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Economic Times
21-06-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
Linked to Britishers: Saurabh Mukherjea explains why India obsessed with elite degrees despite it not guaranteeing success
India must shed its colonial hangover of obsessing over credentials and reconnect with its entrepreneurial roots, says Saurabh Mukherjea of Marcellus Investment Managers. He warns that in today's rapidly evolving economic landscape, elite degrees no longer guarantee success. Speaking on a recent Bharatvaarta podcast, Mukherjea said India's fixation on prestigious degrees and elite institutions—once seen as the path to upward mobility—has lost relevance. 'Forget the degree per se,' he said. 'Focus on abstract thinking skills, creativity, and articulation.' According to him, these are now the true drivers of traces the root of this obsession to India's colonial legacy. 'The British came in, created the civil service and the clerical babu class,' he noted. Post-independence, India's leaders adopted the same bureaucratic model, designing a system that churned out office workers instead of risk-takers. 'We were bred through our school and college years to be fit employees for large companies,' he said. 'That world is gone.'The shift is not optional but structural. 'Employment as a phenomenon is only about 200 years old,' he said. 'Before that, we were an entrepreneurial society. Everyone will have to become an entrepreneur now—by design or necessity.' Mukherjea pointed to historian Lakshmi Subramanian's recent book India Before Empire , which highlights how pre-colonial India thrived as a global trade hub with a strong legal framework and low capital costs. 'We had a vibrant, prosperous business community,' he explained. The British, he said, systematically dismantled it by promoting disdain for local entrepreneurs and propping up colonial-backed businesses. 'The British left, but their insidious legacy remained,' Mukherjea said. 'They convinced us that the best life is one of white-collar servitude secured through rote learning and degrees. That mindset lasted 75 years—but it's breaking now.' As India's startup ecosystem flourishes and more young people veer away from traditional career paths, Mukherjea sees a revival of India's entrepreneurial spirit as both overdue and inevitable. His message to the next generation: 'Stop struggling to validate your worth through elite certificates. Build things. Think differently. Own your future.'
Time of India
21-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Linked to Britishers: Saurabh Mukherjea explains why India obsessed with elite degrees despite it not guaranteeing success
India must shed its colonial hangover of obsessing over credentials and reconnect with its entrepreneurial roots, says Saurabh Mukherjea of Marcellus Investment Managers. He warns that in today's rapidly evolving economic landscape, elite degrees no longer guarantee success. Speaking on a recent Bharatvaarta podcast, Mukherjea said India's fixation on prestigious degrees and elite institutions—once seen as the path to upward mobility—has lost relevance. 'Forget the degree per se,' he said. 'Focus on abstract thinking skills, creativity, and articulation.' According to him, these are now the true drivers of success. Mukherjea traces the root of this obsession to India's colonial legacy. 'The British came in, created the civil service and the clerical babu class,' he noted. Post-independence, India's leaders adopted the same bureaucratic model, designing a system that churned out office workers instead of risk-takers. 'We were bred through our school and college years to be fit employees for large companies,' he said. 'That world is gone.' by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Fastest Selling Plots of Mysore from 40L | 40+ Amenities PurpleBrick Learn More Undo The shift is not optional but structural. 'Employment as a phenomenon is only about 200 years old,' he said. 'Before that, we were an entrepreneurial society. Everyone will have to become an entrepreneur now—by design or necessity.' Mukherjea pointed to historian Lakshmi Subramanian's recent book India Before Empire , which highlights how pre-colonial India thrived as a global trade hub with a strong legal framework and low capital costs. 'We had a vibrant, prosperous business community,' he explained. The British, he said, systematically dismantled it by promoting disdain for local entrepreneurs and propping up colonial-backed businesses. Live Events 'The British left, but their insidious legacy remained,' Mukherjea said. 'They convinced us that the best life is one of white-collar servitude secured through rote learning and degrees. That mindset lasted 75 years—but it's breaking now.' As India's startup ecosystem flourishes and more young people veer away from traditional career paths, Mukherjea sees a revival of India's entrepreneurial spirit as both overdue and inevitable. His message to the next generation: 'Stop struggling to validate your worth through elite certificates. Build things. Think differently. Own your future.'
News18
19-06-2025
- Business
- News18
'Even My Job Could Be…': Finance Guru Saurabh Mukherjea On AI Taking Over
Last Updated: Saurabh Mukherjea warns that AI and leaner operations are reshaping India's white-collar job market, threatening middle-class jobs and fresh graduates. India is entering a new phase of capitalism that is fast reshaping its white-collar job landscape, and not for the better, warns Saurabh Mukherjea, founder of Marcellus Investment Managers. The country's middle class, especially fresh graduates, now faces a growing threat of job losses driven by artificial intelligence (AI) and a corporate shift toward leaner operations. 'We are actually quite American," Mukherjea said on the Bharatvaarta podcast. 'Our companies are commercially oriented. Hiring and firing norms are changing, and AI is now hitting the workforce hard." He drew parallels with the wave of job losses in Western countries during the 1990s, when automation began replacing human workers at scale, especially in manufacturing and routine office roles. The stakes, Saurabh Mukherjea argued, are far higher for India, where the workforce is younger, larger, and more dependent on entry-level white-collar jobs that are now directly threatened by AI. He drew parallels with the job displacement seen in the West during the automation wave of the 1990s. 'The median age here is 28. Roughly 10 million graduates enter the market every year, and AI hits junior, entry-level jobs hardest," he explained. He pointed out that this transformation is no longer confined to the IT sector. 'Financial services, media, management consultancy, even my job could get automated," he said. Among the most striking examples he cited was HCL Technologies, which is 'openly aiming to do more with fewer people." India's white-collar work landscape, dominated by repetitive, process-driven roles, is especially exposed to automation. 'We don't have as many creative jobs. Our economy was built on labour arbitrage, and that's the work AI is best at disrupting," Mukherjea siad. Mukherjea cited examples from his own portfolio companies, where CEOs are actively pushing automation plans that could eliminate up to a third of their workforce in the next five years. 'They tell me, 'You as a shareholder will benefit,'" he said. 'I'm not sure I want it, but it's clear they do." Mukherjea expanded on this concern in another podcast episode released in April titled 'Beyond the Paycheck: India's Entrepreneurial Rebirth." There, he said that the stable, long-term jobs that once defined India's middle class are disappearing. Even middle management roles, long seen as safe and rewarding, are at risk. Roles across IT, media, finance, and middle management are being replaced by AI, signalling the end of the long-term, secure job model familiar to previous generations. Mukherjea believed India's digital infrastructure, built around the JAM Trinity (Jandhan, Aadhaar, and Mobile), can empower individuals to create their own opportunities. As traditional jobs decline, he suggests entrepreneurship could become the new engine of growth and prosperity. First Published:
