Plaksha Tech Leaders Fellowship placements showcase high demand for top quality tech talent
New Delhi: Tech Leaders Fellowship (TLF), a unique, one-year, post-graduate level program in Technology and Leadership founded by some of India’s eminent technology leaders and entrepreneurs and co-delivered by University of California, Berkeley has concluded placements for its founding cohort – the Class of 2020.
Even though the batch graduated during the peak of Covid, placements have been outstanding thus re-affirming the demand for top quality technology talent. Plaksha’s unique one year Master’s equivalent full time program not only has coursework in AI, ML and Data science but also a broad range of competencies in application areas, communication and in leadership. The students are taught by some of the best faculty from around the world and are also mentored by leading entrepreneurs and business leaders.
The average salary for the maiden placement drive is INR 20 lakh per annum (domestic and international offers). Average salary when only domestic offers are considered is INR 17 lakh per annum .
The founding cohort had 59 Fellows including 25% female students. The placement drive saw students not only bagging plum technology roles in leading companies but also saw 24% of the class opting for entrepreneurship and a few pursuing higher studies and research opportunities.
Of those who opted for roles with companies, 45% were placed as Data Scientist, 22.5% as Product Manager/Product Analyst and 12.5% as Senior Software Engineer/ Software Engineer. Other roles offered to the students and accepted by them include STEM Mentor, Executive Assistant to the CEOs Office of a leading tech company in India, Senior Business Analyst, Lead Research Engineer and Management Trainee.
The breakup of these roles across domains is as follows: Software/IT services 37%, Artificial intelligence and Machine learning (14.8%), BFSI (11.1%), Edutech (7.4%) and Healthcare(7.4%), and Consulting(3.7%) and others (18.5%).
The entrepreneurs among the Class of 2020, who founded companies or joined startup teams as founding members, are using cutting-edge technology for finding solutions to mental health problems, edutech and socialising online and efficient organising of meetings. Of these, more than half are working with Plaksha Entrepreneurship Support Program (PESP) that has been set up to aid the journey of students from Fellows to entrepreneurs by offering mentorship and support of founding group
Companies where the students have been placed are Apptio, Arcesium, Avataar.me, Bajaj Allianz, Boston Consulting Group, Bewakoof.com, Cisco, Cuemath, Digital Green, Fractal, Indifi, Infoedge, International Innovation Corps Fellowship, Microsoft, Nagarro, Silicon Valley Internship Program, Tamil Nadu e-Governance Agency and Tech Mahindra among others. Students also chose to pursue higher education at institutions like Harvard University and some opted for research projects.
Sharing his views on the placements, Vineet Gupta, Founder & Trustee, Co-chair Tech Leaders Fellowship and Founder and Trustee Plaksha, said, “We are excited to see the interest that we have received from some of the top companies for our Fellows. Our graduates are trained to address the grand challenges of our times and the future. At Plaksha, we aim to create an ecosystem of innovation and entrepreneurship where young bright minds will be nurtured by world-class global faculty, successful entrepreneurs and business leaders. Our vision is to build a university global eminence at the intersection of technology, design and entrepreneurship.
The first edition of the program has been highly successful, notwithstanding the external challenges of 2020. The program is co-delivered with top global institutions like University of California, Berkeley, making it a one of its kind of program in India. The experiential learning environment, highly intensive coursework and rigor of the program has helped transform each Fellow’s personal and professional growth.
The unique ‘Tech Leaders Fellowship’ is a joint initiative of successful entrepreneurs and the academic community that will serve as a precursor to the upcoming Plaksha University. The program has been designed to create tech leaders who will lead organizations, build path-breaking ventures and help solve real world challenges for India and the world. TLF will become a part of Plaksha once the University becomes operational.