What’s driving the online ‘upskilling’ movement in India?

Industry leaders from upGrad, Great Learning, Simplilearn and Udemy pitch in with their experience of driving and nurturing the trend.

In the previous edition of the CMO Week, we explored the sub-segment of edtech that catered to kids. But like kids, adults too are locked inside their homes now. They had more time since they were working from home and also saving more due to the lack of outdoor spending avenues.

On the other hand, the COVID-induced lockdowns also bumped up the demand for all things digital which, in turn, created a pull for skillsets in the domains of digital marketing, app development, data, among many others.

All of this eventually caused a surge in interest around ‘upskilling’, where the professionals got themselves enrolled in courses on platforms like upGrad, Great Learning, Simplilearn and Udemy.

In conversation with leaders from some top upskilling platforms at the CMO Week (2nd edition), we explore the various facets of how the business has evolved – from consumer behaviour to competition.

Our panellists included:

Aparna Mahesh, CMO, Great Learning

Arjun Mohan, CEO, upGrad

Siddarth Bakshi, CMO, Udemy India

Kashyap Dalal, co-founder and chief business officer, Simplilearn

Arun Iyer, founder and creative partner, Spring Marketing Capital

1. What is driving adoption in upskilling, and how has the growth been? (3.00-17.00 mins)

2. Dissecting the consumer bouquets – Who’s enrolling? (17.00-22.45 mins)

3. Maintaining a high completion rate, and checking course drop-offs. (22.45-27.30 mins)

4. Differentiation and helping consumers make the right choice. (27.30-30.20 mins)

5. University partners drive credibility, but they are competitors too. (30.20-40.30 mins)

6. Regional language courses in upskilling. (40.30-41.45 mins)

7. Udemy’s sachet courses. (41.45-45.00 mins)

8. Closing remarks. (45.00-48.20 mins)

This session was part of CMO Week, an afaqs! event. Partners for CMO Week 2.0 (April 19-22, 2021) include ABP news (presenting partner mins) and Shutterstock (session sponsor mins).