Agentic AI most sought-after course at upGrad, says Anuj Vishwakarma

Mid- to senior-level professionals drive surge in AI upskilling; platform partners with IIMs, IITs and OpenAI to expand agentic and generative AI programs

Agentic artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as the most sought-after course at skilling platform upGrad, as demand for applied AI skills surges among working professionals, Anuj Vishwakarma, the platform’s chief executive officer (CEO) of higher education programmes, said.

 

“A course on agentic AI is the most sought after on our platform. Overall, 50 per cent of our courses are in AI education. They are teaching learners agentic AI, generative AI and applied AI, and AI native software engineering,” he said. 

 

Vishwakarma added that the remaining courses also integrate some elements of AI.

 

He said, “I would say the remaining 50 per cent of our portfolio is not totally untouched by AI. For instance, in our marketing course, we have recently integrated how to become a better marketer with AI. The same is true for digital marketing with AI. In our portfolio, there is not even a single course which does not have an AI tadka.”

 

The platform has partnered institutes like IIM Udaipur, and IIIT Bangalore to launch programmes for CXOs. It has also launched an AI leadership programme for leaders in the technology industry.

 

“For software developers in India, we have done partnerships with some of IITs where we are launching IIT-driven programmes with expertise in generative AI, and agentic AI,” Vishwakarma added. 

 

On the segment where AI course uptake is highest, Vishwakarma said there was more interest from middle-level to senior-level management employees.

 

He said, “It was a surprise for us because initially when we launched these courses, we thought this upskilling movement would be more pronounced in the 0-3 year experience bucket. But when we started looking at our data, people who are actually into the 5-10 year experience bucket were seriously investing in upskilling.” 

 

At the AI Impact Summit in the national capital last week, upGrad announced a partnership with OpenAI. The collaboration will allow the platform’s learners to gain a higher degree of proficiency in using ChatGPT and earn ChatGPT certifications.

 

Vishwakarma said, “Our data science and machine learning learners will also get exposed to the Cortex platform being launched by OpenAI. Here, what we are teaching learners as a part of the course curriculum will actually be tried out by these learners. We will integrate the Atlas browser, an OpenAI product, into our ecosystem.”

 

Even though the earlier talks between upGrad and Unacademy didn’t materialise due to valuation concerns, the skilling platform is looking for probable mergers or acquisitions.

 

He added, “We are a lifelong learning company. So, right now we are looking at anything from college education till up to senior management. We are in touch with some players but right now we cannot say what can materialise.”

 

upGrad has raised a total of $329 million. The last fundraise was in 2024, wherein it has mopped up $60 million in a series C funding.