Indian students are conditioned to follow instructions mechanically rather than to think independently, design new solutions, or challenge existing paradigms. This makes them great labour but vacuous management. This has been so with the Writer’s Building workforce in Calcutta in the 1700s
Across Indian social media, academic circles, and professional commentary, debates rage about the state of engineering education in India. One provocative critique that has gained traction recently is the idea that many Indian universities — even the so-called “big names” — train students to be executors of instructions rather than innovators and creators. The metaphor often used is stark: “If you train people to be coolies and call them engineers, they will be paid as loaders and porters.” This argument suggests that students are conditioned to follow instructions mechanically rather than to think independently, design new solutions, or challenge existing paradigms.
This critique resonates especially when paired with the data highlighted in the YouTube video “B.Tech Placements – Salaries Stuck for 15 Years. Cost Increased 400%”, which addresses a stagnation in entry-level salaries for engineering graduates in India even as the cost of education and the general cost of living have surged dramatically. The implication is that while India produces large numbers of engineering graduates annually, the value they receive in the labor market — in terms of wages — has not kept pace with either inflation or cost increases.
To understand the causes and implications of this situation, we must look both inward at the Indian education system and outward at the global roles Indian engineers play. Why are so many Indian graduates said to be good at following instructions rather than initiating innovation? And is this stereotype fully justified, especially in light of the tremendous global presence of Indian professionals?
The Indian engineering education system: Foundation, critiques, and constraints
India produces an enormous number of engineers every year — over a million graduates — thanks to thousands of institutions ranging from elite Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) to regional colleges. The system’s sheer scale means it encompasses wide disparities in quality, resources, and outcomes.
A major criticism is that the curriculum is overly theoretical, exam-driven, and focused on rote learning rather than creative problem-solving. Many students prioritize grades and placement statistics over hands-on projects, internships, or original research. An employability report once noted that a significant percentage of engineering graduates lack the new-age technological skills demanded by modern industries, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science.
This structural reality can reinforce a pattern where graduates become adept at passing exams and executing routine tasks in structured environments but are not trained to ask why, what if, or how might we improve this? Without institutional emphasis on independent thought and deep innovation, students may drift toward roles that reward precision and execution rather than independent creation.
Yet this observation does not imply that all Indian engineers function merely as “instruction followers” or that exceptions are the entire story. In fact, a deeper examination reveals that many Indians thrive as innovators, leaders, and visionaries worldwide — challenging simplistic narratives about Indian education.
Indian engineers and leaders making their mark worldwide
To balance the narrative, here are 20 Indians who have taken roles in foreign lands — in jobs that span technology, business, science, and global leadership. These examples underscore that while systemic issues exist, Indian professionals have made substantial contributions globally:
- Sundar Pichai – CEO of Alphabet (Google’s parent company), a globally influential leader in technology and business strategy.
- Indra Nooyi – Former CEO of PepsiCo, one of the first Indian women to lead a Fortune 500 company.
- Raghuram Rajan – Economist, former IMF Chief Economist, and former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India with global stature.
- Satya Nadella – CEO of Microsoft, widely respected for steering the company’s strategic transformation.
- Arvind Krishna – Chairman and CEO of IBM, leading one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious technology companies.
- Shantanu Narayen – Chairman and CEO of Adobe Inc., a global software powerhouse.
- Nikesh Arora – Former President of SoftBank Group and CEO of Palo Alto Networks, a major cybersecurity firm.
- Ajay Banga – President of the World Bank and former CEO of Mastercard, with deep influence on global development finance.
- Raja Koduri – Chief Architect of Accelerated Computing at Intel; previously led advanced graphics divisions at AMD and Apple.
- Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw – While primarily known for her work in India, her global biotech influence extends widely through international partnerships.
- Roma Agrawal – British structural engineer known for work on The Shard in London, blending technical excellence with public outreach.
- Manjul Bhargava – Renowned mathematician and Fields Medalist teaching at Princeton University.
- Nina Tandon – Biomedical engineer and CEO of EpiBone in the USA, innovating in regenerative medicine.
- Venkatraman Ramakrishnan – Indian-born American structural biologist and Nobel Laureate.
- Preet Bharara – Former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York known for prosecuting major corruption cases.
- Rajeev Suri – Former CEO of Nokia, leading global telecommunications innovation.
- Sabeer Bhatia – Co-founder of Hotmail, one of the first web-based email services, sold for a significant sum and widely adopted globally.
- Dev Patel (fictional/less directly relevant in tech but culturally impactful as an Indian-origin actor in Hollywood) – Represents another dimension of professional global influence.
- Kalpana Chawla – Aeronautical engineer and astronaut; first woman of Indian origin in space.
- Madhur Jaffrey – While in culinary arts, she has shaped global perceptions of Indian cuisine.
These professionals illustrate that Indians can and do innovate, lead, and impact global industries. Whether leading Silicon Valley giants, pioneering scientific research, or shaping global policy, their careers defy the notion that Indian engineers are mere executors of instructions.
What this YouTube video by Peri Maheshwar on salaries really highlights
The B.Tech Placements video — and corroborating commentary from professional networks — focuses on an uncomfortable truth: despite India’s economic growth, entry-level salaries for engineering graduates in India have barely increased over the past decade and a half. LinkedIn posts about the video point out that while GDP, stock markets, and costs have soared, freshman salary packages in major Indian IT companies (like TCS, Infosys, Accenture, Cognizant, etc.) have stagnated.
This phenomenon suggests a deeper imbalance between supply and demand, where a huge supply of engineering graduates competes for a relatively limited number of high-value jobs, pushing wages down. It also indicates that many jobs offered to engineering graduates in India may be low-value or commoditized roles rather than positions requiring deep technical innovation.
At the same time, some of these same graduates find much higher paying and more creative roles abroad — not because their training was inadequate, but often because global tech ecosystems have different incentives and structures that reward innovation and specialized skills more directly.
Why does this happen? Structural and systemic factors
To unpack this, it’s essential to understand a few systemic dynamics:
1. Educational Emphasis on Exams and Certification
Indian engineering education historically has emphasized examination performance over hands-on creation, critical inquiry, or original research. This approach produces capable executors of standardized tasks but often misses innovation mindset training.
2. Mismatch Between Curriculum and Industry Needs
Many engineering programs lag behind global technological trends such as AI, cloud computing, advanced robotics, and interdisciplinary problem-solving. A report on employability highlights that a large percentage of Indian engineers lack skills in modern technological domains.
3. Economic structures and job markets
India’s economy has a large service component that absorbs engineers into roles like IT support, software maintenance, and routine tasks. These jobs are critical but often not cutting-edge innovation roles. In contrast, ecosystems like Silicon Valley actively recruit engineers into highly creative and strategic roles, offering space for risk-taking and invention.
4. Brain drain and global talent mobility
The migration of top engineers to foreign countries — where they secure higher pay and larger responsibility — skews perception. While India loses some top innovators to overseas opportunities, those who stay may find fewer stimulating, high-risk, high-reward roles domestically.
So, are Indian engineers ‘coolies in suits’?
The metaphor captures a valid frustration: many Indian engineers find themselves in jobs where they execute instructions rather than lead innovation. It also reflects structural inadequacies in parts of the Indian education system and job market.
But this perspective — if taken as the only narrative — is incomplete. Indian professionals have had profound global impact in leadership, innovation, science, technology, and business. They are not inherently uncreative or non-innovative; many excel in environments that reward independent thinking.
The dichotomy is less about capability and more about opportunity, training emphasis, and institutional incentives. While some Indian universities still cling to outdated teaching models, others are reforming curricula, partnering with global institutions, and emphasizing research and entrepreneurship.
The success stories of Indians abroad — from Sundar Pichai at Alphabet to Roma Agrawal in structural engineering, to Nobel laureates and astronauts — demonstrate that Indian minds are fully capable of innovation and global impact.
Building a future that harnesses India’s potential
The debate should not be framed as Indians can’t innovate but rather as how can the system better cultivate innovation? If Indian education is to evolve beyond producing executors to producing innovators, several changes may be needed:
- Curriculum reform that prioritizes hands-on projects, original research, and interdisciplinary problem-solving.
- Stronger industry-academia linkages that expose students to real-world innovation challenges.
- Support for startups and deep tech ventures that encourage risk-taking and entrepreneurial thinking.
- Global collaborations to imbue education with broader perspectives and standards.
India already produces brilliant engineers; the goal is to ensure that the best of them are trained, equipped, and incentivized to innovate and lead rather than just execute instructions. In the global landscape, many Indian engineers are thriving in diverse, high-impact roles abroad. Those successes should be studied and integrated into Indian educational reform — not dismissed as exceptions but used as models for what is possible when talent is empowered, not just qualified.
