DAAD and the India AI Impact Summit 2026

Arthur Rapp, Director, joined a panel discussion on “Empowering People in the Age of AI: German Asian Partnerships for Talent, Innovation, and the Future of Work”. The session focused on how AI is transforming industry and reshaping skills development for the workforce of the future and explored approaches like curriculum reform, collaborative training programs, and lifelong learning initiatives that respond to evolving industry needs.

Reflecting on our role in this space, he shared how as an institution, we are actively contributing to this vision by providing scholarships across all fields of study, supporting talented students and researchers in shaping a globally connected and innovation-driven future. German Minister Dr. Baerbel Kofler (BMZ) also was on this panel.

Catch the full discussion here.

On the sidelines of the Summit, a panel discussion was organised on ‘Indian Engineers in an AI World: Talent, Mobility, and Demand’ by AI Knowledge Consortium and UAE-India CEPA Council, in which Apoorv Mahendru, Deputy Director, DAAD, participated examining how academia, industry, and governments need to align to prepare engineers for an AI-augmented economy.

The conversation emphasised the urgent need to move beyond rote learning towards applied, problem-solving, and interdisciplinary education models that closely mirror real-world industry demands. Building on this, the panel focused on the scope and challenges of academia–industry partnerships, examining how institutions, governments, and global partners can better align to future-proof India’s engineering workforce in an AI-driven economy. Together, these insights pointed to a smarter, more agile, and globally competitive talent pool.