Bengaluru: The second edition of the Bengaluru Skill Summit will be held from November 3 to 5 at The Lalit Ashok Bengaluru, with a focus on preparing Karnataka’s workforce for emerging employment opportunities and challenges.

The Department of Skill Development, Entrepreneurship and Livelihood (SDEL), Government of Karnataka, announced the summit at a curtain-raiser event held at Vikasa Soudha on Tuesday.

The summit will be held under the theme “Workforce 2030: Scale, Systems, Synergy” and will bring together representatives from government, industry, academia, training institutions and international organisations.

The event is being organised by SDEL and hosted by the Karnataka Skill Development Corporation (KSDC), in collaboration with the Karnataka Skill Development Authority (KSDA). The Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM) is the knowledge partner, while Trescon is managing the summit.

The inaugural edition in November 2025 recorded more than 6,500 footfall over three days. The 2026 edition is expected to feature more than 150 speakers, 50 exhibitors and 100 partners, besides national and international delegations.

The summit will focus on four broad areas — Emerging Skills, Skills for All, Innovation and Global Skills.

The Emerging Skills track will examine workforce requirements in areas such as artificial intelligence, green jobs, Industry 4.0 and the digital economy. Skills for All will focus on women, youth, informal workers and the gig economy. The Innovation track will showcase new approaches and models in skilling, while Global Skills will focus on international employability and workforce mobility.

Inauguration

The second edition will be inaugurated at 5 pm on November 3 by Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara, Skill Development, Entrepreneurship and Livelihood and Medical Education Minister Sharanprakash Rudrappa Patil and other dignitaries.

The plenary sessions will feature discussions on future-ready skills, lifelong learning, inclusive workforce participation, global skills, AI-enabled transformation, employability and collaboration between government and industry.

A panel of senior Karnataka ministers will discuss “Workforce 2030: Karnataka’s Roadmap from Policy to Execution”, while a separate session involving skill development secretaries from different states will examine approaches to strengthening skill ecosystems.

The summit will also feature a session with Karnataka’s young WorldSkills 2026 participants, who will share their experiences at the global skills competition held in Shanghai.

Speakers

Keynote speakers include Subroto Bagchi, founder of Mindtree and chairman of the Vision Group for Skill Development, Government of Karnataka; entrepreneur and philanthropist Gururaj ‘Desh’ Deshpande; and R. Balasubramaniayam, member of NITI Aayog.

Special address speakers include Alina Alam, founder and CEO of MITTI Café, and Air Commodore Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair (Kirti Chakra), astronaut, Indian Space Research Organisation.

Other speakers include N.S. Parthasarathy of Mela Ventures, Meena Ganesh of Portea Medical, Karnataka Development Commissioner Uma Mahadevan, Kaushik Mudda of Ethereal Machines, Rashmi Ranjan Mohapatra of World Skill Center, Mekin Maheshwari of Udhyam Learning Foundation, Mohan Lakhamraju of Great Learning, Rajiv Kumar Sharma of Empower Pragati and Empower Foundation, Gopal Devanahalli of Skills Development Network, Nidhi Pundhir of HCL Technologies and Vinay Kumar Swamy of Pearson India.

New initiatives

The 2026 edition will include several new initiatives, including precursor events, an Innovation Stage, a Development Dialogue, an Expo Arena and Skillathon 2026.

Precursor events were held at the Mysuru Big Tech Show 2026 and HDB Techceleration 2026 in Hubballi to extend discussions on workforce development to technology and innovation ecosystems across the state.

The Innovation Stage will showcase skilling solutions, emerging models and pilot projects addressing workforce challenges.

A closed-door Development Dialogue hosted by Deshpande Foundation will focus on the transition from skilling to employment for rural youth.

Skillathon 2026 will invite individuals, teams, startups and organisations to use publicly available government data to examine labour-market trends and develop ideas for aligning skilling programmes with actual demand.

The summit will also feature roundtables on green skills, the blue-collar economy, smart factories, academia, international mobility, inclusive skilling, healthcare and life sciences, among other areas.

Kaushalya Karnataka Awards

The second edition of the Kaushalya Karnataka Awards will be held on November 5. The awards will recognise organisations and institutions for contributions to industry-led skilling, workforce development, industry-academia collaboration, inclusion, innovation and employment outcomes.

Awards will also be presented in categories including Best Trainer, Best Trainee, Best Institution, Best Self-Help Group and Best District.

Minister Sharanprakash Rudrappa Patil said the inaugural edition had created a foundation for collaboration and action and that the second edition would further strengthen partnerships among government, industry, academia and global stakeholders.

The summit is positioned as an annual platform for discussions and initiatives connecting education, skilling and employment and developing workforce systems aligned with emerging sectors.

Event details

Dates: November 3–5, 2026

Venue: The Lalit Ashok Bengaluru

Theme: Workforce 2030: Scale, Systems, Synergy

Organised by: Department of Skill Development, Entrepreneurship and Livelihood, Government of Karnataka

Hosted by: Karnataka Skill Development Corporation

In collaboration with: Karnataka Skill Development Authority

Knowledge Partner: Karnataka Digital Economy Mission

Managed by: Trescon