FutureSkills Prime, the digital skilling platform run jointly by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and Nasscom, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) to bring technology skills, artificial intelligence (AI) adoption and cybersecurity awareness to India’s traders and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
The agreement was signed on 27 October 2026 in New Delhi in the presence of Jitin Prasada, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology and for Commerce and Industry. CAIT Secretary General and Member of Parliament Praveen Khandelwal and Nasscom President Rajesh Nambiar represented the two partner organisations, with Dr Abhilasha Gaur, CEO of the IT-ITeS Sector Skills Council (SSC Nasscom), also present.
What the partnership covers
The collaboration is designed to connect CAIT’s large trader network with FutureSkills Prime’s catalogue of industry-aligned learning. The focus areas include:
- practical, business-level applications of AI and agentic AI for small enterprises;
- digital commerce and cloud tools to widen market reach;
- cybersecurity and cyber-fraud prevention, as digital payments and online selling expand; and
- building awareness so that traders can discover and enrol in relevant skilling programmes.
According to Khandelwal, the two organisations will jointly run a nationwide campaign on AI adoption and protection against cyber fraud, with the aim of taking it down to the village level. He pointed out that India has more than nine crore traders, alongside large numbers of people working in transport, street vending and other non-corporate businesses, and said lack of awareness remains the biggest barrier to technology adoption in that segment.
Moving AI from discussion to the shop floor
Prasada described the MoU as well timed, arguing that technology adoption must move beyond high-level discussions and reach every trader and MSME. He said localised AI applications can help neighbourhood shopkeepers estimate storage, logistics and electricity costs, plan seasonal inventory and anticipate market trends, and that the benefits of technology need to be democratised to the last mile. He also cautioned that cybersecurity risk rises alongside digitalisation, underlining the need for digital literacy among small businesses.
Nambiar said every business today is a technology business and that small traders should be at the forefront of AI adoption rather than being left behind, adding that combining technology adoption with digital skilling can improve productivity and customer reach for MSMEs.
Why it matters for skilling
Most of India’s large digital skilling efforts have so far targeted students and IT professionals. The FutureSkills Prime–CAIT tie-up is notable because it extends structured, government-backed learning to working entrepreneurs in the non-corporate sector, many of them in Tier-2 and Tier-3 towns. If the campaign achieves meaningful reach, it could become one of the larger adult and lifelong-learning programmes focused on AI literacy in the country, and a test case for how short-format, outcome-oriented courses can be delivered to learners outside formal education.
The partners have not yet shared enrolment targets or a rollout timeline for the campaign.
Inputs: ANI, NCN.
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