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British Deputy High Commissioner for East and North East India Andrew Fleming on Saturday said India and the United Kingdom (UK) should move beyond traditional student exchange programmes to build a collaborative education and artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem through joint research, curriculum development, teacher training and industry-linked skilling.
Addressing the two-day O-LEAD 2026 — Odisha: The Global Growth Hub, organised by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham), Fleming highlighted the India-UK Shared Vision 2035 as a framework for deepening bilateral cooperation in education, skills and emerging technologies.
He said AI was a central priority in the vision for the next decade and called for closer integration of education and technology to prepare learners for a rapidly changing employment landscape.
“India’s vast talent pool and experience in building digital systems at scale, combined with the UK’s strengths in higher education, research and AI innovation, could create wider opportunities for students and businesses,” he said.
The British Deputy High Commissioner said the next phase of bilateral cooperation should extend beyond conventional student mobility to joint AI research, jointly designed curricula, teacher development, partnerships among universities, technical institutions and technology companies, and shared approaches to responsible AI governance.
The proposed collaboration assumes significance as AI reshapes the skills required across industries, raising questions about how education systems can prepare students not only for technology-related jobs but also for wider changes in the workplace.
The Shared Vision 2035, he said, places education and skills alongside technology and innovation at the centre of the bilateral relationship. Its emphasis on nurturing global talent, strengthening transnational education partnerships and advancing work on emerging technologies provides an opportunity to connect the two countries’ education and innovation ecosystems more closely.
Fleming said India’s ability to develop digital systems for a large and diverse population complemented the UK’s strengths in research, higher education and innovation. He cited the UK’s globally recognised university system and AI ecosystem, adding that the British government described the country as the world’s third-largest AI power, with more than 5,800 AI companies and an AI market valued at over £72 billion.
Rather than treating education and technology as separate areas of cooperation, the two countries should ensure that research informs teaching, industry helps shape relevant skills and innovation creates tangible opportunities for learners, he said.
Highlighting the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025, which estimated that 39 per cent of workers’ core skills could change by 2030, he described the projection as a substantial shift even if the eventual change falls short of the estimate.
“The future is not simply about producing more technologists, valuable though they will be. It is about ensuring that every learner can use technology confidently while retaining a distinctly human set of capabilities that technology, I believe, cannot replace,” he said.
Fleming outlined three shifts that education systems would need to make to respond to the transformation. The first is a move from memorisation to application, with greater emphasis on curiosity, critical thinking, creativity and problem-solving. The second shift is towards universal AI literacy, and the third is a transition from front-loaded education to lifelong learning, he said.
“While not every student needs to become a data scientist or software engineer, all learners should understand what AI can do, where it can fail, how bias can enter automated systems and how to evaluate AI-generated information critically. Schools, universities, technical institutions and employers have a role in creating opportunities for reskilling and upskilling throughout people’s working lives,” he said.
The British diplomat said the India-UK partnership could support these changes through collaboration in curriculum design, teacher development, technical education, joint research, industry-linked learning and skills training. Such cooperation would help ensure that academic programmes remain relevant to changing industrial requirements while allowing research and technological innovation to translate into practical opportunities for learners.
However, Fleming cautioned that international partnerships must address inclusion from the outset. The expansion of AI and digital education should not leave sections of society behind, and collaboration must consider whose data is represented in AI systems, which languages they support, who can afford access and whether learners have the confidence and freedom to participate.
He stressed that the objective of AI adoption should not be technology for its own sake, but better education and wider opportunities. A partnership that combines India’s scale and talent with the UK’s research and educational strengths could help build an innovation ecosystem that is inclusive and trusted, he added.
Speaking at the event, Bhupendra Singh Poonia, commissioner-cum-secretary of the Skill Development and Technical Education department, Odisha, emphasised that early skill development and education are essential to preparing young people for emerging employment opportunities.
“Industry must take the lead in skill development and institutional management. Research and development should move beyond academic laboratories, with industry playing a central role in innovation and commercialisation,” Poonia said, citing the semiconductor sector as an example of how research and industrial application can work together.
He stressed the need to move beyond limited partnerships towards a model in which industry takes ownership of execution and contributes directly to economic growth.
Parminder Jeet Kaur, senior director and head, states and Union territories, Assocham; Pankaj Lochan Mohanty, chairman, Odisha State Development Council; Alexzandar Das, chairman, Odisha State Education Council; and Prabodh Mohanty, co-chair, Odisha State Development Council, Assocham, were present, among others.
