Transforming Workforce Upskilling With Artificial Intelligence Technology

Bridging the skills gap in the modern workforce has become one of the greatest challenges for organisations globally. Despite rapid growth, only 3% of India’s workforce receives formal training, compared to 52% in the US, leaving millions of employees underprepared for the demands of today’s technology-driven economy.

Recognising this opportunity, PaddleBoat has pioneered AI-powered solutions that transform employee upskilling. From immersive training roleplays to automated course creation, the platform helps organisations scale learning efficiently, reduce costs, and maximise engagement, empowering employees to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving market.

Under the leadership of Mr. Saswat Mishra, PaddleBoat has leveraged Generative AI and Voice AI technologies to redefine what it means to be truly workforce-ready. “We can take any topic and automatically generate a full course with videos, quizzes, and lessons in seconds, a process that would traditionally take weeks for internal L&D teams,” Mr. Mishra explains. “Our goal is to make upskilling faster, more personalised, and globally accessible.

More about the Founder

Mr. Saswat Mishra, Founder and CEO of PaddleBoat, is a serial entrepreneur and AI innovator with a track record of building first-of-its-kind solutions in workforce upskilling. An alumnus of IIT Madras, he has led teams that have created cutting-edge Generative AI and Voice AI tools to automate training, sales coaching, and course creation for organisations across India and the US. Prior to PaddleBoat, Mr. Mishra founded SignTalk, India’s first gamified sign language learning platform, teaching over 1,000 individuals and driving inclusion for the Deaf community. Under his leadership, PaddleBoat has achieved rapid growth and received recognition from global AI and SaaS communities for innovation in employee learning. He also advises early-stage venture capital firms on emerging AI trends, helping shape the next generation of innovative technology solutions.

TCM: How has your own journey with upskilling shaped your work?

Mr. Mishra: Education and exposure have been central to my life. I moved to the US at age eight and returned to India at thirteen, navigating new cultures, languages, and learning environments. These experiences instilled adaptability, curiosity, and a desire to understand complex systems from multiple perspectives. I consider myself a lifelong learner, teaching myself data science, software engineering, and emerging technologies long before formal training.

At IIT Madras, I was fortunate to meet peers who shared a passion for solving problems through technology. Together, we built multiple ventures focused on learning and development at a young age, experimenting with ways to make education more accessible, engaging, and scalable. These early experiences reinforced my belief that effective learning solutions can transform both individuals and organisations, a principle that continues to guide my work today.

TCM: What hurdles did you face while pursuing this path?

Mr. Mishra: In India, more than in the West, employee upskilling often takes a back seat. The ROI has been difficult to measure, and in a rapidly growing, emerging economy, most organisations are focused on short-term priorities rather than long-term workforce development. A culture of learning and upskilling becomes a challenge as organisations scale, and addressing cultural barriers is notoriously difficult, sometimes nearly impossible once an organisation grows large.

Convincing stakeholders of measurable value in upskilling required patience, persistence, and demonstrable results. AI has been a game-changer, significantly shortening content production pipelines and making learning solutions scalable. I expect this trend to continue as foundational AI models evolve and become even more capable, further accelerating the adoption of AI-driven workforce learning.

TCM: What innovations have you personally brought to the industry?

Mr. Mishra: At PaddleBoat, we pioneered Generative AI-driven topic-to-course technology, enabling organisations to convert any topic into a complete, ready-to-use course, including videos, quizzes, and structured lessons, in seconds. What would traditionally take internal L&D teams weeks can now be accomplished almost instantly, significantly reducing time and cost while improving learner engagement.

We also introduced Voice AI roleplays for sales and professional training, allowing employees to practise real-world scenarios in a safe, interactive environment. These simulations provide immediate, personalised feedback, helping employees build confidence and skill more effectively than traditional methods.

These innovations are among the first of their kind in workforce learning and development. By leveraging AI, we’ve made upskilling faster, more personalised, and scalable, while also providing measurable outcomes that demonstrate real impact for organisations and learners alike.

TCM: How do you measure the impact of your solutions?

Mr. Mishra: Impact is best measured by real-world outcomes. In India, one factory manager confided that he had abandoned employee training entirely; managing 1,000 workers across five languages with pen and paper was simply impossible. In healthcare, preparing doctors for sensitive patient consultations traditionally took months.

With PaddleBoat, we’ve addressed these challenges head-on. Our AI-powered solutions have trained thousands of employees across manufacturing and healthcare, helping them become workforce-ready faster and more effectively. Quantitatively, we track metrics like completion rates, learner performance, and time-to-competency, all of which show substantial improvements over traditional training methods. Qualitatively, feedback from learners and managers highlights increased confidence, engagement, and practical skill application.

By combining data-driven insights with human feedback, we ensure that AI-driven upskilling delivers measurable value and meaningful results across industries.

TCM: How do you approach team leadership and company culture?

Mr. Mishra: I believe innovation thrives in collaborative, empowered teams. At PaddleBoat, we foster a culture where experimentation, feedback, and continuous learning are the norm. Team members are encouraged to take ownership, iterate quickly, and learn from failures without fear, creating an environment where creativity and problem-solving can flourish.

Our teams are cross-functional, bringing together engineers, designers, and learning experts to solve complex workforce challenges. By keeping the end-user experience at the center, we ensure that every product is practical, scalable, and impactful. I also prioritise inclusivity and mentorship, helping team members grow alongside the company while contributing meaningfully to its vision.

This approach has been key to building high-performing teams capable of delivering first-of-its-kind AI-driven learning solutions while maintaining the agility to respond to evolving organisational and workforce needs.

TCM: What is your vision for the future of workforce upskilling?

Mr. Mishra: For workforce upskilling, it is important to learn from the best practices all over the world. While certain elements need to be hyper-localised for India’s unique context, there is no need to reinvent the wheel. Instead, organisations can focus on adapting proven strategies to maximise impact. I anticipate a natural osmosis of this culture into India’s newest startups and rapidly growing companies, raising the standard for employee learning and development across industries.

Looking ahead, AI will play a central role in transforming workforce training. Using AI, we aim to automate content production to deliver multilingual, skill-specific training at scale and provide real-time guidance through bots. A consulting arm will help organisations define strategy, launch tailored programs, and measure outcomes. Recent AI advances make this vision feasible: generating video or audio content at scale is now trivial, but achieving the last 20% of high-quality, context-specific training requires product rigour, domain expertise, and experimentation.

The mission is not simply to launch another tool but to transform how emerging markets invest in their people, creating scalable, high-impact upskilling solutions that benefit employees and organisations alike.

TCM: What core values guide your work?

Mr. Mishra: Three principles guide everything I do: impact, innovation, and inclusivity. Software is only successful if it can create value for learners, push the boundaries of what technology can achieve, and be accessible to people across industries, geographies, and backgrounds.

I also believe in continuous learning and experimentation, for both myself and my teams. The technology landscape evolves rapidly, and staying curious and adaptable is essential to delivering solutions that truly transform organisations.

Finally, I prioritise empathy and human-centered design. While AI drives efficiency and scalability, understanding the learner’s experience, challenges, and goals ensures that technology serves people, not just processes. These values have been consistent from my earliest ventures and remain central to our mission of transforming workforce upskilling.