CNN Central News & Network–ITDC India Epress/ITDC News Bhopal: MeritTrac Services, India’s leading talent assessment and examination management company, celebrated its 25th anniversary with a high-impact industry conference titled “Reimagining Talent 2025: Unlocking People & Possibilities in an AI Era.” The event, organised in collaboration with People Matters, brought together senior leaders from academia, HR, and technology to explore how artificial intelligence is transforming talent assessment, development, and workforce capabilities.

The discussions throughout the day highlighted a central theme: as automation accelerates, skill requirements, learning models, and workforce expectations are being reshaped. Speakers emphasized that assessments are evolving from one-time evaluation tools into integrated systems that drive continuous learning, performance insights, and development.

AI Reshaping Skills, Learning Models, and Workforce Expectations

The conference opened with a keynote and film launch by Ambrish Sinha, CEO of UNext Learning, who revisited MeritTrac’s 25-year journey from pioneering computer-based testing to enabling digital-first, AI-driven learning ecosystems. He emphasized how MeritTrac has consistently bridged technology and talent to support institutions, corporations, and governments with credible, scalable assessment systems.

In his keynote session “When GenAI Becomes Coach: Mentoring, Nurturing, and Unlocking Human Potential,” Satheesh KV, Chief People Officer at ACKO, explored how Generative AI is moving from candidate evaluation to enabling continuous learning through personalized coaching, multilingual feedback, and real-time behavioral nudges.

He highlighted that the CHRO’s mandate is shifting from compliance to strategic change enablement, helping leaders interpret AI-driven insights with responsibility and empathy, noting: “The future will not be defined by Artificial Intelligence alone, but by a shift toward Augmented Humanity.”

Campus to Capability: Building Talent Pipelines for an AI-Shaped World

A panel moderated by Jerry Moses, Senior Manager – Content & Research at People Matters, explored how academia and industry can co-create learning ecosystems suited to prepare students for a fast-evolving, AI-integrated workforce.

Maheshwar Peri, Founder & Chairman, Careers360, spoke about the widening gap between traditional curricula and industry needs, urging universities to focus on adaptability and interdisciplinary learning rather than rote employability metrics.

Bina Sharma, Senior Director – Assessment Products at GMAC, emphasized the role of tech-enabled and behaviorally informed assessments in identifying and bridging skill gaps before students enter the workforce.

Ambrish Sinha, CEO of UNext Learning, added that universities must evolve from being teaching institutions to learning ecosystems built on continuous, stackable credentials, micro-learning and AI-driven skill mapping.

Panelists agreed that employability is now a shared responsibility across academia, industry, and technology providers, and that assessments must evolve to measure learning agility, cognitive flexibility, and innovation potential.

Beyond Hiring: Designing the Bionic Workforce

A second panel moderated by Mohan Sitharam, CHRO at Shadowfax, discussed how AI is augmenting — not replacing — the human workforce.

Avesh Jha, SVP – Global ODPM, Hinduja Global Solutions, noted that assessments can today track not just technical proficiency but also behavioral adaptability, enabling organisations to design future-focused workforce strategies that align with future business models.

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