How universities can prepare students for jobs that don’t yet exist

As technology evolves rapidly, universities must shift from traditional education to immersive, problem-focused learning.

In our tech-driven world, innovation-led disruptions have become commonplace. Technology is evolving faster than our imagination, reshaping industries, markets, economies and our overall lives. Reports suggest that in the next 20 years, two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies may not exist, highlighting that organisations with capital, talent, vision and resources may be displaced by the evolving world, rendering the most established knowledge structures irrelevant within no time.

Today, universities have the responsibility to prepare young professionals not just for the jobs of today, but for problems, opportunities and industries that do not yet exist. (AI-gen representative image)

To navigate such a world, universities have the responsibility to prepare young professionals not just for the jobs of today, but for problems, opportunities and industries that do not yet exist. The future will belong to learners who can think systemically, adapt quickly and design intelligently for emerging realities.

At the heart of this transition is a shift from job readiness to problem readiness. We need our higher education to evolve into a framework that goes beyond preparing students for fixed roles and existing industries and trains them to identify, define and solve new challenges across various domains. Cultivating systems thinking, contextual sensitivity, interdisciplinary exploration and design-led inquiry will allow learners to work across sectors, ranging from climate technology, AI and social innovation.

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Integrating Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) with modern innovation is one of the most effective ways to build this adaptability. A centuries-old repository of timeless wisdom, IKS allows learners to draw from time-tested knowledge on sustainable living, resource management and community resilience that is rooted in local contexts. India’s traditional

knowledge, whether in water conservation, agriculture, materials, craft or community governance, offers some of the most sophisticated frameworks for sustainability and resilience.

When combined with modern tech such as AI, sensor technologies, advanced data analytics and new materials, these systems can unlock solutions that are both futuristic and deeply contextual. A traditional step well augmented with a modern monitoring system, or vernacular construction combined with energy-efficient design, represents innovation that

respects place and people. This integration builds contextually intelligent professionals, those who understand that innovation doesn’t always mean starting from scratch.

Universities must also move from instructional learning to immersive learning. Higher education institutions must help students unlearn traditional rote-learning habits that prioritise memorisation over creativity. On-ground and experiential learning must be encouraged, as working with communities and industries enables students to develop a deeper understanding of how systems truly work on the ground. Immersive education cultivates empathy, curiosity and adaptability, helping students connect classroom learning with lived experiences. This model will nurture creativity, which remains humanity’s enduring advantage over AI, the ability to imagine, question, understand and reframe the unknown when it emerges.

Immersive learning must go hand in hand with nurturing innovation as a habit by embedding innovation in every learning process. Students must be encouraged to prototype ideas, test hypotheses and co-create with peers from other disciplines. This will help them move from being knowledge consumers to knowledge creators, capable of shaping emergent industries.

Evolving technology will continue to challenge established learning frameworks, demanding new approaches to learning. Universities must cultivate technological curiosity and agility so that students are prepared to learn and evolve. Building a learning environment that empowers students to adapt to and ethically shape AI, automation and data-driven systems, rather than being displaced by them, would be of utmost importance. By 2047, as super-intelligence becomes universal, what will distinguish humans will be emotional intelligence and ethical judgment. Universities must begin cultivating these dimensions today, ensuring that students remain deeply human in an increasingly automated world.

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Inculcating such learning capabilities would require a flexible curriculum that allows students to explore, combine and design their own pathways. Future-ready universities must move away from rigid course structures toward modular, flexible curricula. Allowing students to curate their learning across disciplines will help them evolve into multi-skilled professionals. This flexibility will nurture self-directed learners who are not bound by predefined roles, but can adapt and design their own careers in a changing world.

As traditional learning frameworks evolve, the way we define success must also change. Placement statistics as a measure of success should be replaced with the impact a student brings to their area of work. This re-orientation of purpose will ensure that education contributes to a resilient and regenerative future economy.

If universities can cultivate problem-ready, ethically anchored, technologically agile and creatively confident graduates, India will not just participate in the future, it will shape it.

(Author Sanjeev Vidyarthi is Provost, Anant National University. Views are personal.)