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India’s Senior Tech Workforce Turns to IIT Kharagpur for AI Upskilling

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IIT Kharagpur’s first-ever online executive AI portfolio has recorded 3x enrolment growth quarter-on-quarter, prompting an expansion from four to seven specialised programmes.

KHARAGPUR, India, Sept. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — India’s AI upskilling wave is increasingly being driven by experienced professionals rather than early-career talent. Reflecting this shift, IIT Kharagpur and upGrad have expanded their executive AI portfolio from four to seven programmes after recording 3x QoQ enrolment growth across the portfolio.

Announced in April 2026, the collaboration has attracted learners from 133 cities across India and seven countries—the UAE, US, UK, Germany, Canada, Australia and Kuwait. The portfolio has drawn a distinctly senior audience, with a median work experience of 12 years, while nearly 63% of learners have over a decade of professional experience.

Participants include professionals from leading organisations such as TCS, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, HSBC, Infosys, Accenture, Deloitte, Capgemini, IBM, Oracle, Cognizant, Salesforce, Wipro, Citi and Qualcomm, spanning roles including Vice Presidents, Principal Engineers, Engineering Managers, Tech Leads, Staff Software Engineers, Senior Consultants and Data Scientists.

The strong response has also shaped the evolution of the portfolio. Originally launched with four executive programmes covering Generative AI, AI-Native Software Engineering, Applied AI & Machine Learning, and Technology & AI Leadership, it has now expanded with three specialised offerings in Building AI Products, Systems & Services, Applied Data Science & Agentic AI, and FinTech & AI, enabling professionals to pursue role-specific AI capabilities.

Demand has been strongest for hands-on AI programmes. The Executive Post Graduate Certificate in Generative AI & Agentic AI and the Executive Post Graduate Certificate in Applied AI & Machine Learning have each recorded 2x quarter-on-quarter enrolment growth, emerging as the fastest-growing programmes in the portfolio. The remaining growth has been driven by increasing demand across specialised offerings in AI product development, data science, software engineering, technology leadership and fintech, reflecting the broadening adoption of AI skills across functions and industries.

The demand spans India’s technology corridors. Bengaluru has emerged as the largest learner hub, followed by Hyderabad and Pune, while professionals from Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Kolkata, Chennai and numerous emerging cities are also enrolling in large numbers. Sector-wise, technology services, consulting and financial services are leading AI adoption, accounting for nearly half of the learner base.

Commenting on the milestone, Prof. Suman Chakraborty, Director, IIT Kharagpur, said: “As IIT Kharagpur marks 75 years of academic excellence and nation-building, we remain conscious that the true measure of an institution lies not only in its legacy, but also in its ability to respond to the needs of the future. Artificial intelligence is transforming industries, institutions and society, making lifelong learning an increasingly important academic responsibility. Our partnership with upGrad reflects this commitment by bringing IIT Kharagpur’s academic depth to professionals at scale. Initiatives such as the Outreach Course Network (OCN) further this vision by creating a trusted framework for learning. We are encouraged by the growth of this collaboration and look forward to expanding it into new areas of national and global relevance.”

Anuj Vishwakarma, CEO – Higher Education Programmes, upGrad, said:”The response to this portfolio has reaffirmed a shift we’ve been observing across the industry—AI upskilling is no longer driven primarily by early-career professionals. Today’s learners are experienced technology leaders who recognise that staying relevant requires continuous reinvention. What has been particularly encouraging is the strong demand for specialised, role-aligned learning, which has led us to expand the portfolio from four to seven programmes within months of launch. Together with IIT Kharagpur, we’re building pathways that enable professionals to translate AI from a strategic priority into practical capability at work.”

Early learner engagement has also remained strong, with over 95% of enrolled learners activating their accounts and beginning their learning journey, reflecting high programme relevance among working professionals balancing full-time careers. Completion and certification metrics will become available as the earliest cohorts progress through the programmes.

The milestone comes as IIT Kharagpur marks its 75th year on 18 August 2026. As the institute’s first-ever online executive education portfolio, the collaboration signals a growing appetite among experienced professionals for structured, advanced AI education and highlights the increasing role of executive learning in preparing India’s technology workforce for the AI era.

About IIT Kharagpur

Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur is one of India’s leading institutions for higher education, research, and innovation, recognised globally for nurturing industry-ready professionals and advancing impactful technological solutions. Established in 1951 and designated an Institute of National Importance, IIT Kharagpur has played a pioneering role in shaping India’s technical education ecosystem. The Institute was granted the status of “Institute of Eminence” by the Government of India in 2019 and consistently ranks among the country’s foremost institutions for academic excellence, interdisciplinary research, and innovation-driven development. With a diverse academic ecosystem comprising multiple departments, schools, centres of excellence, and specialised academies, IIT Kharagpur offers programs across engineering, science, architecture, management, law, humanities, and emerging interdisciplinary domains. The Institute supports a vibrant residential campus community and is actively engaged in numerous national and international research initiatives. Through its commitment to excellence in education, research, and societal impact, IIT Kharagpur continues to contribute to affordable technology innovations and solutions addressing national priorities and global challenges. More details at (https://www.iitkgp.ac.in/)

About upGrad

Started in 2015, upGrad — Asia’s leading integrated skilling and workforce development company, powering the complete learning cycle of individuals. It offers a range of online and hybrid skilling programs and certifications under its B2C portfolio and facilitates top Indian and global universities to offer their Diploma, Master’s, and Executive Doctorates, with all degrees awarded solely by the respective universities, supporting every career stage of individuals – from first job to boardroom. Additionally, selected programs are tailored for Enterprise clients under the corporate skilling division, along with other recruitment and staffing services. More details at (https://www.upgrad.com)

 

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Smart, Secure and Scalable: Flatworld Mortgage Reimagines Mortgage Operations

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Automation and agentic AI, powered by MSuite, run directly across onboarding, processing, underwriting, QC, closing and servicing.Every automated output is checked at a defined human checkpoint before it becomes a lending decision, backed by SOC 2 Type II, ISO/IEC 27001, and ISO 9001:2015 certificationFlatworld Mortgage has already absorbed 100% more loan volume at 24–48 hours’ notice

PRINCETON, N.J., Sept. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Flatworld Mortgage Solutions LLC, a strategic player in the mortgage processing space across the US announced a brand relaunch built on three pillars, Smart, Secure and Scalable, that reflects an operational transformation already running in production. With more than a decade running the US mortgage back office, Flatworld Mortgage has watched rising costs, heavier compliance scrutiny, and unpredictable loan volume stretch the industry’s legacy cost-driven operating model past its limit. This transformation replaces headcount-driven processing with automation and agentic AI built directly into origination workflows, across underwriting support, QC, closing and post-closing.

Smart. MSuite, the AI platform, indexes more than 1 million pages a month across 450-plus document types at a 90%+ accuracy rate. It also runs automated income, asset, and credit review and undisclosed debt notification (UDN) processing. The workflow itself has changed, not just its speed: an agent now owns a part of each file end to end, reviewing it, requesting what’s missing and escalating only when a decision needs judgment, which eliminates handoffs rather than speeding them up. Work that used to take a person the better part of a day, is now completed in minutes.

Secure. Human-in-the-loop checkpoints are built into each workflow alongside the automation, so only genuine exceptions reach a person. In underwriting, for example, an agent pre-clears the conditions it can verify and flags the rest for an underwriter; the underwriter always has control over the credit decision. Each checkpoint is designed to be auditable, and data handling is secure, under SOC 2 Type II, ISO/IEC 27001, and ISO 9001:2015 certification held at the Flatworld Solutions group level.

Scalable. In production, Flatworld Mortgage has already absorbed 100% more loan volume at 24 to 48 hours’ notice, without a corresponding hiring cycle, with processing up to 40% faster than in-house baselines and a 55% net financial benefit in average cost savings and financial returns.

Speaking about the launch, David Antony, CEO of Flatworld Mortgage said “Most AI in mortgage gets bolted onto an existing workflow. We took the opposite approach: we rebuilt the workflow first, decided what AI should do and what a person should own, and only then automated it. In a regulated industry, you can’t say the AI made the call and I don’t know why, someone must own that outcome. That’s not a technology upgrade. It’s a different way of building a mortgage operation.”

Flatworld Mortgage is bringing the Smart, Secure, Scalable platform into conversations with lenders, servicers, and title companies this fall.

About Flatworld Mortgage

Flatworld Mortgage provides comprehensive solutions and BI/analytics services to lenders, brokers, servicers, correspondent lenders, and title companies across the US. The company runs around-the-clock operations, backed by a leadership team with decades of combined experience in US mortgage lending and regulation, and pairs that process expertise with MSuite, its automation and agentic AI platform. Flatworld Mortgage is based in Princeton, New Jersey.

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SOURCE Flatworld Mortgage Solutions LLC

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Valtech Valuation Puts Accountable Professional Judgement at the Heart of AI-Enhanced Valuation

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Valtech combines AI-driven modelling with hands-on professional oversight to deliver transparent, review-friendly valuations for tax, statutory and transaction purposes

HONG KONG and SINGAPORE, Sept. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Valtech Valuation (“Valtech”) has enhanced its various programmes and models to improve the quality of its valuation deliverables. The firm uses AI to strengthen its work while keeping qualified professionals fully involved and accountable for every valuation opinion.

Competition in the professional services sector is becoming increasingly intense, and there are now one-person companies empowered by AI. As AI becomes more widely used, and as global enterprises encourage and train their teams to apply it more broadly, valuation deliverables are becoming increasingly similar.

Based on league table statistics from webbsite.0xmd.com, Valtech estimates that more than 100 valuation firms are assisting Hong Kong-listed companies with their valuation work. Beyond Hong Kong SAR, Valtech has gained clients in Singapore and the wider Asia Pacific region, as well as US-listed multinational corporations and startups. These clients need valuation services for tax and statutory purposes, where a qualified professional is held accountable.

A Differentiated Approach to AI

Almost every week, AI solution providers and platforms approach Valtech with AI-based valuation tools that promise to automate and streamline valuation work to save time and cost. Using technology has always been at the core of Valtech’s business strategy and philosophy. However, Valtech firmly believes that challenging queries arising from AI-generated work cannot simply be resolved by another AI to the satisfaction of auditors and regulators.

Instead, Valtech uses AI to significantly enhance the modelling process and to produce valuation summaries and presentation slides that are easy to use and easy to review. At the same time, Valtech builds established valuation and forecasting methods and techniques into its models to prevent errors and improve transparency.

Business valuation for potential transactions is one example. Clients often want to include an independent valuation analysis in their pitch deck for fundraising, or as part of due diligence in merger and acquisition transactions. Valtech can provide slide presentations summarising the whole process, the key valuation inputs, sensitivity analysis and more. This allows readers to quickly understand how the valuation is derived and review the underlying assumptions.

“As professionals, we are responsible for our opinions and judgements, and full automation is not something we aim to provide,” said Max Tsang, Director of Valtech Valuation. “AI is a powerful tool embedded in our valuation process to reduce formula and calculation errors and improve the quality of our work. But our professional valuers insist on actively participating in the modelling process, exercising valuation judgement, and being held accountable for it. That is why Valtech can always fully explain its valuation opinions.”

Until standard regulatory or statutory guidelines on the use of AI in valuation are established, Valtech will continue to explain to clients which parts of the work still require significant professional effort. Its professional valuers must still evaluate a large amount of information before forming reasonable valuation judgements.

About Valtech Valuation

Valtech Valuation is an independent valuation advisory firm based in Hong Kong SAR and Singapore. It provides business, assets, financial instruments valuation services to listed companies, multinational corporations and startups across Hong Kong SAR, Singapore, the Asia Pacific region and the United States. Valtech integrates technology and AI into its modelling process while keeping qualified professional valuers fully accountable for every opinion. Its deliverables are designed to be transparent, easy to review and ready for auditors and regulators. Valtech team has qualifications of CPA, CFA, FRM, MRICS, CVA (Singapore), ABV (AICPA) and China Certified Public Valuer. For more information, visit https://valtech-valuation.com or https://valtech-valuation.sg

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SOURCE Valtech Valuation

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Ankura launches AI by Design practice to help organisations close the gap between AI ambition and adoption.

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Ankura, the U.S. PE-backed advisory firm, invests in new Data & AI capabilities in the UK and an ecosystem of specialist partners to close the adoption gap holding back the ROI of enterprise AI.

LONDON, Sept. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Ankura Consulting Group, LLC (“Ankura”), today announced the launch of Ankura, AI by Design, a new tech-agnostic practice in the UK, serving EMEA, which focuses on helping clients use AI to grow revenue, expand what organisations can achieve with AI, and lift underlying profit.

AI by Design is built on the conviction that AI should be shaped around the organisation: its ambitions, people, customers, and distinctive capabilities. Technology is an important part of that equation, however sustainable value depends on the strategy, operating model, skills, systems, governance, talent, and culture that allow AI to change how work gets done and enable organizations to achieve their strategic growth ambitions. This new practice reflects the increasing demand for practical, adoption-led AI advisory and builds directly on Ankura’s established strength in strategy, risk, technology, and workforce transformation.

“AI transformation programmes usually break down due to organizational challenges rather than the underlying technology itself. AI by Design is built by people who understand that, which is why I wanted to be part of it.” Hywel Ball, AI Advisory Council Member, Former EY UK Chair and Non-Executive Director.

Ankura, AI by Design’s proposition is structured around three integrated pillars, underpinned by an internal AI Factory that builds, tests, and deploys AI in real delivery environments:

AI Strategy: targeting topline growth opportunities for boards and leadership teams to unlockAI Governance Engineering: enabling organizations to manage AI risk and unlock value at scale by re-wiring the user experience of AI governance to be more intuitive and more efficient to operateAI Workforce Transformation: redesigning roles, reskilling people, and embedding human-centered change so AI adoption embeds across the organization

“Most enterprise AI stalls because organizations are not ready to adopt it, govern it, or redesign work and systems around it. Ankura, AI by Design closes that gap.” Catriona Campbell, MBE – Practice Lead for Ankura, AI by Design.

Ankura, AI by Design is led by a senior team with direct experience of successfully embedding AI and human-centered change inside global blue-chip multinationals across strategy, governance, and workforce transformation.

They are joined by a curated ecosystem of early-stage ‘best athlete’ partners; Decoded for AI literacy and workforce reskilling, Seymour-Powell for human-centred design, and Inference Group for AI engineering and delivery.

The practice is supported by an Advisory Council of senior figures from across technology, governance, academia, and industry, bringing an independent perspective on where AI is genuinely creating value, ensuring Ankura’s advice reflects the frontier of AI strategy, governance engineering, and workforce transformation.

“The technology has never been the biggest challenge. What matters is whether an organisation understands the outcomes they want to drive, and then designs how it works, governs, and trains its people around those outcomes. Ankura, AI by Design’s focus on the human and organisational side of deployment is exactly the discipline the private sector now needs too.” Dr Laura Gilbert CBE, AI Advisory Council Member, Senior AI advisor to UK government and industry.

“The investment in AI by Design strengthens Ankura’s commitment to helping clients turn AI ambition into measurable results,” said Kevin Lavin, CEO of Ankura. “Across every industry, the organizations that succeed with AI are the ones that bring their people with them, not just their technology. Ankura’s AI by Design practice helps our clients to adopt AI with confidence and turn it into real, lasting value.”

ABOUT ANKURA

Ankura Consulting Group, LLC is an independent global expert services and advisory firm that delivers end-to-end solutions to manage conflict, crisis, performance, risk, strategy, and transformation. Committed to its mission of Driving Excellence, Delivered with Humanity, Ankura has more than 2,000 professionals serving 3,000+ clients across 55 countries. For more information, please visit: ankura.com.

MEDIA CONTACT
Keelin McGrory
aibydesign@ankura.com 

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