage more confidently and ensure that graduates develop the skills required for a rapidly changing world of work, Heinlein told ETEducation.
“Don’t be shy about it. Speak your voice. Don’t look for others to heed. Heed yourself,” he said, outlining what he sees as India’s opportunity. Heinlein was answering to questions by ETEducation on the sidelines of PMI’s 18th Project Management South Asia Conference 2026 (PMSAC26), held in Bengaluru. The conference brought together more than 850 delegates and 20 speakers to discuss AI, workforce transformation, leadership and the changing nature of project delivery.
He said India is a critical market for PMI and that the organisation is “doubling down” on investment in the country, where it has chapters and tens of thousands of members. “I wouldn’t be nervous. I’d be excited because I know we’re going to the future,” Heinlein said, referring to the opportunities available to young Indians.
Universities need to prepare students for lifelong learning
For Heinlein, India’s talent opportunity cannot be separated from the way universities prepare people for work. Universities need to stop treating graduation as the end of a student’s learning journey and instead prepare learners for careers that will require continuous adaptation, he said.
“What academic institutions, and it starts before universities, need to focus on is to better prepare people for a lifelong journey,” Heinlein said.
“Everything that universities need to do shouldn’t stop with graduation. In some ways, it should start with graduation.” Heinlein, who has previously worked with Harvard University and edX, said academic institutions have a major opportunity because they spend several formative years with students.
“Why don’t academic institutions take that as an opportunity, rather than just, I need to churn people through?” he said.
Industry and universities need to work together
Heinlein said the gap between what universities teach and what employers need remains significant. “There absolutely is a gap,” he said, pointing to a disconnect that has persisted for decades.
Employers often complain that graduates do not have the skills required for the workplace and need to be trained again after joining, he said. But industry also needs to engage more closely with academic institutions rather than simply criticising graduates.
“How about you engage with academic institutions?” Heinlein said.
Universities, meanwhile, need to recognise that the world of work is changing faster than many academic programmes. “Academic institutions have to reflect that the world is changing faster than they are changing. Programs remain stale,” he said.
He also cautioned against using AI without applying human judgement. Employees, he said, can sometimes put large amounts of information into an AI system, receive an output and simply forward it without adding their own thinking.
India’s opportunity
Heinlein said India’s opportunity extends beyond project management. Its large and growing pool of educated people gives it a foundation to take a larger role in the global economy, he said.
“You have, just by force of numbers, the largest numbers of educated people. Or you will have them soon. So use that as an opportunity,” he said.
He acknowledged that India faces significant challenges, including disparities between regions and the scale of its population. But he said these should not prevent the country from taking a leap. “You have a billion people. You have huge disparities between regions, even within a single city. But that shouldn’t stop you. That shouldn’t stop India from taking a leap,” he said.
For India’s young workforce, Heinlein sees that scale as an opportunity. “Showcase the great things that are happening here,” he said. “Don’t follow lead. Put a stake in the ground. Have your voice being heard.”
