Deven U Pandey.
The Ira Skills founder believes India's next education revolution will focus not merely on access to information, but on helping professionals convert AI, data and existing expertise into measurable economic value.
India is rapidly moving toward an AI-first economy, with professionals across sectors learning tools and capabilities such as ChatGPT, Generative AI, data analytics, Power BI, automation and other future-ready technologies at unprecedented speed.
But Deven U Pandey, Founder & CEO of Ira Skills, believes the more important question is what happens after a professional learns the skill. For Pandey, acquiring AI capability is only the beginning. The larger opportunity is to help Indian professionals combine emerging technologies with the knowledge and experience they have accumulated over years of work, and convert that combination into stronger careers, higher productivity, consulting opportunities, businesses and additional sources of income.
Pandey describes this transition as K2I - Knowledge to Income.
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"AI can give everyone access to extraordinary capability. But access to AI doesn't automatically create income. People still need to know what problems to solve, how to create value and how to convert that value into an economic opportunity." - Deven U Pandey, Founder & CEO, Ira Skills |
Artificial intelligence is already reshaping India's employment landscape. Demand is increasing for capabilities across Generative AI, machine learning, data analytics, automation and AI engineering, while employers increasingly expect professionals to work effectively alongside intelligent tools.
Pandey argues, however, that learning how to use an AI tool and becoming economically valuable with AI are two different stages of professional development. He believes this distinction will define the next phase of India's AI-skilling movement.
He describes four stages of AI adoption for a working professional: first, learning to use AI tools; second, working with AI to improve productivity, analysis, communication and decision-making; third, combining AI with domain expertise to solve real business problems; and fourth, turning that capability into measurable professional or economic outcomes through career growth, consulting, freelancing, coaching, solution-building or additional income.
According to Pandey, the movement from basic AI adoption to real economic outcomes represents one of India's most significant opportunities.
Much of the public conversation around artificial intelligence has focused on whether AI will replace existing jobs. Pandey believes working professionals should instead ask how AI can multiply the value of what they already know.
A finance professional with 15 years of experience, for example, may use AI to automate reporting, analysis and routine documentation. But that professional also carries years of knowledge about finance, clients, business processes, decision-making and industry-specific challenges. When this experience is combined with AI, analytics and communication skills, it can create new forms of professional value.
The same principle applies across HR, sales, operations, marketing, finance, education, technology and other industries. Pandey sees this as particularly important for India's mid-career workforce, where accumulated domain knowledge can become a major advantage when paired with modern technology.
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"A 40-year-old professional should not think that a 22-year-old who knows more AI tools has made their experience irrelevant. Learn AI and combine it with your 15 years of experience. That combination can become your unfair advantage." - Deven U Pandey |
Pandey believes the future will not necessarily belong to the person who knows the largest number of AI tools. Instead, it will favour professionals who can combine domain knowledge, AI, communication, problem-solving and implementation.
He describes this combination as the foundation of an AI-Powered Professional: someone who does not simply consume AI, but uses it to create better outcomes.
A sales professional can use AI to research prospects and improve sales systems. An HR professional can use AI to strengthen recruitment and employee processes. A finance professional can combine AI with analytics. A trainer can use AI to create more effective learning experiences. A consultant can use AI to serve clients more efficiently. A working professional can also use existing expertise to develop consulting, coaching, freelance or specialised service offerings.
While the technology may continue to change, Pandey's central principle remains consistent: economic value comes from solving meaningful problems and implementing knowledge effectively.
Pandey's philosophy extends beyond AI skills to a broader view of career resilience. For decades, a common career path in India followed a straightforward sequence: education, degree, job, salary and retirement. That model created stability for generations, but technology, automation, longer careers and rapidly changing skill requirements are reshaping the professional environment.
Pandey advocates a complementary model built around a job, continuous skill development, domain expertise and the ability to create additional income. He does not position additional income as a reason for professionals to leave their jobs. Instead, he sees it as a way to expand economic capability and reduce dependence on a single source of professional opportunity.
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"I don't tell professionals to quit their jobs. I tell them to build themselves to a level where one employer is not the only place in the world capable of paying them for their knowledge." - Deven U Pandey |
For some professionals, that capability may take the form of freelancing or consulting. For others, it could involve teaching, coaching, building digital products or providing specialised services. The vehicle may differ, but the underlying objective is the same: building the ability to create value independently.
This approach forms the foundation of Pandey's broader mission with Ira Skills. The skill-learning platform says it has trained more than 5 lakh learners across areas including Advanced Excel, Power BI, SQL, data analytics, Artificial Intelligence and career-oriented skills.
Pandey argues that the future of education should not be measured primarily by hours of content watched or certificates collected. Instead, education should increasingly be evaluated by a learner's ability to implement knowledge, solve practical problems and create measurable value.
He summarises the K2I framework as a progression from information to knowledge, skill, implementation, value and income.
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"Information has become almost free. AI will make information even more accessible. Therefore, information itself cannot remain the biggest value of education. The value will come from implementation." - Deven U Pandey |
India's education conversation has traditionally revolved around institutions, examinations, degrees and placements. Pandey believes the AI era creates an opportunity to broaden that definition by focusing on practical outcomes.
In his view, education should increasingly ask whether a learner can solve a real problem, use AI productively, communicate expertise, build something useful, create measurable value and improve their economic potential.
This philosophy is also influencing how Ira Skills is developing its learning ecosystem. Alongside technical training, the platform is placing greater emphasis on implementation, projects, career development, communication and opportunities for learners to apply their knowledge commercially.
Pandey says the long-term ambition is for Ira Skills to be known not only for the number of people who learn through the platform, but also for what those learners achieve after completing their learning journeys.
India's ambition to become a developed economy will depend on infrastructure, technology, investment and entrepreneurship, but it will also depend on a workforce whose capabilities continue to evolve.
Pandey believes AI can become one of India's greatest economic opportunities if the country's large workforce moves beyond consuming technology and starts using it to create practical and commercial value.
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"Imagine an India where a school teacher, accountant, salesperson, HR professional, banker, engineer or homemaker can combine what they already know with AI and create greater value for the world. That is when AI stops being just a technology revolution and becomes an economic revolution." - Deven U Pandey |
For Pandey, this is the future he wants Ira Skills to contribute toward: not simply teaching people how to use AI, but helping them learn how to think with AI, work with AI, create value with AI and ultimately convert knowledge into income.
Deven U Pandey is an Indian entrepreneur, Active Income Coach and Founder & CEO of Ira Skills. He is the creator of the K2I - Knowledge to Income philosophy, which focuses on helping professionals convert knowledge, experience and modern skills into measurable career and economic outcomes. LinkedIn: Deven U Pandey
Ira Skills is an Indian skill-learning platform focused on practical and implementation-driven education across Artificial Intelligence, Advanced Excel, Power BI, SQL, data analytics, career development and income-oriented skills. Its broader mission is to help build a generation of skilled, adaptable and economically capable Indian professionals.
