AI at 136: What Speaking at Fergusson College Taught Me About India's Next Generation

Fergusson College in Pune was founded in 1885. It has produced judges, scientists, freedom fighters, and prime ministers. When I was invited to give an AI keynote there in June 2021, I walked in expecting to meet students who were politely interested in technology — engaged enough, but with one foot still in the traditional career paths that institutions like Fergusson are known for producing.

I was wrong.

What I Found Instead

The students in that room weren't politely interested in AI. They were hungry for it. They asked the kind of sharp, specific questions that usually come from people who've been reading and thinking about this for months. They wanted to know which AI skills were actually worth learning versus which ones were hype. They wanted to know how quickly AI was going to transform the sectors they were planning to enter. They wanted to know what a small college in Pune could actually do to prepare them for a world being reshaped by companies headquartered in San Francisco and Shenzhen.

These are not easy questions. They're the right ones.

The Gap That's Actually the Opportunity

There is a significant gap between what India's universities are currently teaching about AI and what the AI-driven job market actually requires. This is well-documented and much lamented. But I think the conversation about this gap misses something important.

The gap isn't primarily a curriculum problem. It's a mindset problem — and it runs in both directions.

Institutions sometimes assume their students want traditional stability and are resistant to disruption. Students sometimes assume their institutions are too slow to be useful guides in a fast-moving field. Both assumptions are wrong more often than they're right.

What I saw at Fergusson was an institution that had brought in an AI practitioner to talk honestly with its students. That decision matters. It's a signal to students that the institution is taking this seriously. And it gives students permission to take it seriously too — not as an extracurricular interest, but as something central to their education and their futures.

What a 136-Year-Old Institution Has That Most AI Startups Don't

Here's what struck me most about speaking at Fergusson. The institution has something that most AI companies are desperate to build and almost impossible to manufacture: trust.

Fergusson College has 136 years of credibility with students, parents, communities, and employers. When an institution with that kind of history says "AI matters," it carries weight that a LinkedIn post from a startup founder never will.

The most interesting AI education isn't going to come from entirely new AI-first institutions. It's going to come from established institutions that take the responsibility seriously enough to integrate AI genuinely into what they teach — not as a module, not as a special topic, but as a lens through which every discipline is understood.

What India's Next Generation Actually Needs

After speaking at Fergusson — and at dozens of Indian colleges and institutions since — I've come to believe that what students actually need isn't more AI content. It's three things:

• Honest information about where AI is actually useful — as opposed to where it's being hyped. Students who understand what AI can and can't do are far more valuable to employers than students who have memorised the buzzwords.
• Hands-on experience with AI tools, not just theoretical frameworks. The students who will thrive are the ones who've used AI to do something real — built a simple model, automated a task, created something with a generative tool — not just read about it.
• Permission to think critically about AI, including its limitations, its biases, and the genuine questions it raises about work and society. India's next generation doesn't need to be AI evangelists. It needs to be AI-literate citizens who can participate thoughtfully in the decisions their societies are going to have to make.

The Larger Point

I've been speaking about AI in education for a long time. The conversations I have with students at institutions like Fergusson are consistently the most energising — and the most humbling.

Humbling because they remind me how much the next generation already understands, and how little patience they have for the kind of AI education that talks about potential without giving them anything they can actually use.

Energising because they remind me why this work matters. India has an enormous number of young people who are about to enter a world where AI fluency will be as fundamental as digital literacy was for the previous generation. The institutions that help them build that fluency — honestly, practically, and at scale — will have done something genuinely important.

Fergusson College has been doing important work for 136 years. This particular conversation felt like a small part of that continuity.

Interested in an AI keynote for your university or college?
I speak regularly at institutions across India, Singapore, and Asia on AI in education, AI literacy for students, and what the AI era means for the next generation entering the workforce. The talk is honest, practical, and designed for students — not just administrators.
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