In a recent podcast, Sabeer Bhatia, co-founder of Hotmail, raised concerns about India's engineering education system and work culture, pointing to a lack of hands-on experience, critical thinking, and real innovation.

“99% of Indian engineering graduates move into management roles and start giving ‘gyaan' to everyone. But where's the work ethic? Where are the people building real products with their own hands?” Mr Bhatia asked.

He criticized the glorification of business figures who focus on outsourcing over genuine software development. “We celebrate people who promote body shopping, not original software. Somehow, they become India's software gurus—despite not writing any code themselves.”

Mr Bhatia emphasized that for India to become a truly innovative nation, it must rethink how it values technical skills. “Till we change our work ethic and we actually start doing work with our own hands and start respecting people who write software, who write code, who do things, or who think about these problems in a critical way… we've got to change the education system.”

Drawing a comparison with China, Mr Bhatia highlighted how inclusive and subsidized education there has made a huge difference. “China educates everyone. They subsidize education, even cars.

In India, education has become a luxury for the rich. And what do many of them do? Get a degree, marry someone, and focus on dowry. What kind of mindset is that?”

Despite the challenges, Mr Bhatia believes India can bridge this gap with the right use of technology. “We can teach critical thinking through an app. Let's encourage problem-solving—real happiness comes from solving other people's problems.”

Reflecting on his journey, Mr Bhatia noted the stark difference between academia and real-world learning. “Stanford teaches what's relevant now, but much of the IIT academia is stuck in the past,” he said. “I got into Apple based on my grades, but I built Hotmail by learning on the job. Innovation doesn't come from textbooks—it comes from doing.”

His comments align with recent concerns raised by India's G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant, who had also called for a major revamp of engineering curriculums, especially in top institutions like the IITs.