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Auto Industry’s Skill Reset: From Mechanical to Digital-First Roles

India's OEMs pair human talent with AI co-pilots, VR simulators and gamified hiring to rebuild shop floors for Industry 4.0.

By Shahkar Abidi

29 Apr 2026

15500 Views

Auto Industry’s Skill Reset: From Mechanical to Digital-First Roles

In a bustling service bay at the Ashok Leyland plant in Tamil Nadu, a technician faces a repair on one of over 10,300 vehicle variants. Instead of leafing through thousands of pages of greasy paper manuals, he taps a tablet and engages "Ask AI," a generative-AI-powered digital co-pilot. Within seconds, the AI navigates complex service manuals to provide an instant, precise response across the portfolio of 1,300 models, 20-plus aggregates and 10,300-plus variants.

Meanwhile, at the Skill Development Centre in Hosur, a new recruit isn't holding a torch; she's wearing a virtual reality (VR) headset. In this simulated environment, ...

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