Need a job to gain experience; Need experience to get a job

Mumbai, Maharashtra India, 1 March 2025, 20.10 pm:

Just spent two days in Mumbai, mostly attending the Mumbai Tech Week at the Jio World Convention Centre in Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC). Heading back to Pune now (just crossed Khopoli) and we are taking the old highway (there’s apparently a proper jam on the Expressway near Khandala ghat). This is not Google Maps info, it’s feedback from three cab drivers who are stuck at various points in that very jam. 

Mumbai Tech Week was a good event I suppose. Good turnout, a clever mix of speakers, attendees included students, media, good session content, a job fair, breakout sessions.

But I was struck by the reality of fresh graduates or students who will soon be graduating. They were there by the hundreds on both days. They were hopeful, excited, nervous at the beginning of the day. By noon, they were thoughtful, with their problems still unsolved.

What is an 18, 19, 20, year old looking for? What is a 21, 22, 23 year old looking for? At an event on AI and technology? 

A job. Or an internship. Or guidance on how to get work or experience. 

They are not there for more information on how AI or technology is changing or could change the world. They are not there to listen to yet another story from a founder. 

I spoke to 24 students across the two days. Three were studying, working in part-time jobs and looking to raise funds to develop MVPs that they had designed (they described multiple ideas) - essentially they were thinking of doing something on their own. The remaining 21 were looking for jobs. All of them gave the same feedback about the job fair: “They want experience. We are freshers.” Of course there were also - by the hundreds - young people with experience and a small percentage of them did get the jobs on offer.

There were a few large AI companies who already employ thousands of people, do cutting edge work in core technology (cloud computing, data centres, visual generative AI modelling, et al) and who are collaborating with universities and governments et al to address the situation. But overall, most tech companies are excited about their own eureka moments and their idea of contributing to society is limited to building the next great tech company.

As I listened to speaker after speaker talk about problem after possible problem that AI could solve, it struck me that none of them spoke about solving the employment and lack-of-experience problems for young people. 

There are skilling companies, even large corporations rolling out skilling and training programs on AI, but that’s just revenue opportunity for those companies, that’s not the same as providing experience or jobs for youngsters. Add to this the army of middle-aged senior professionals who are quietly being made redundant. And add to both, the reduction in workforce requirement due to automation and realignment of job tasks.

That right there is a problem that needs solving. 

(Illustration generated in collaboration with MidJourney)