India’s workforce challenge is often framed as a jobs problem. Employers say they cannot find the right talent, while millions of job seekers struggle to secure meaningful employment. Yet the reality, according to Kartik Narayan, CEO of Apna, is more nuanced. The gap is increasingly one of employability, workforce readiness, confidence and access to personalised guidance at scale.
A parallel transformation is unfolding in the talent ecosystem with AI which is beginning to emerge as a critical layer that can help bridge long-standing gaps between skills, opportunity and career progression, particularly for India’s vast workforce outside the country’s metropolitan centres.
In conversation with Express Computer, Narayan discusses how AI is reshaping employability, career coaching and workforce preparation, turning what was once a human-intensive process into a scalable technology-driven capability.
India’s employability challenge goes beyond jobs
Narayan believes the conversation around employment often misses the scale and complexity of India’s workforce dynamics.
India has one of the world’s largest working-age populations, yet formal employment remains a fraction of the overall labour force. At the same time, employers continue to report shortages of qualified talent.
“The problem statement is actually very simple,” says Narayan. “India is roughly 145 crore population. The working population between 16 and 65 years old is around 90 crore. How many people have formal jobs? Roughly eight crore. On one side, companies are saying there aren’t enough people. On the other side, candidates are asking where the jobs are. The answer lies somewhere in between.”
The challenge, he argues, is not merely one of skills. Many candidates possess the capability to perform a role but struggle to communicate their strengths, navigate hiring processes or present their experience effectively.
This challenge becomes even more pronounced in smaller towns and emerging employment markets, where exposure to formal hiring environments remains limited.
Why workforce readiness is becoming a technology problem
Historically, career counselling, interview coaching and employability preparation have been difficult to scale. Personalised guidance required human intervention, making it inaccessible to large sections of the workforce.
Narayan believes AI changes that equation fundamentally. Instead of adopting a blanket approach to enhance employability, AI facilitates contextual and personalised advice in accordance with the background, experience, and ambitions of the individual.
“AI is fully aware of your context and background. It analyses your resume, poses queries, creates a profile, and helps assess the ways in which your existing skill sets can be used for future opportunities.”
This becomes especially important in light of the changing needs of organisations, which place a greater emphasis on transferable skills rather than work experience.
Narayan argues that the former tend to be underrated by candidates while applying for new jobs. “There is a lot more fungibility now. Earlier, people would say you only have experience in one area, so you cannot apply elsewhere. Today, employers are looking at communication skills, relationship skills and other transferable capabilities.”
The result is a more dynamic approach to talent mobility, where individuals can transition across roles and industries with greater confidence.
From job platforms to AI-powered career ecosystems
The evolution of AI is also changing the role of employment platforms themselves.
Traditionally, digital hiring platforms focused on connecting employers and job seekers. Increasingly, they are becoming intelligent career ecosystems capable of supporting candidates throughout their employment journey.
Narayan argues that investors, enterprises and technology providers often underestimate how much personalised guidance candidates require before they are ready to enter the hiring process.
The ability to simulate interviews, assess responses and provide real-time feedback allows AI systems to function as digital career coaches. “It is not just somebody questioning you. It is also trying to understand your response and give feedback on it. At the end, a self-assessment report comes to your mobile so you can continue learning.”
Unlike traditional coaching models, AI can provide this support continuously and at scale.
Mass personalisation turns into an ultimate opportunity for AI
Perhaps the greatest technology opportunity in this space is mass personalisation.
In the realm of employee platforms, it will mean transitioning from a broad content strategy to a very context-specific experience strategy.
AI can be used to analyse resumes, job analyses, sector demands, and other signals to craft a personalised learning path for each applicant.
Mass customisation on such a large scale was out of the question because of high costs and resource limitations.
According to Narayan, it is important to assist applicants in realising how their qualifications fit into various openings.
“It tells candidates that they don’t have to fake experience. They can focus on the aspects of their previous role that overlap with the job they are applying for.”
Such contextual insights become increasingly relevant as more organisations adopt skills-orientated hiring practices.
Democratising employability beyond metropolitan India
The perhaps most profound implication of AI-based employability tools has something to do with reaching people beyond the established talent centres.
Candidates based in smaller cities may be unable to receive mentoring, coaching, or any kind of professional advice that could prepare them for future jobs.
Here, AI solutions play an essential role
As mentioned above, Narayan highlights the magnitude at which digital employability platforms have been functioning already.
In his opinion, AI-based interview preparation programmes have already reached several thousand towns. “Failure in a safe environment is okay. Failure in an actual interview can be fatal for that degree of confidence.”
The ability to practise, make mistakes and improve without fear of judgement is especially important for first-time job seekers.
Social barriers often prevent candidates from seeking help or participating in traditional training programmes. AI removes many of these constraints by providing a private and accessible learning environment.
“Shame is a very big thing. People worry about saying something wrong or not being able to speak properly. AI creates an opportunity to practise without fear of being judged.”
The rise of AI-enabled workforce intelligence
Beyond individual career preparation, Narayan sees a larger opportunity in workforce intelligence.
As platforms accumulate insights from millions of candidate interactions, they can better understand skills demand, talent availability and employability trends across sectors and geographies.
This creates the foundation for a more responsive labour market.
The same technologies powering personalised recommendations can also help identify emerging skills gaps, workforce mobility patterns and changing employer expectations.
For enterprises facing persistent talent shortages, such intelligence can become increasingly valuable.
AI may become the first career coach for millions
Narayan believes AI will play a central role in democratising access to career development and employability support.
While human mentorship and guidance will continue to matter, AI offers a practical way to deliver foundational career assistance at a scale unmatched by traditional models. “At mass level, this is not getting missed by anybody.”
He views this as one of the most important opportunities emerging from the current wave of AI innovation. “AI is helping to democratise the entire thing.”
For Narayan, employability does not only mean helping people get a job but also creating an entire ecosystem using technology which can help them build their confidence and communicate their capabilities and continually adapt themselves to keep up with the demands of the workforce.
AI becoming increasingly ubiquitous in talent management will not have its biggest influence in automating the process of human judgement but rather in making workforce readiness available to millions who did not previously have access to it. Thus, AI is growing beyond a means of boosting efficiency to become much more – a backbone of India’s employability ecosystem in the coming years.