Lokesh courts Accenture, Cambridge
Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh has sharpened its technology and talent playbook at the World Economic Forum summit, with IT and HRD Minister Nara Lokesh reasoning with Accenture and the University of Cambridge for specific commitments that could anchor global digital operations and future-skills education in the State.
In a meeting with Accenture chief strategy and service officer Manish Sharma, Lokesh pitched Visakhapatnam as a viable base for the firm’s Global Delivery Center focused on artificial intelligence, cloud, and digital operations. He highlighted the city’s vastly expanding infrastructure, deepening talent pool, and growing technology ecosystem as advantages for large-scale global delivery and next-generation digital work.
Lokesh urged Accenture to build a structured digital talent pipeline in Andhra Pradesh to prepare youth for emerging roles, while aligning workforce creation with the company’s long-term needs. He also sought Accenture’s support for skill development initiatives in the state through the Future Ready Skills Network aiming to link corporate training frameworks with public skilling programmes.
Quantum computing featured prominently in the discussions. Lokesh invited Accenture to participate in the Amaravati Quantum Valley initiative, supporting applied quantum use cases, startup development, and ecosystem building. He also proposed integrating Accenture’s Innovation Lab, working on Gen AI, extended reality, and blockchain, with the Ratan Tata Innovation Hub to drive collaborative research and commercial pilots.
Sharma said the proposals from Andhra Pradesh would be reviewed internally before a decision.
Lokesh also held talks with Prof Debbie Prentice, vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge, seeking to expand global academic engagement with Andhra Pradesh. He proposed Cambridge-certified online courses on climate change awareness, sustainability, and future skills for students in Classes 8 to 10 in government and aided schools, advocating early exposure as a foundation for long-term capacity building.
The Minister pushed for formal collaboration between Cambridge and universities in Andhra Pradesh on joint research, curriculum development, and faculty exchange. He suggested joint research programmes with Andhra University and IIT Tirupati in AI and data science engineering. Prentice said Cambridge University would examine the proposals from the Andhra Pradesh government.
