Edtech major upGrad has witnessed an all-time high record with Bootcamp enrolments becoming 8x during FY24.
Mayank Kumar, co-founder & MD, upGrad, told FE that there is rising demand for AI-skilled talent across non-tech sectors such as retail, manufacturing, and even EV segments.
“Hiring sentiments for jobs that require one to at least interact with GenAI tools – irrespective of the sector – will continue to soar,” he said. “This demand necessitates more strategic skilling programmes that equip young India with the most relevant and market-ready concepts.”
The skilling major has elevated its popular Tech Bootcamps in most in-demand disciplines such as digital marketing, full-stack development, data science, and UI/UX with industry-first pedagogy. The modules, unlike other conventional Bootcamps formats, will now include only 20% of the ‘Study’ element while focusing 80% on ‘Practical Applications’.
Over the past year, upGrad has delivered over 200,000 hours of immersive learning through its active Bootcamp programs. “The top three programmes – full-stack development, data science with AI, and UI-UX – remain popular among early professionals and freshers who aim to accelerate their career growth and stay competitive in the rapidly evolving tech industry,” Kumar said. “The majority of learners who signed up in FY24 belonged to the freshers’ bracket, followed by early professionals, demonstrating the effectiveness of our AI-ready content in advancing careers across different stages.”
With the portfolio now enhancing both Tech and Non-Tech Bootcamps, the company aims to double down on enrolments in FY25.
“Global slowdown in IT spending has had a countercyclical impact on upskilling among tech professionals in India. Especially students coming out of college or have just stepped into corporate, have taken this opportunity to pursue fast-paced skilling programmes and apply their knowledge in real-time at their jobs,” Kumar said. “Last year, we recorded one sign-up every 2 hours for our Bootcamps, fuelling our commitment to enhance our offerings as we move forward. Today, early coders, techies and even freshers are required to understand core fundamentals and new-age concepts to stay relevant. Hence, we have made a conscious call to enhance our portfolio with strategic GenAI training interventions to ensure market readiness.”