Technology for Jobs, Inclusion, and Dignity – A Speech by GFTN Chairman, Ravi Menon

Technology for Jobs, Inclusion, and Dignity

Ravi Menon

Chairman, Global Finance & Technology Network^[1]

Keynote Address at Black Swan Summit

Mayfair Convention Centre, Bhubaneshwar, India

 6 February 2026

Honourable President of India, Shrimati Droupadi Murmu;

Honourable Chief Minister of Odisha, Shri Mohan Charan Majhi;

Honourable Minister for Electronics & Information Technology, Government of Odisha, Shri Mukesh Mahaling;

Honourable Minister for Higher Education, Government of Odisha, Shri Suryabanshi Suraj;

Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

Namaskār.

Thank you for the warm welcome. It is a privilege to be here in Odisha — the land of Lord Jagannath — a land shaped by its deep spiritual heritage and a long history of resilience, learning, and connectivity.

We are meeting at a time where seismic shifts are taking place in technology, especially in artificial intelligence.

The question is not whether technology will drive economic growth. It most certainly will.

The real question is: will technology translate into jobs, inclusion, and dignity?

· There is no better place to ask this question than India.

o India is one of the fastest growing countries in the world, yet has more people living in poverty than anywhere else.

· If India can address this question well, it offers a pathway for many other developing countries.

· India has already begun to do so.

Can digital finance reach the last mile? Yes, it can.

· India has opened more than 500 million Jan Dhan digital bank accounts. This is not an abstract statistic.

o It means wages credited directly into an account instead of being paid in cash.

o It means government subsidies received without leakages or intermediaries.

o It means the opportunity to save securely and plan ahead.

Can digital public infrastructure democratise opportunity? Yes, it can.

· Take the India Stack — Aadhaar, UPI, Account Aggregators.

· Its design features – interoperable systems, low-cost access, and consent-based data sharing — enable not just access to bank accounts, but insurance for all, and financial resilience across the life cycle.

But the substantive work in harnessing technology to promote jobs, inclusion, and dignity still lies ahead.

We need to get three ingredients right – skills training, inclusive policies, collaborative partnerships.

SKILLS TRAINING

First, skills training.

Let me start with an uncomfortable truth.

Many education systems — including in the advanced economies — are failing the next generation.

· Graduates struggle to find suitable work, even as firms struggle to find workers with the right skills.

· This widening gap between education and employability is one of the defining labour-market challenges of our time.

· The problem is not just in our systems, but in our mindsets.

o We worship credentials over capabilities.

o We privilege academic pathways over vocational excellence.

We need a fundamental rebalancing.

· Not just theory — but skills.

· Not just certificates — but employability.

· Not one pathway — but many.

We need lifelong learning.

· The future of work will not be linear.

· Skills today have a much shorter shelf life. What we learn at 20 may be obsolete by 30 or 40. People will change roles and sectors multiple times.

· Education can no longer be front-loaded at the start of life. It must be continuous, modular, and adaptable.

· Mid-career transitions must be supported through stackable credentials, employer-linked training, and flexible learning that fits around work and family responsibilities.

We need AI that does not replace human judgement but augments it.

· Not all AI is the same.

· Big AI — large models reshaping knowledge work — will concentrate benefits in cities and corporations.

· Equally important is small AI — models that run on mobile phones and low-cost devices.

o Imagine a health worker in rural Odisha diagnosing common illnesses, supported by AI tools that guide triage and treatment.

o A farmer receiving advice on soil health, water stress, or weather-resilient cropping from a photo of his field.

o A street vendor optimising inventory based on local weather, festivals, and footfall patterns.

INCLUSIVE POLICIES

The second ingredient – inclusive policies.

National visions of inclusion succeed or fail in states. It is states that decide whether inclusion reaches the last mile — or gets lost in the middle.

Odisha has prioritised social cohesion, community protection, and human development.

· It is a state that has moved from disaster response to disaster resilience, integrating satellite data, early-warning systems, and community preparedness, to minimise loss of lives and livelihoods along a vulnerable coastline.

· It is a state that has empowered women through self-help groups — aggregating savings, expanding access to credit, and linking women-led enterprises to markets.

· It is a state that has invested in skilling missions aligned with real employer demand, using technology-enabled training to turn skills into jobs.

COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIPS

The third pillar – collaborative partnerships.

Odisha’s approach to collaborative partnerships stands out.

· By creating synergies across the private sector, development institutions, and knowledge networks, it is beginning to punch above its weight.

· And last year, Odisha took another bold step in collaboration.

At the invitation of President Droupadi Murmu, Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam visited India in January last year.

· His visit to Odisha during that trip signalled Odisha’s strategic importance as India’s eastern gateway and marked a watershed moment in Singapore-Odisha relations.

· A total of eight MoUs were signed, establishing partnership frameworks across several areas.

One of those MoUs is the reason why we are here today.

The Government of Odisha and Singapore’s Global Finance & Technology Network (GFTN) entered a strategic partnership to grow the FinTech and InsureTech ecosystem in Odisha.

We have made substantial progress in just one year of this Bharat Netra partnership.

First, the National University of Singapore’s Asian Institute of Digital Finance designed and delivered a hands-on training programme in FinTech and InsureTech skills.

· The first cohort of 195 students graduated just yesterday.

· These students worked on real-world capstone projects with some 10 industry partners, learning how to harness digital finance to improve people’s lives.

· Most of them are now being considered for FinTech and InsureTech jobs in these firms.

· A second cohort will start training next month.

Second, we launched an incubation and mentorship programme for startups.

· It is an intensive 5-day bootcamp - to help these startups make better products, access capital and global networks, and build scalable businesses.

Third, we are working with partners to operationalise a Global Capability Centre.

· This will serve as an offshore hub in Odisha where financial institutions can collaborate with startups, corporates, and technology leaders to gain access to skilled talent and innovation capabilities.

Fourth, we are starting work on women’s economic empowerment in Odisha.

· GFTN and Ant International will sign a Letter of Intent with Mission Shakti, India’s largest women’s self-help group movement.

· We are working on three deliverables:

o help women-led MSMEs market their products on international platforms;

o plug women entrepreneurs into global value chains through digital tools; and

o showcase selected entrepreneurs at the Singapore FinTech Festival.

CONCLUSION

Let me conclude.

If states like Odisha get this right – technology which promotes jobs, inclusion, and dignity - it will offer a template for many developing countries.

And platforms like GFTN exist precisely for this purpose: to foster collaborative partnerships - to share knowledge, co-create solutions, and scale what works.

This outcome is not inevitable. But it is possible.

If we have …

o the wisdom to rethink education;

o the courage to promote innovation;

o the humility to seek collaborative partnerships; and

o the compassion to put people at the centre of everything we do.

Thank you.

^[1] Mr Menon is also Singapore’s Ambassador for Climate Action and Senior Adviser to the National Climate Change Secretariat at the Prime Minister’s Office. He was previously Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, from 2011 to 2023.