Mr. Shivam Dutta, Founder at AlmaBetter discusses on how they plan to scale up further in the next couple of years with new/aspiring candidates joining the job market each year and how they are identifying the best-suited roles for their student-base in the midst of the ongoing talent wars.
- Why do you feel Data Science serves as a viable career option?
Recently, Data Science jobs have been on the rise worldwide as data-driven decision-making is essential for almost any business. Hence, any business, small or large, is seeking skilled Data Science professionals who can comprehend and deconstruct data. I think the quote “Data is the new oil” cannot be more true in the 21st century. Furthermore, if you look at career growth, salaries, and the different roles that this field offers, I think it is safe to say that Data Science serves as a viable career option. As I mentioned earlier, the demand for Data Science professionals has sky-rocketed in the last few years. Organizations are ready to offer a premium salary even to freshers with little or no experience as they plan to utilize data and stay ahead of the curve. Another compelling reason why Data Science is a viable career option is the experience factor. As Data Science is a relatively new domain, it is hard to find accomplished professionals, making it easy for freshers to find a suitable role in the field.
- Why do you think there is a demand-supply gap in the market w.r.t jobs in Data Science? How is AlmaBetter aiming to solve this challenge?
Well, there are several reasons for the demand-supply gap in the market. The number one reason is that almost every company wants to leverage data to make favorable business decisions. The rising demand for analytics in organizations is the primary reason behind an exponential shortage of Data Science professionals. Another reason behind this issue is the slow pace of upskilling and lack of affordable programs which provide proper guidance and a structured curriculum to deploy skilled professionals in the market.
AlmaBetter, with its risk-free approach and reversed-engineered curriculum, aims to bridge the gap between the demand and supply of skilled professionals. We provide a robust program with a minimum refundable enrolment fee, a 100% placement guarantee, and a pay-after-placement model to get the best out of aspirants. AlmaBetter has partnered with 500+ MNCs and high-paying start-ups to help students commence their careers, and we hope we can change the landscape of career growth for freshers as well as working professionals.
- Tell us about your partnership with Polygon. How is it expected to benefit your consumers?
Honestly, we planned on collaborating with Polygon primarily because of their vision and dedication to the domain. However, as we started working with them, we were glad that we took this step seeing how it can help millions of students chase their dreams and step into the world of Web Development, specifically Web 3.0. AlmaBetter’s Full Stack Web Development with Web3 program, in collaboration with Polygon, is designed to provide the best education by utilizing Polygon’s resources to produce relevant training modules for the learners and establish a strong foundation in the rapidly growing Web 3.0 domain. The collaborative program aims to train over one lakh students by the end of March 2023, which we all are really excited about. The curriculum covers everything from the fundamentals to advanced concepts such as Blockchain Technology. Our programs are open to everyone, and we encourage students even with no prior experience in the tech space to enroll in the program.
- Please elaborate on the role that AI plays in your business.
Well, Data Science and Artificial Intelligence are now being utilized in almost every organization, and we are leveraging this dynamic technology’s prospects at AlmaBetter extensively. The primary concern that comes with big universities as well as established online programs is their inability to offer personalized guidance, thus taking away the pivotal factor of individual attention. Even though we cater to students on a much larger scale (almost 10x of large universities), we leverage AI to carve out personalized learning journeys for our students. From the very inception of AlmaBetter, our main goal was to offer students a learning platform that would not just offer quality education but also a deep understanding of concepts. We have trained our AI by taking cue from students who have already successfully graduated from the program.
AI has also proven to be advantageous for us, as a business, helping us identify the right target audience for our training programs. It saves us marketing dollars, which translates into an affordable tuition fee for our students. In an industry that is continually plagued by the high cost of customer acquisition, we are implementing AI to use our marketing budget effectively while at the same time building an effective learning model for our students.
The possibilities of Data Science are endless, and we are glad we can utilize such exciting technologies to help our students.
- Share 3 trends that will dominate Indian Web3.0 in the days to come.
In my opinion, the first trend that will dominate Indian Web 3.0 is the maturation of NFTs. Non-fungible tokens are already a popular trend, but I think in the coming years, the NFT market will grow as developers continue to advance the technology. I believe, in the future, the emphasis will be on utility-based NFTs and not just art-focused projects, which, in my opinion, can be revolutionary. Several Indian organizations are already working on how to utilize Web 3.0 and NFTs to their advantage. I am really excited to see how this goes forward. The second trend has to be the Metaverse. I mean, who isn’t excited about entering the virtual world? Several companies are working on creating their metaverse, and the future looks exciting. Now that tech giants are involved in the game; we are in for a treat. The third and most exciting trend that will dominate Indian Web 3.0 has to be Ethereum scaling and Layer 2. In 2021, we saw substantial progress, with Polygon taking off in a big way and roll-up technology making significant strides. The pursuit of scaling Ethereum through better utilization of Layer 2 technologies like roll-ups will continue to be among the leading blockchain and Web3 trends for the foreseeable future.
