AWS Public Sector Blog
Boosting career readiness in new technologies for diverse learners through the AWS Tech Alliance India
The Amazon Web Services (AWS) Skills to Jobs Tech Alliance (Tech Alliance) is a global coalition that brings together AWS customers, AWS Partners, government bodies, workforce development organizations, and educational institutions to address skills gaps and prepare learners for in-demand tech jobs. Each year, employers look for talent with the most relevant technical skills so they can benefit from the advancements enabled by cloud computing. With more than five million open cloud roles around the world, employers find it challenging to identify, recruit, and retain cloud-skilled talent.
AWS launched the India Tech Alliance in February 2024 to boost career readiness for learners and modernize tech programs of study through various applied learning activities.
“In India, the government continues to pioneer initiatives to accelerate digital transformation and build the next generation digital workforce. AWS, too, is committed to advancing technology innovation in India and to strengthening the future workforce by bridging technology skill gaps in the country,” said Pankaj Gupta, Public Sector Leader for AWS India Private Limited.
“The Tech Alliance has tremendous opportunity to create a technology talent pipeline in India and prepare learners with industry-relevant skills and expertise. Since the launch of the Tech Alliance in India almost one year ago, we are pleased that the number of participating employers and higher education institutions has doubled to 51 employers and 49 higher education institutions.”
During this time, participating members in the Tech Alliance have collaborated to deliver more than 50 events that have connected 29,000 learners to employers in India.
Working backwards from employers to support national and regional industry priorities
Academic programs must align with industry expectations to deliver a pipeline of job-ready early-career talent specialized in cloud and emerging technologies. In support of this, the Tech Alliance builds on existing learning resources that AWS Training and Certification makes available to higher educational institutions through programs such as AWS Academy. To help bridge the gap, the Tech Alliance engages with employers. Tech Alliance activities expose learners to industry requirements through efforts that include:
- Creating early-career role-based skill maps
- Connecting employers with institutions to provide feedback on course curricula for targeted skills linked to actual job roles
- Partnering with employers to deliver targeted engagements and program, such as capstone projects, applied learning events, mentoring, internships, and apprenticeships
For example, Altium, a global software leader focused on accelerating innovation in electronics, has joined the Tech Alliance to enable the skill building of learners around connected manufacturing concepts.
“We are excited to join hands with the Tech Alliance in India. This association is an endeavor to address Altium’s commitment to supporting emerging engineers and the skills gap in education curriculum especially for entry-level tech roles in the electronics industry,” said Rea Callender, Vice President of Education for Altium. “We believe the combination of skills in electronics, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence [AI] will be crucial for the industry going forward and will be a key requirement for India’s growth aspirations in electronics manufacturing.”
Building a pipeline of job-ready early-career talent in cloud and emerging technologies
Educational institutions are crucial in preparing a skilled workforce for the future workplace, particularly as the industry embraces emerging technologies such as generative AI. By joining the Tech Alliance, participating institutions can enhance the learning outcomes for their students through a range of collaborative initiatives such as access to a sandbox environment for hands-on learning, industry mentorship, and bootcamp training. The Tech Alliance has already enabled more than 5,000 learners in India on generative AI fundamentals and prompt engineering.
“As an educator, it’s always fulfilling to witness students engage with cutting-edge technology. The AWS generative AI Ideathon provided an exceptional platform for our students to explore the world of cloud computing and generative AI,” said Mr. Y V S Durga Prasad, AWS Educator and Placement Officer at ACE Engineering College. “Seeing the level of creativity and innovation in their solutions is both inspiring and a testament to the value of such practical learning experiences.”
Working with organizations with a mission to improve employability
The Tech Alliance in India conducts its work in partnership with local organizations with aligned missions to improve skilling and employability. Tech Alliance member Information & Communication Technology Academy of Kerala (ICTAK), for example, is an organization that partners with industry, academia, and government in bridging the skills gap in the field of information communication technology. Since ICTAK integrated AWS Educate modules with the Tech Alliance’s Cloud Engineer skills map for their learners in August 2024, they’ve seen more than 250 learners register each month. Similarly, HireMee, a talent acquisition and management platform, contributes to the Tech Alliance by deploying their assessments to learners from participating Tech Alliance institutes.
“Participating in the AWS Tech Alliance is a great opportunity to offer our assessment that focuses on important skills that have been identified by the World Economic Forum to students and their respective institutions. The assessment helps the individual and/or respective institution understand and bridge the gaps (if any) to enhance their employability quotient,” said Venkatraman Umakanth, HireMee’s Senior Vice President and Head. “The Tech Alliance provides a collaborative platform where we can work together to prepare young learners to be job ready.”
Providing opportunities for diverse learners
In August 2024, the India Tech Alliance launched an initiative aligned with the AWS Women in Cloud program, an initiative that mentors’ women aspiring to build careers in tech. The AWS Women in Cloud program works to create a pipeline for AWS customers, partners, and hiring managers worldwide to access diverse, qualified talent and advance diversity in the workplace. The program provides participants, as it has successfully in Brazil, with industry-focused, hands-on learning opportunities and career-focused events, delivered in collaboration with AWS teams and employers. In its first three months in India, the program reached 1,000 women from education institutions and is now on a path to engage 3,000 women by the end of 2025.
A flagship component of this program is mentorship, which connects senior female tech employees from participating Tech Alliance employers with women interested in pursuing tech careers from educational institutions that are part of the alliance. Women in Cloud mentors share advice and lessons to help early-career learners navigate careers in tech and in the cloud. Women in Cloud also facilitates opportunities for mentors who are subject matter experts (SMEs) to share their domain expertise with smaller groups on specific use cases.
“By sharing my experiences and insights, I aim to inspire them to embrace their potential, celebrate successes, learn from setbacks, and pursue their passions fearlessly to shape their professional paths,” said Lovelyn Moses, APAC Manager of People and Culture at SoftwareOne. “Empowering the next generation of female tech leaders is not just a privilege, but a responsibility and a commitment we share, to break barriers and create a more inclusive future in technology.”
Joining the Skills to Jobs Tech Alliance in India
Preparing early-career cloud talent for specific organization roles helps businesses that want to continue to innovate. The AWS Skills to Jobs Tech Alliance in India has nearly 100 participating education institutions, employers, and collaborating organizations. Working together through the Tech Alliance initiative, all the stakeholders can multiply their efforts in skilling while supporting career development for professionals and economic growth for India. We encourage employers interested in hiring entry-level cloud and tech talent to reach out to mailto:aws-ind-tech-alliance@amazon.com.