Pearson India is turning to Indian IT service companies as key allies in advancing its global AI and education agenda, betting that their engineering scale and technological depth can complement the company’s century-old expertise in learning science and assessment.
Pearson is one of the largest education companies globally, with a revenue of £3.55 billion for 2024.
Vinay Kumar Swamy, country head of Pearson India, said in an interaction with AIM that Indian IT firms such as HCLTech and Cognizant have become “important partners” in Pearson’s mission to reimagine education through artificial intelligence.
“Their engineering capabilities, scale, and AI innovation complement our expertise in learning science, pedagogy, and assessment, enabling us to co-create solutions that are not only scalable, but also designed to improve learner and employer outcomes,” he said.
In July this year, Pearson and HCLTech unveiled a multi-year strategic partnership focused on developing AI-powered learning solutions.
The collaboration combines Pearson’s expertise in learning and assessment with HCLTech’s capabilities in digital transformation and AI, aiming to accelerate the transformation of learning, skills, and workforce readiness in an AI-driven world.
AI is Challenging
Announcing the partnership, Pearson CEO Omar Abbosh had observed that workers and employers around the world continue to be challenged by the rise of AI in the workplace, causing a growing skills gap that seeks immediate attention.
Subsequently, in September, Pearson and US-headquartered Cognizant, considered as Indian IT company because of its vast workforce based here, announced a global strategic partnership aimed at enhancing learning, supporting early career development, and building workforce readiness in the AI era.
As part of the multi-year agreement, Cognizant aims to enhance Pearson’s platforms with generative and agentic AI, in order to improve its products, including learner experiences and applications, by implementing cloud-native solutions with a microservices architecture.
HCLTech supports Pearson through its strengths in digital transformation, product engineering, and platforms like AI Force and Career Shaper
, while Cognizant contributes generative and agentic AI, cloud-native solutions, and proprietary tools such as Agent Foundry and Neuro® SAN.
Together, the collaborations power Pearson’s adaptive learning tools, skill-mapping solutions, and workforce readiness programs worldwide.
India Central to Pearson
India is a focus area for Pearson. With young people representing 29% of the country’s population, India’s youth market is a goldmine for education innovation, according to the company.
Pearson ventured into the country over 25 years ago offering textbooks and printed course materials.
Over time, it expanded its offerings to comprehensive curriculum support for schools and higher education institutions and digital learning solutions.
It also offers test preparation content for competitive exams like JEE (engineering), NEET (medicine), and UPSC (civil services).
Swamy said India is central to this strategy, with more than 2,000 Pearson technology professionals based in the country, making it a hub for innovation and global delivery.
“By combining Pearson’s global education and assessment expertise with the engineering depth and enterprise scale of India’s IT ecosystem, we are creating solutions that directly benefit our customers,” he said.
Pearson’s AI-driven collaborations with Indian IT companies, Swamy added, go beyond mere technology enablement. “Our partnerships are designed to ensure that AI-powered innovations translate into skills that help individuals advance their careers and organisations build future-ready workforces,” he said.
Platforms such as Faethm and TalentLens by Pearson provide data-driven insights into workforce demand, while Cognizant contributes its expertise in organisational change to redesign job roles and pipelines for the future.
Through Credly, the world’s largest digital credentialing marketplace, and Pearson VUE, the global leader in professional certification, the company enables learners to showcase verified, employer-trusted skills.
Pearson’s BTEC (Business Technology and Education Council) qualifications, developed with industry input, tie vocational training directly to jobs.
“By integrating our study tools with HCLTech’s Career Shaper, we can deliver tailored learning experiences that keep learners engaged and outcomes aligned with employer needs,” Swamy said.
IT Partnerships Crucial
According to him, the future of education and skilling is increasingly shaped not by universities or standalone edtech players, but through collaborations with IT service firms that bring scale, platforms, and AI innovation. “Enterprise learning has emerged as a significant growth area,” Swamy said. “Technology partnerships play a key role in enabling lifelong learning and reskilling at scale.”
He pointed to Pearson’s collaborations with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and several state governments for large-scale vocational training initiatives. “This impact is amplified when paired with the technological capabilities of IT firms,” he said, calling for stronger cooperation among universities, governments, industry, and technology partners.
For Indian edtech startups and universities, Swamy said Pearson’s model offers key lessons—chief among them the importance of global standards and predictive analytics. “Qualifications such as BTEC, recognised by more than 300 universities in 50 countries, give learners international pathways and ensure their skills are future-ready,” he noted.
Platforms like Faethm use predictive analytics to forecast skill demand and workforce trends, helping organisations invest in the right capabilities.
He emphasised the value of “collaboration for scale,” urging startups and institutions to work with IT service firms to co-develop AI-powered platforms and hybrid delivery models. “No single player can solve India’s skilling challenge alone,” he said.
“The strength of India’s education ecosystem lies in its diversity—from universities to startups to IT service companies.”
Looking ahead, Swamy said the next three to five years will see AI emerge as a defining force in workforce readiness.
Citing Pearson’s latest Skills Outlook, he said automation and AI could free up 17 hours a month per tech professional in India by 2029, with generative AI alone projected to save 51 million hours a week for Indian workers by 2026.
“The real opportunity is equipping people with the skill of learning how to learn,” Swamy said. “As roles evolve, people will need to build new skills again and again—combining technical capability with resilience and adaptability.”
India, he added, will remain at the heart of Pearson’s AI-enabled education journey.
“Its innovation ecosystem, talent scale, and enterprise skilling needs make it a natural hub for AI-enabled education, and Pearson will continue to deepen partnerships with Indian IT firms to build the skills of tomorrow,” he said, adding that no single organisation can address the skills challenge on its own.
“By working with governments, employers, and technology partners, we can ensure that AI not only drives efficiency but also transforms employability in ways that are sustainable and inclusive.”
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