'India is buying technology faster than building talent for it,' says Hero Group's Shefali Munjal

India is acquiring technology at a pace it simply cannot match with talent, according to Shefali Munjal, a prominent leader from the Hero Group — and the warning cuts to the heart of one of the country's most urgent economic challenges.

Speaking in an interview with Outlook Business, Munjal argued that Indian industry and government are enthusiastically deploying new technologies — from automation and AI to advanced manufacturing — without investing proportionately in the workforce skills required to harness them. The result, she suggested, is a growing mismatch between the tools available and the people equipped to use them.

The observation is particularly striking coming from the Hero Group, one of India's largest and most technology-intensive conglomerates. Hero has been at the forefront of India's manufacturing modernisation, making Munjal's critique an insider's perspective rather than an abstract concern. Her remarks implicitly call on both the private sector and policymakers to prioritise skilling, vocational training, and talent development as aggressively as they pursue technological upgrades.

India's skilling challenge is well-documented — millions of young people enter the workforce each year, but the quality and relevance of training has long lagged behind industry needs. The accelerating pace of AI and automation adoption is making that gap more consequential, with roles evolving faster than curricula can adapt.

Munjal's intervention adds a high-profile voice to calls for a more balanced approach to India's tech ambitions — one where building human capability is treated as inseparable from, not subordinate to, the adoption of new technology.