BITS Pilani wants alumni at OpenAI, Google to teach AI
What's the story
The Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani is enlisting artificial intelligence (AI) experts among its alumni, from top global companies such as OpenAI, NVIDIA, Microsoft, and Google. The move is aimed at teaching courses on Generative AI and Agentic AI to over 2,500 students across all its campuses. So far, six alumni from these tech giants have been engaged for this initiative.
Alumni engagement
Step toward bridging academia-industry gap
BITS Pilani's Group Vice-Chancellor, V Ramgopal Rao, emphasized the importance of this move in bridging the gap between academia and industry. He said, "This is a major step in leveraging alumni expertise to give our students direct exposure to the latest industry developments." The institute is also onboarding over 30 other alumni including research scientists from leading global AI labs, computer science PhD candidates from top US universities as well as directors and software engineers.
Curriculum update
AI tools and their applications
BITS Pilani has already started formal AI courses for first-year students across all disciplines. Rao said, "Many students use AI tools but have little understanding of how they work - their platforms, limitations or applications. We want to change that." The institute is also revising its curriculum to keep pace with the fast-evolving job market.
New initiative
New AI and Smart Systems program
Building on its computing-related programs, BITS Pilani will launch a new AI and Smart Systems program from the 2026-27 academic year. The course will focus on artificial intelligence, robotics, and humanoid systems. Rao said while countries like the US and China have made major strides in robotics, India has few dedicated research groups in this space.