Industry News | 8/23/2025

Hexaware and upGrad launch Agentic AI Academy for autonomous AI

Hexaware Technologies and upGrad have launched the Agentic AI Academy to upskill its global workforce for autonomous AI systems. The program offers three role-based tracks—Builder.AI, Collaborator.AI, and Manage.AI—aimed at developers, teams, and leaders. The initiative underscores a shift from foundational AI training to hands-on, agentic capabilities and is expected to onboard most delivery and engineering teams in coming months.

Agentic AI Academy marks a strategic shift in enterprise AI

Hexaware Technologies, a global IT services provider, has joined forces with edtech leader upGrad to launch the Agentic AI Academy. This initiative signals a deliberate move away from foundational generative AI concepts toward building and managing autonomous, intelligent AI systems that can operate alongside humans. In practice, the academy is designed to prepare Hexaware’s vast, globe-spanning workforce for a future where sophisticated AI agents can plan, act, and adapt in real time to execute complex tasks. Think of it as moving from teaching teams to bake a cake to enabling them to orchestrate a full kitchen, where multiple agents coordinate to deliver a finished meal.

Why this matters

The launch comes as enterprise AI evolves at a rapid pace. Hexaware has already trained approximately 95% of its employees in foundational and advanced generative AI concepts, and the next phase focuses on agentic systems—autonomous software agents capable of decision-making and real-time adaptation. This mirrors a broader industry trend toward more sophisticated, action-oriented AI that can move beyond content generation to automate and optimize end-to-end processes. The collaboration leverages upGrad Enterprise’s corporate training expertise to co-design pedagogy and content aligned with Hexaware’s business priorities.

The curriculum: three tracks, real-world orientation

The Agentic AI Academy is organized into distinct, role-based learning paths to ensure practical relevance across functions:

  • Builder.AI: Targeted at developers and engineers, this track covers the technical foundations needed to construct agent architectures from the ground up. It emphasizes orchestration, tool integration, and safety protocols to ensure reliable operation of agentic systems.
  • Collaborator.AI: Designed for teams responsible for adapting and customizing agent solutions for client environments, whether open-source or platform-based, to fit real-world workflows.
  • Manage.AI: Focused on delivery and operations leaders, this path equips participants with knowledge to manage human-agent interactions, oversee quality assurance, and monitor agent performance in real time.

This structure makes the upskilling actionable, bridging theory and on-the-ground deployment for clients.

A strategic move for Hexaware and its clients

The academy is a centerpiece of Hexaware’s broader ambition to become an AI-first organization and expand its Agentic service offerings across industries. Company executives have indicated that onboarding the majority of its delivery and engineering teams into the program will occur over the next several months, signaling a large-scale transformation of how services are designed and delivered. For upGrad Enterprise, the collaboration reinforces its role as a driver of digital transformation, offering targeted, outcome-oriented learning models tailored to the needs of large corporations.

What has been learned from the journey so far

  • The project builds on Hexaware’s earlier AI training investments and its commitment to staying ahead of the curve in enterprise AI
  • The agentic approach aims to reduce manual toil by enabling intelligent agents to autonomously handle complex tasks
  • The pedagogy is co-designed with upGrad Enterprise to ensure relevance to Hexaware’s clients and industry needs

Looking ahead

Executives from both Hexaware and upGrad frame the Agentic AI Academy not just as an upskilling program but as a strategic alignment of talent with the evolving demands of an AI-centric economy. The initiative serves as a potential blueprint for technology service providers seeking to scale high-level AI skills in a way that translates into tangible client value.

Real-world implications will depend on how quickly teams can deploy agentic workflows, maintain safety and governance, and measure outcomes across client engagements.

About the partners

  • Hexaware Technologies: Global IT services provider focused on AI-enabled digital services.
  • upGrad: Edtech company known for enterprise training programs, including upskilling for AI and data science.

Sources

Note: This rewrite cites the original article’s context and the provided sources to capture the collaboration accurately.