AI × Creativity: Skills for Innovation in the Intelligent Economy| Global Roundtable

Contents

Executive Summary

This panel discussion explores how artificial intelligence intersects with creative industries and education in India, with a focus on preparing the workforce for an "intelligent economy." The speakers—spanning film, education, travel, and corporate learning sectors—emphasize that while AI dramatically accelerates production and optimization tasks, human skills in storytelling, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, and cultural literacy remain irreplaceable. The conversation highlights India's structural reforms in creative education through the AVGC framework and national skill qualification standards, alongside industry partnerships to democratize AI access through platforms like Future Skills Prime.

Key Takeaways

Storytelling and cultural literacy are the irreplaceable human core in creative industries and increasingly in any innovation economy. AI is a powerful tool for execution and iteration, but the "why" and "what" remain deeply human.
India is systematizing creative education at scale through structural reforms (NEP, AVGC, national credit framework) and public-private partnerships (Adobe-NASCOM MOU), making creative careers a first-class option rather than parental taboo.
Skill portfolios must show progression, risk-taking, and continuous learning, not just tool proficiency. Employers and educators now value evidence of problem-framing, creativity across domains, decision-making under uncertainty, and cultural awareness.
Micro-credentials and stackable learning pathways are replacing monolithic degrees, enabling mid-career pivots and lifelong learning. Digital credentialing infrastructure (APAR ID, DigiLocker, academic bank of credit) makes learning truly portable and verifiable.
Access and localization are preconditions for inclusive AI-enabled creativity. Simply translating English software or copying Western curricula ignores India's 1.4 billion people, 22 official languages, and centuries of artistic traditions. The killer app is meeting artisans and students in their languages and cultural contexts.

Summary of Global Roundtable Discussion

Key Topics Covered

AI's Impact on Creative Industries: Pre-production, visual effects, animation, and the shift from studio-controlled production to independent creator economies
Educational Structural Reforms: India's National Education Policy, AVGC (Animation, VFX, Gaming, Comics) framework, and integration of creative arts into K-12 curricula
Foundational vs. Technical Skills: The distinction between timeless competencies (storytelling, critical thinking, cultural literacy) and rapidly evolving tools and software
Corporate Upskilling & Talent Transformation: How companies like Cognizant are redefining workforce development around problem-solving and creativity rather than siloed technical roles
Hyperpersonalization in Consumer Technology: Using AI to customize user experiences (example: MakeMyTrip's Myra chatbot)
Credentialing & Lifelong Learning: India's national credit framework, academic banking, and stackable micro-credentials (NOSs) to address shortened skill shelf-life
Industry-Academia Partnership: Ecosystem building through MOUs between Adobe, NASCOM, and educational institutions to embed real-world tools and curricula
Regional Language & Accessibility: Challenges and opportunities in localizing software and training for India's diverse artist and technician communities
Assessment & Learning Models: Moving beyond traditional written exams to continuous, practical, project-based evaluation
Responsible AI & Gen Z Consciousness: Brief discussion of social media's impact and industry responsibility to promote productive engagement

Key Points & Insights

AI as Accelerant, Not Replacement: In film/VFX, AI has compressed 3-5 day visual effects workflows into 2-3 hours, but the base task—storytelling and creative direction—remains human-centric. Approximately 99% of a filmmaker's asset generation can be AI-assisted, but ideation, cultural context, and final creative judgment are irreplaceably human.
Foundational Literacy Over Tool Mastery: Both academic and industry speakers stress that teaching software-specific skills is insufficient. Students and workers need foundational competencies—visual composition, narrative structure, design thinking, cultural sensitivity—that transcend any single tool. Software versions change every 1-2 years; principles endure.
Shift from Role-Based to Capability-Based Talent Development: Cognizant's experience reveals that traditional "developer," "architect," "designer" silos are dissolving. Modern work demands problem framing, creativity, and decision-making across formerly segregated disciplines. The 50,000-person AI hackathon that generated 30,000 prototypes in one week exemplified how removing barriers to experimentation unleashes distributed creativity.
India's Structural Reforms Enable Scale: The National Education Policy's integration of creative arts from Grade 6 onwards, combined with IICT's train-the-trainer programs in 4,000 schools (43,000 teachers trained), and NASCOM's Future Skills Prime platform (26 lakh learners, 60% from Tier 2-3 towns) demonstrates India's systematic approach to democratizing creative and AI education at scale.
Shelf-Life of Skills Has Contracted: Historical norm: learn a skill once, deploy for a career. New reality: skill shelf-life is now 6-18 months. This drives the shift from 400-600 hour monolithic courses to stackable 10-90 hour micro-credentials and continuous learning, supported by digital credentialing (APAR ID, DigiLocker, academic bank of credit).
Hyperpersonalization as Narrative Shift: In consumer businesses (travel, e-commerce), AI enables one-to-one communication replacing mass broadcasting. Instead of "Goa is great for everyone," platforms can say "Goa is great for you because of temples/local culture." This mirrors the creative industry's move from studio-gatekept IP to independent creator ownership.
Cultural & Regional Context is Non-Negotiable: Dr. Kulkarni's repeated emphasis on training in regional languages, engaging traditional artisans from Krishna Nagar and Mahabalipuram, and embedding cultural literacy in curricula underscores that AI tools are culturally agnostic—but meaningful creative output is not. 72 traditional painters trained in his studio now work for Disney and DreamWorks, bridging ancient craftsmanship and modern tech.
Assessment Barriers Require Institutional Change: Traditional exam formats fail creative students. IICT lobbied the UGC to allow "Professor of Practice" titles (practitioners without formal degrees) and shift to continuous, portfolio-based evaluation. This structural change is essential for creative education credibility.
Industry-Driven, Academic-Anchored Hybrid Model: Future Skills Prime's approach (industry-curated courses, government accreditation, academic credit recognition, employer relevance) creates a trusted pathway where learners see progression from Grade 10 through CXO level, with portable digital credentials recognized across employers.
Emotional & Behavioral Intelligence as Differentiator: As AI handles execution, IICT rebranded as the "School of Emerging Intelligence," blending artificial, emotional, and behavioral intelligence. Storytelling is ultimately about human connection; AI amplifies but cannot replace the creator's ability to evoke emotion and cultural resonance.

Notable Quotes or Statements

Rana Daggubati (Actor/Producer): "The base to anything is storytelling... your social literacy becomes much heavier. The understanding of stories, the understanding of your culture, of roots... the ones who are clearer with the idea will be able to use AI in a format that's better."
Rana Daggubati: "The entertainment industry has been the first gig economy... but the business and the education never spoke in any manner."
Dr. Rashish Kulkarni (IICT): "Creative education is mixing artificial intelligence with emotional intelligence and behavioral intelligence... we are calling it the School of Emerging Intelligence."
Rishi Singh (MakeMyTrip CMO/CBO): "What AI has done is again got us to a place where we can hyperpersonalize where I can tell you Mala Goa is great for you because you like the temples of Goa or Rana Goa is great for you because you'll find some great locals to shoot your next scene."
Sarange Agarwal (Cognizant L&D VP): "AI has shifted the conversation from how the work needs to be done which tools needs to be used to how I can add value... creativity is a foundational skill most of us will have it—it's not in the domain of few people."
Sarange Agarwal (citing Cognizant hackathon): "50,000 employees generated 30,000 working prototypes within one week... if given the right tool, given a safe environment and a permission to experiment, creativity becomes a shared capability."
Dr. Bilashak Gore (NASCOM CEO): "Rather than a 400-600 hours of courses now the learning is more stackable in microcredential... it is more of 10 hour 20 hour 60 hours 90 hours where you can study... the shelf life of skills is reduced."
Dr. Kulkarni: "You don't teach engineering and medical and law in the school... you do the foundational education so that you have physics chemistry mathematics to go to engineering... that's how we have now structured the program."

Speakers & Organizations Mentioned

Role/Organization	Name
Moderator, Adobe Global VP, Education	Mala Sharma
Actor/Producer/Director	Rana Daggubati
Board Member, IICT (Indian Institute of Creative Technology)	Dr. Rashish Kulkarni
Chief Business Officer & CMO, MakeMyTrip	Rishi Singh
VP Learning & Development, Cognizant	Sarange Agarwal
CEO, Sector Skill Council (NASCOM)	Dr. Bilashak Gore
Filmmaker/Creator (Yapposaurus film)	Sid
Chief Strategy Officer, NASCOM	Sangeita Gupta
Director, Head of Education, NASCOM/D2L India	Jaydev Gopal Krishnan / Jay
Program Manager, MBA Digital Marketing, Chandigarh University	Assistant Professor (name not provided)

Key Organizations:

Adobe (software, education partnerships)
NASCOM (industry body, skill council, Future Skills Prime platform)
Ministry of Electronics, Information Technology (Indian government, digital skilling)
IICT (Indian Institute of Creative Technology, curriculum design for AVGC)
Future Skills Prime (learning platform aggregating 450+ industry-vetted courses, 26 lakh learners)
Cognizant (IT services, talent transformation, hackathons)
MakeMyTrip (travel/consumer tech, AI chatbot Myra)
UGC (University Grants Commission, regulatory framework)
D2L India (EdTech, digital credentials)
Skillpill (MSME upskilling in Northeast)
Disney, DreamWorks (employing IICT-trained traditional artisans)

Technical Concepts & Resources

AI Tools & Technologies Mentioned

Generative AI / LLMs (Large Language Models): Core enabler of hyperpersonalization and creative acceleration
Adobe Firefly (AI image generation)
Adobe Express (simplified design tool)
Myra (MakeMyTrip's conversational AI chatbot for customer friction resolution)
Low-Code / No-Code Platforms (including VIP/wipCode from Cognizant context)
Visual Effects (VFX) Workflows: Compression from 3-5 days to 2-3 hours through AI layer automation

Frameworks & Standards

AVGC (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, Comics): India's creative industry classification and curriculum framework
National Education Policy (NEP): Indian government policy enabling creative arts as formal subjects from Grade 6
National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF): Standardized skill levels 1-8, replacing unstructured training
APAR (Academic Permanent Registry) ID: 12-digit unique identifier for lifelong learning credentials
DigiLocker: Digital credential storage and verification infrastructure
Academic Bank of Credit (ABC): Allows credit transfer and stacking across institutions
NOS (National Occupational Standards): Micro-credential building blocks replacing monolithic courses
National Credit Framework: Enables recognition of learning across sectors and institutions

Pedagogical Approaches

Train-the-Trainer Model: IICT trained 43,000 teachers across 4,000 schools to multiply impact
Continuous & Portfolio-Based Assessment: Replacing end-semester written exams with ongoing practical evaluation
Socratic Learning & Storytelling-Based Learning: Using narrative structures (Panchatantra, Amar Chitra Katha models) to teach AI concepts
Project-Based Learning in Flow: Integrating creativity and AI tools into existing subjects (math, science, English) rather than siloed modules
Multi-Disciplinary Degrees: Proposed "Bachelors of Creative Arts and Sciences," "Bachelors of Immersive Arts and Sciences" to break arts-science silos

Data & Metrics

MakeMyTrip Dataset: 20 years of travel data from 50 million Indian travelers
Cognizant Hackathon: 50,000 employees, 30,000 working prototypes generated in 1 week (Guinness World Record)
Future Skills Prime Reach: 26 lakh (2.6 million) learners onboarded; 60% from Tier 2-3 towns; 180 crore+ digital badges issued
Teacher Training: 43,000 teachers trained across 4,000 schools under IICT AVGC rollout
Curriculum Rollout Target: 15,000 schools and 500 institutes planned for AVGC implementation

Skill Frameworks Referenced

Core Capabilities for AI-Era Work (per Cognizant):
- Problem framing
- Creativity
- Decision-making (especially in AI contexts)
Essential Literacies (per Rana Daggubati):
- Social literacy (cultural understanding)
- Tech literacy (tool familiarity, not coding)
- Communication & articulation
Foundational Skills (per multiple speakers):
- Design thinking
- Critical thinking
- Collaboration
- Emotional & behavioral intelligence
- Storytelling & narrative structure
- Visual composition & grammar of filmmaking
- Continuity & sequencing

Industry Examples

Film Pre-Production: AI-assisted storyboarding and previsualization before principal photography
Visual Effects: Hybrid AI-human workflows with artists handling key layers, AI automating repetitive ones
Character Design: Running same creative briefs through both human teams and AI, then curating outputs
Travel/Consumer Platforms: Hyperpersonalized recommendations and conversational AI to reduce customer friction points

Critical Observations & Limitations

Transcript Quality Issues: The provided transcript contains significant repetition ("you see," "right," "yeah") and occasional transcription errors. Some speaker attributions are unclear, and the ending cuts off abruptly mid-sentence, suggesting incompleteness.
Scope Primarily India-Focused: While global implications exist, the discussion is anchored in India's education system, NSQF standards, and government policy. International applicability varies.
Limited Discussion of Risks: The panel is predominantly optimistic about AI-creativity integration. Minimal airtime was given to concerns like job displacement in VFX/animation, data privacy in hyperpersonalization, or potential quality degradation from over-automation.
Vague on Implementation Timelines & Metrics: While targets are mentioned (15,000 schools, 500 institutes for AVGC), progress metrics, budget allocation, and realistic rollout timelines remain largely unspecified.
Credentialing Complexity Underexplained: The ABC, APAR ID, and DigiLocker infrastructure is significant but presented without clarity on employer adoption, cross-sector recognition, or international portability.