With rising concern over the widening chasm between academic degrees and job market readiness, a high-impact webinar hosted by ObserveNow Media, in collaboration with Learning Spiral and Amazon Web Services (AWS), sparked a timely conversation on how India’s universities can rewire their approach to skills development. Titled “Bridging the Skills-to-Jobs Gap: Leveraging AWS Skill Builder,” the session brought together leading voices from academia to explore how cloud-based platforms like AWS Skill Builder can equip students with industry-aligned, future-ready skills.

The panel featured an eminent lineup of higher education leaders, including vice chancellors, directors, and registrars of top institutions, all converging around a singular goal: moving from degree-based education to outcome-driven employability models. Hosting the webinar was Shreya Jain, Digital Journalist at ObserveNow, while the discussion was moderated by Learning Spiral’s Managing Director, Mr. Manish Mohta.

Opening the conversation, Prof. (Dr.) Manpreet S. Manna, Vice Chancellor of Chandigarh University, emphasized the urgency for academic systems to transform. “We need to adopt a skill-first philosophy where employability is not treated as an end goal but as a continuous process embedded throughout the academic lifecycle,” he said. Dr. Manna advocated for AWS Skill Builder to be used not as a supplementary tool but as a curricular core, enabling students to learn technologies that are actively shaping global industries.

Echoing this, Prof. B. S. Satyanarayana, Vice Chancellor of Dayananda Sagar University, noted, “Cloud fluency is the new digital literacy. If we expect our graduates to compete globally, we must institutionalize platforms like AWS Skill Builder into our teaching framework from the ground up.”

For Dr. K.B. Lingegowda, Vice Chancellor of Sri Siddhartha Academy of Higher Education, the bigger challenge lies in mindset shifts. “Our institutions have always focused on theory-first, skills-later. That model doesn’t work anymore. Skill-building has to begin in semester one, and it must be dynamic, modular, and credential-backed,” he asserted, underscoring the importance of continuous, stackable learning pathways.

Dr. Rajashekhar Biradar, Pro Vice Chancellor of Reva University, drew attention to the changing definition of merit in today’s job market. “Traditional grades are giving way to demonstrable skills. Employers today want to see what a student can do, not just what they know. That’s why platforms offering cloud-based hands-on learning matter now more than ever,” he said, calling on universities to establish dedicated skill labs and cloud sandboxes.

The webinar concluded with consensus that India’s higher education ecosystem is at an inflection point. Institutions must go beyond their traditional roles as centers of knowledge and emerge as platforms for workforce transformation. With the right digital tools—such as AWS Skill Builder—and a strong commitment to faculty development, policy alignment, and industry partnerships, universities can produce graduates who are not just qualified but truly employable.

As the session wrapped up, the message was clear: The future of education is not just about degrees. It’s about skills, scalability, and speed—and the institutions that adapt now will shape the workforce of tomorrow.