IT minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar on the future of work: ‘Skills will be more important than degree’

Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar

While nobody can discount the importance of education, some would say that in the corporate world, skills matter more than degrees. That certainly seems to be the opinion of Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, who told Moneycontrol in a recent interview that in coming times, with the advent of artificial intelligence, skills will assume greater importance than educational degrees.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar was asked what advice he has for someone who is just starting out today – at a time when the world is seeing great changes with new technologies cropping up.

“A hundred percent this is a different environment,” the minister agreed. “I will repeat what the prime minister has been saying since 2016 – in the future landscape – workforce landscape or opportunity landscape – your skills are going to be more important than your degree.

The minister further stressed the importance of having a skill that “makes you really valuable” – whether it is coding or supercomputer core server design skills or semiconductor verification skills.

Chandrasekhar quoted the example of a ninth-grade boy he met in Telangana who has created a generative AI application that guides users on how to enrol into government health schemes.

In his exclusive interview with Moneycontrol, the Minister of State for Electronics and IT touched upon several topics like AI and the problem of deepfakes. He also addressed the role of social media in the spread of misinformation.