Experts discuss ways to bridge gap between academia and industry

The purpose of academia is to create broad-based knowledge, which is deep-seated, that would benefit the industry, Ashok Thiyagarajan, vice-president, L&D, Intellect Design Arena Limited, said at The Hindu Tech Summit 2026 here on Friday.

He was speaking at a session on ‘Bridging Academia and Industry: Building the Resilience Talent Pipeline’, which was moderated by L.V. Navaneeth, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), The Hindu Group.

The event was hosted by The Hindu, presented by VIT, and co-presented by Sify Technologies.

‘Internships alone can’t solve problems’

“What you read in books and how the industry operates are two different things. Internships alone cannot solve the problems, but rather, faculty too should come during the summer break and work in the industry, becoming a force multiplier. They should take the knowledge back into the classroom and convert it into an industry-experience centre. This could be a scalable solution,” Mr. Thiyagarajan said.

He also pointed out that resilience was a measure of the capability of people, not of systems. “We are living in a digitally connected world. We use so many apps, be it for communications, networking, socialising or financial transactions. This gives a notion that systems are resilient… that systems offer availability, reliability as well as stability. But people offer biological intelligence,” Mr. Thiyagarajan said.

Industry’s responsibility

Talking about where universities fall short in preparing students for resilient roles, Shankar Venugopal, vice-president, Technology Innovation and Intellectual Property, Mahindra & Mahindra, pointed out that it was the responsibility of the industry as well to bridge the gap.

“At the end of the day, we want students who are ready to take up challenging problems and come up with innovative solutions. Key gaps lie in knowing versus doing. They may get to learn a lot from good teachers about concepts. But when it comes to real-world problems, there is a lot of hesitation because they haven’t done it in the past. What they need is more opportunities to practise [dealing] with real-world problems, possibly through internships,” Mr. Venugopal said.

‘Students need technical breadth’

He noted that a lot of the students have reasonable technical “depth” in their chosen domain. But today’s industry needs a good amount of technical “breadth” also.

“For instance, in electric mobility, we need mobility engineers who know mechanical, electrical, electronic, programming, and a whole bunch of things. The needs of the industry have changed,” he added.

‘Academia and industry must work together’

Academia and industry should work hand-in-hand in designing the syllabus, Nelson Kulandairaj, Chief Digital Officer, CIEL HR, said.

While the academia cannot update the syllabus often since it is not practically possible, there is a need to maintain a balance in terms of what the academia and the industry can do, Mr. Kulandairaj said, adding, “They [Academia and industry] have to come together and work.”

Partha Sharathi Mallick, Pro-Vice Chancellor, VIT, said that some of the universities abroad have a full-time programme on resilience education. He said that the curriculum should take care of concerns, threats, and crisis management.

“There is software available for resilience training, and also tools. The curriculum should include tools and software so that students can get some practical experience. Curriculum plays an important role in creating resilient talent,” he said.

Published – February 14, 2026 12:59 am IST