Wadhwani Foundation

Wadhwani Foundation is a global non-profit founded in 2000-2001 by Silicon Valley entrepreneur Dr. Romesh Wadhwani, with the mission to accelerate job growth in emerging economies and enable millions to earn a family-sustaining wage and lead a dignified life. Operating in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, East Africa, and Latin America, the Foundation partners with governments, corporations, mentors, investors, and educational institutions to drive economic development through large-scale job creation. Its work spans four core initiatives: Entrepreneurship, Skilling, Innovation & Research, and Government Digital Transformation.

Headquarters: Bengaluru, Karnataka, India (with additional offices in New Delhi, Los Altos, Mexico City, and São Paulo).

Major Areas of Work

• Entrepreneurship: Enables aspiring and practicing entrepreneurs to start, survive, and thrive through customized interventions, including the National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN).

• Skilling: Equips job-seekers with new-age employability skills to help them acquire family-wage jobs, delivering large-scale upskilling programmes.

• Innovation & Research: Accelerates academic innovation in groundbreaking tech domains including AI, biotech, and advanced computing, pushing research from pioneering discovery to commercialization.

• Government Digital Transformation: Upskills governments with emerging technologies to accelerate population-scale projects and define new-age digital policies.

Major Initiatives & Programmes

• National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN): Launched in 2003, a community fostering entrepreneurship through institutional capacity building, mentorship, and access to national platforms, with over 70,000 members.

• Wadhwani Ignite: A faculty-training and student entrepreneurship programme, having trained 200+ faculty members and reached hundreds of students across affiliated colleges.

• Wadhwani AI: An independent, non-profit AI institute founded in 2018 with a $30 million philanthropic commitment, building AI-based solutions for underserved communities in agriculture, education, financial inclusion, and healthcare.

• My Career Advisor: A digital tool supporting career readiness and pathways for job-seekers.

• Wadhwani Centre for Government Digital Transformation: Supports governments in adopting AI and digital technologies for population-scale public initiatives.

Impact

Wadhwani Foundation has educated over 150,000 students in entrepreneurship across 1,000+ institutes, trained 5,000+ faculty members, and supported 5,000+ startups and SMBs through partnerships with 250+ incubators. Its Skilling initiative has upskilled over 6 million learners, delivered through 10,000+ trained faculty and 1,000+ hours of AI-powered content, with a presence across 15+ countries. The Foundation has been recognised with multiple industry awards, including ET HR Excellence Awards, SABERA 2024, and ET Education Excellence Awards, reflecting its sustained commitment to measurable social and economic impact.

Partners

Governments, educational institutions, corporates, incubators, and ecosystem partners across India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, East Africa, and Latin America, including collaborations with Tech Mahindra Foundation and Scottish Church College.

Leadership

Founder – Dr. Romesh Wadhwani Executive Vice President – Vishal Chaddha

Wadhwani Foundation is an excellent fit for professionals passionate about entrepreneurship, skilling, AI-driven social impact, and public sector digital transformation who want to contribute to large-scale, cross-border economic development.