Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the first step of the career ladder for many graduates in India. Roles that once gave freshers their entry into corporate jobs through routine coding, documentation, data handling, process support or quality checks are increasingly being reshaped by automation.
The shift is visible in global capability centres (GCCs), where companies are moving towards higher-value work and asking for stronger skills in AI, cybersecurity, data analysis and business problem-solving. For Indian colleges, this raises an urgent question: are students being prepared for the jobs companies now need, or for the entry-level roles that are slowly changing?
Skills over degrees
Christopher Abraham, Chief Executive Officer, Director, Executive Education and Professor of Leadership, Design Thinking and Organisational Behaviour, SP Jain School of Global Management, said AI is reshaping employability at the entry level.
“Earlier, companies hired fresh graduates for repetitive, process-oriented tasks and then trained them over time. Today, AI is increasingly automating those routine functions, which means employers now expect graduates to arrive with stronger analytical thinking, adaptability, digital fluency and the ability to work alongside AI systems from day one,” Abraham said.
The pressure on higher education is likely to grow as GCCs in India are projected to expand to 2,117 by FY2026, employing 2.36 million people and generating $100 billion in revenue. As these centres move towards specialised work, graduates will need more than degrees to remain competitive.
Aravind Krishnan, Assistant General Manager, Human Resources, Great Lakes, Chennai, said traditional fresher roles in coding, quality assurance and spreadsheet-led work are undergoing a clear shift.
“The traditional fresher role is not disappearing; it is evolving. Indian colleges must stop teaching students how to compete with machines and instead teach them how to build, deploy and manage them,” Krishnan said.
Campus-Industry gap
Sonica Aron, Founder and Managing Partner, Marching Sheep, said many graduates are still trained for examinations, while organisations are hiring for adaptability, application and workplace readiness.
“Many graduates have degrees but limited exposure to real business environments, interdisciplinary thinking or practical problem-solving. Students may be academically qualified, but not fully workplace ready,” Aron said.
Jyotsna Singh, Campus Director and Professor, NMIMS Chandigarh, said the gap lies between classroom theory and practical work. While students may understand technology concepts, they need more exposure to using those concepts to solve real business problems.
Curriculum reset needed
Ramakrishnan Raman, Vice Chancellor, Symbiosis International (Deemed) University, said higher education must move from degree-based employability to capability-based employability.
“Higher education must shift towards continuous, industry-linked, AI-integrated learning. Curriculum should include AI literacy, data interpretation, cybersecurity awareness, digital ethics and domain-specific AI applications in every programme,” Raman said.
Brajesh Bajpai, Professor of Practice, Psychology, Leadership and Personal Transformation and Lead, Office of Lifelong Learning, Nayanta University Pune, said the larger challenge is not AI itself, but the ability to respond to change.
“The real question is not how many jobs will disappear, but what kinds of jobs will emerge and what capabilities graduates will need to succeed in them,” Bajpai said.
As AI changes entry-level hiring, colleges may need to move beyond periodic syllabus revisions and short placement training modules. The next phase of employability will depend on continuous learning, practical exposure, AI fluency, communication skills and the ability to apply knowledge in fast-changing workplaces.