We live in exciting but uncertain times. On one hand, digital technology has created tremendous opportunities for young people to generate wealth at an early age. On the other hand, it has led to thousands of job losses as low-end jobs are replaced by transformative technologies like Artificial Intelligence. The World Economic Forum (WEF) estimates that AI will lead to the loss of 85 million jobs while creating 97 million jobs in entirely new fields. Many of these fields don’t even exist today. This is the biggest challenge educators like us face: How do we cultivate talent and skills among students to help them succeed in a rapidly transforming world?

I struggled for months to answer this question and, like any struggling student, I turned to the teachings of my Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, who once said, “Education should develop thinking and imagination rather than mere memory or storage of scattered information.” Armed with this inspiring thought from Gurudev, I reflected on my own journey as a student. Hailing from a family of teachers in Chennai, education was highly valued in our community. I excelled academically, earning a B.Tech from IIT and an MBA from IIM, the best education our country could offer me. However, I realized my true education in life began when I decided to move to Mumbai to become an entrepreneur at the young age of 23, leaving behind a cushy US investment job that I had secured after my MBA at IIM-B.

It was a huge struggle for a lower-middle-class, first-generation entrepreneur to adapt to a fast-paced and competitive city like Mumbai. I had multiple thoughts of shutting down my business and returning to a job until I met one of my first clients-a gentleman named Mukesh bhai. He was a jeweler in Kalbadevi, Mumbai, running a business worth over 5,000 crores. Mukesh bhai had run away from his village in Gujarat at the age of 16 and arrived in Mumbai with absolutely no money. Through sheer persistence, focus, and integrity, he built a business empire from a position far worse than my own as an entrepreneur. Mukesh bhai became an inspirational mentor to me, and I learned far more by observing him than I ever did through my IIT-IIM education.

Dear Future Vanguardian – our institution is a culmination of my learning journey. It combines academic inputs from our top-tier faculty, who themselves are educated at the best B-schools, with real-world experience from high-growth companies. This is further enriched by a personal growth journey guided by an experienced mentor throughout your program.

We believe traditional institutions must evolve to produce talent that can compete globally. Gandhi ji spoke about how “one should be the change you wish to see in the world.” We hope Vanguard is the much-needed change in our country’s education system. Once again, I welcome you to embark on this life-changing journey with us and assure you that if you dedicate yourself over the next two years, you will not regret this decision.

– Karthik Iyer