Billionaire investor Ronnie Screwvala, who is the co-founder of online learning unicorn upGrad besides being a highly successful film producer, talks to us about his artificial intelligence (AI) bets. He foresees AI playing a key role in India’s online education sector in the future while also boosting the entrepreneurial ecosystem. He also warns against the trend of CEOs trying to fit in by doing short AI courses as a ‘top-up’ without deeply understanding the concept. Excerpts:

There’s so much focus on AI these days in India and it’s playing on the minds of parents, students, job seekers and the corporate head honchos. Everyone wants to pet it but no one is sure what’s in it for them.

AI cannot be singled out in the development of a country. In India there’s so much going on in the electric vehicle (EV) industry, semiconductors, renewables and in medical devices. AI is one of those happening sectors. On a macro basis for the government, it can be an incredible enabler to use AI to administer services, for data collection etc.

But what I can say is that AI will augment learning. It can generate and extract better case studies than probably Harvard. It will also play a supplementary role in formal education. It will also make you job ready by telling you what gaps need to be filled for you to fit into the market. So, it will be different things for different people.

The online learning space will have significant amount of data to work with, with the emergence of AI.

However, an online setting provides a reservoir of information. For example, if someone has gone through a marketing chapter thrice, we’ll have a buddy call them and say, hey, we think you are having a problem with this chapter. You haven’t worked out the questions provided etc. So, we’ll have that kind of information and data about people and their learning patterns. Then there are the peer patterns. How many of them have asked questions on the chapter and posted it online? How many of them have been collaborative in this exercise? There’ll be an incredible amount of data thanks to AI.

Then comes the whole counselling space with bots. There’s a whole lot of demand for it. People often feel they are at crossroads in their career and need some counselling to come out of that. That’s going to be a trend.

One can also open up a reservoir of working professionals who can become teachers and guides by using AI tools in online teaching without having to do teaching for life. You can get paid well for it and find the whole process very gratifying especially if it’s in your particular space.

What sort of impact will AI have on formal education? Many kids around the country have started to believe formal school education is holding them back much like what’s happening in the United States.

It’s a bit tricky because kids at an early-age fall in the vision of their parents. People like you and me would want them to go through formal education because we don’t want to short change them. Till they turn 15-16, they’ll go through formal education and it’s only after that the kids will start to communicate what they would like to do. Already, home schooling and online schooling have taken off.

I can’t see AI impacting formal education in this generation but maybe next.

AI and online learning could have a multiplier effect on entrepreneurship in this country. AI will help entrepreneurs save time and they could utilise it to unlock better value for their business. Your view, please.

Absolutely. Both self-employment and entrepreneurship will get a fillip through AI. As far as self-employment is concerned, I think there is going to be this boom of experts who are specialists in one area or two and they would want to become consultants. It’s like having two different DNAs at work. Companies will not accept it. But who cares? If that’s what the workforce wants, that’s where they’ll have to go. This will trigger a duality in career opportunities.

No question that AI is going to be a big time-saver. You keep saving 2,3 hours every day at work and that’s pure gold. It’s going to trigger you to think differently.

That brings us to jobs creation. Wouldn’t India get hit hard by AI?

There’s going to be some automation; especially in a country like India where we have been used for low wages and outsourcing. If you are potent and well trained in ML and AI you can command large premium jobs around the world. We should use them more as assets.

Look, India will have a problem of creating jobs for its youth (something like 200 million jobs). Banking and insurance and other finance verticals aren’t creating enough of them. So, it’s a generic problem and you cannot blame it on one technology. Even some of the larger companies betting on AI will soon have a reality check on how to monetise the business. There seems to be an incredible amount of euphoria in some quarters for no reason.

In a way it’s good as it hurtles you towards something in two years what otherwise would have taken five. Big money is backing it too.

Is it fashionable for CXOs to do a course in AI now, just to fit in? Fear of missing out (fomo) possibly.

People are looking for hacks. That’s not going to cut it in AI. The CEOs have so much fomo today and they feel they need a top-up course in AI. A lot of CEOs want to do a short course and that doesn’t mean much.

Skilling and training are now primarily about machine learning and AI. MBAs are going to be about data analytics. Do not look for a hack.

An AI-first workforce just a buzzword? Agree?

I don’t have a meaning for it. Maybe it’s nice for some HR folks to post that and get some talent. It’s a positioning thing, just to be part of the whole buzz. I’m calling it buzz, not fluff.

I’ve heard that in upGrad’s case, 40% of the free courses taken up by users are AI-related.

I think most people want an ingredient of it. It’s positioning as I said because if you know some of those ingredients of AI, then they can participate in more of their group meetings in office.

It’s becoming clear that Gen Z is going to use AI more as a glorified hack and why not? They are more circumspect about time and attention span. They will drive the consumption patterns.

How do you think the 40+ age group can survive the AI era?

A mature work force has a tick mark against it even in this era. Their vast experience and the resultant gut feel they have acquired are major ticks. That’s not going to be replaced by AI or GenZ. However, it’ll force 40+ people to be more collaborative and get 1-2 people who understand the new trends to work around them and then be super smart about it.

If I’m in that situation, I would like to be surrounded by a team where 25% of the people are aware (AI ready). I can then leverage my thought process around it and bring that to the table rather than get intimidated saying ‘I’ll have to copy them’ because what they can’t bring to the table are things that I do bring at 40.

What’s your method of investing in AI startups?

Right now, I’ll be a bit more careful in investing in AI companies. I wouldn’t like to be the earliest investor as I don’t suffer from fomo. Nearly 99% of them will get found out and fall by the wayside. We have seen that through the Internet age of the ‘90s. Having said that I’ve invested in AI startups like ZuAI (AI powered personal tutor app).

Being a hugely successful movie producer (Screwvala is regarded as the richest person in Bollywood according to various reports with estimates pegging his net worth at ₹13,000 crore), what kind of an impact do you think AI will have on media & entertainment, cinema and the arts?

Script writers or story tellers are never going to be out of business. There’s an incredible amount of EQ that’s a huge part of successful story telling. I don’t think AI can trigger that emotion; the nuanced part of EQ-led story telling can never get replaced. Also, the power of envisaging trends. That’s probably out of the realm of what AI can do at the moment.

What are your goals and objectives as far as the growth of upGrad is concerned, considering that there have been many upheavals in the edtech sector? Byju’s debacle comes to mind and there are several others that got derailed on the way.

Let me clarify one thing here. The examples that you mentioned were more of investor debacles or issues that emanated out of founder immaturity. It’s not a sectoral problem. If Yes Bank had a problem, it cannot be seen as a banking sector issue or if Jet Airways went bankrupt it didn’t mean that aviation was an unviable business.

I want upGrad to be a forever learning company. It’s a key part of where we want to be. I want to create an ecosystem where almost everyone can become a teacher. We’ll make online teaching attractive, even for non-teachers who are experts in their fields.

Also, take this from me. We’ll look to beat Zomato and Zepto at their own game. Let’s say someone needs a counsellor in 10 minutes. We’ll get the counsellor in 10 minutes, just like in quick commerce.

Going forward, people will want more than just groceries. Let’s say you want some quick help before facing a job interview and are looking for a hack. We’ll send that to you in a hurry. We’ll also expand globally.

(Note to readers: Aye, AI is a column that deals with Artificial Intelligence and its possibilities by engaging in conversations with the brightest in business)