Agara Walks & Filter Kaapi - Career Readiness & Future of Work
Hey there,
The next Agara Walk is on a super interesting theme impacting all of us - Career Readiness & Future of Work
We are living in interesting times where the proverbial decades worth of development is transpiring in weeks with each new release of AI models, wrapper applications and domain specific agents.
This also coincides with our demographic reality - i.e. India represents the largest young population ever in the face of humanity.
How do we reconcile these two realities? Is it a threat or an opportunity.
Can't think of any better set of individuals who are joining me as co-hosts to deliberate on this very timely theme for our next Agara Walk:
Madan Padaki, Co-founder G.A.M.E
Madan is a serial entrepreneur and the co-founder of GAME, a collaborative network bringing together government, businesses, and civil society to catalyze mass entrepreneurship and large-scale job creation across India.
His journey includes co-founding MeritTrac Services, Asia's largest skills assessment company and founding 1Bridge, which focuses on building scalable solutions for impact. With India's massive young population at an inflection point, Madan's work at the intersection of skilling, grassroots entrepreneurship, and policy advocacy, brings unparalleled perspective on how we can transform our demographic destiny into economic opportunity.
Murlidhar Surya, Founder, Lodestar
Murli is the co-founder and former CEO of MeritTrac, India's largest skills assessment company, and has successfully led ventures at L&T, Asian Paints, and 3M.
As founder of Lodestar Education Services, he's redefining career counseling for the 21st century helping students navigate increasingly complex career landscapes. With decades of experience in skills assessment and career guidance, Murli understands the critical gap between education and employability like few others. His work at Lodestar focuses on helping young people make informed career choices in an era where traditional career paths are dissolving and new opportunities emerge almost daily. As AI reshapes entire industries, Murli's insights on preparing students for careers that don't yet exist will be invaluable for our conversation on career readiness.
Mehul Khandhedia, Ex-Coursera, PhysicsWallah & upGrad
Mehul has worked across India's leading edtech platforms including Coursera, upGrad, and PhysicsWallah. His career has been focused on bridging the gap between learning and employment—helping thousands of students transition from courses to careers. Mehul started his career as a professor and training placement officer with Mumbai University and has facilitated more than 35000 career transitions from fresher to working professionals.
Having worked at companies reaching millions of learners, Mehul has a front-row seat to how education delivery, career aspirations, and hiring landscapes are evolving. As AI disrupts both education delivery and job requirements simultaneously, Mehul's insights on what skills and mindsets will matter most for career success are incredibly timely.
Registration on Luma is mandatory to join as this is a curated walk. Please respond to the mandatory questions for effective curation.
Also we'll share the details you fill in the form: your Organization, Role & Introduction one-liner with other participants to optimise networking.
Walk & Coffee Timings:
Reporting & Quick Intros: 7:30AM
Start Walk at Agara Lake: 7:45AM
End Walk: 9:15AM
Coffee @ Aarogya Aahar: 9:30AM to 10AM
Post that disperse or hang out in smaller groups.
Walk Distance & Format:
We start our walk at Gate 1, Agara Lake, HSR Layout, Near BDA Complex Flyover, Bangalore
The shorter circle of Agara is 2.5kms. We'll cover 2 rounds of Agara.
We can have one round of quick intros in the beginning based on who all show up on time. Then we split into smaller groups of 5-7 and walk. We can of course switch groups etc. to maximise networking.
We'll meet the Agara Entrance next to BDA complex flyover, close to Aarogya Aahar. Exact Maps location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/kGL7im88AjVJrNDn6
1st Sector, HSR Layout, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560034
We also have a Event Whatsapp group to coordinate better. You'll receive the link to join once your sign-up.
What you should get?
Comfortable clothing and walking shoes for the 5km walk
A small bottle of water, if you prefer
Loads of energy & curiosity
About Agara Walks & Filter Kaapi
Agara Walks & Filter Kaapi is a 1400+ member community that meets early morning over weekends in Bengaluru for a networking walk around Agara Lake, HSR bringing founders, professionals and investors together for meaningful conversations that continue over a cup of hot filter coffee post the walk. Read about Agara Walks here: https://yourstory.com/ys-life/agara-lake-bengalurus-newest-address-for-entrepreneurs-to-network
-Srikanth
You can connect with me on LinkedIn or X.