'Blue collar is the new gold collar': Anand Mahindra bets on skills, AI in New Year message

As 2025 draws to a close, Anand Mahindra, Chairman of the Mahindra Group, has set out a New Year message to employees that reflects on a year of market leadership while laying out how artificial intelligence, skills and education will shape the Group's next phase.

Ranging from record performance across businesses to the changing nature of work and talent mobility, Mahindra argued that "blue collar is the new gold collar" as technology reshapes opportunities for Indian enterprise and India's workforce. "The start of a new year is the best time to take a deep breath, review the past, and reflect on our readiness for what the future may bring," he wrote.

Mahindra described 2025 as a year that went beyond headline numbers. "Business-wise, it has been a deeply satisfying year, not just because the numbers were strong, but because of what they signify. We did not just lead markets. We redefined expectations."

He pointed to Mahindra's SUV business leading the market with record share, saying it "reaffirmed our ability to anticipate what customers genuinely desire." The farm equipment business, he noted, delivered its "highest ever quarterly market share, proving that innovation on the ground transforms lives." Mahindra's electric three-wheelers, meanwhile, "continued to dominate a highly competitive space."

Across the Group's listed and unlisted businesses, Mahindra cited operational execution as a core theme. "Tech Mahindra sharpened its edge in Al and operational excellence, delivering its eighth consecutive quarter of margin expansion, while Mahindra Finance scaled new heights, combining robust profit growth with industry-leading asset quality."

Tracing the Group's brand evolution, Mahindra said Mahindra has moved far beyond its traditional image. "For decades, Mahindra was seen as a homegrown brand known for rugged dependability. Today, we are perceived as modern, confident, and future-ready. EVs did not just change our portfolio. They changed the conversation."

That shift, he said, now demands sustained ambition. "We have raised the bar, and now we must keep raising it."

The core of Mahindra's message, however, focused on how artificial intelligence will reshape work - and who stands to gain. "As Al reshapes industries, many fear disruption. I respectfully disagree. I believe Al is an accelerator, not a threat."

He argued that as intelligent systems absorb routine tasks, practical skills will rise sharply in value. "As intelligent systems take over routine tasks, practical skills, accelerated by Al, will become premium assets, offering income, dignity and raising blue-collar work to a new level of long-term relevance."

Mahindra outlined a future where shop-floor skills are enhanced, not replaced, by technology. "Al will bring about a fundamental shift in the value of 'hands-on' skills: a technician who can work confidently alongside Al, a machinist who understands digital tools, and a craftsperson whose intuition is enhanced by data will change the world of shop floor work."

He added: "We will rediscover the value of people who can build, craft, repair and operate the real machinery of life. When technology amplifies skilled hands, those hands can become as rewarding, if not more rewarding, than traditional white-collar work. Al can turn blue collar into gold."

Linking skills to geopolitics and migration, Mahindra pointed to a broader global realignment. "This shift in the nature of work coincides with a tectonic shift in global talent mobility. As the education policies in the West evolve and visa norms tighten, the traditional 'brain drain' could give way to a remarkable 'brain gain' for India."

The industrialist noted that for decades, global talent moved westward. "Today, as those doors narrow, India's own potential is expanding. This isn't just a challenge, it is a historic opportunity to pivot from being the world's 'back office' to becoming its premier 'think tank'."

With Global Capability Centers (GCCs) expanding rapidly, Mahindra said, "the world has already signalled its trust in Indian innovation. Now, we must provide the institutional backbone to support it."

That ambition is now central to Mahindra University. "To seize this moment, Mahindra University is scaling its ambition to become a global lighthouse for learning. I have pledged significant personal time and financial commitment to this vision because I believe that in an era of restricted borders, we must build the world-class universities right here."

"We are not simply educating students. We are nurturing creators, builders and innovators who will shape the next wave of global growth. Education is not just a social good, it is an ultimate strategic investment in India's rise as a global talent leader."

Closing the message, Mahindra acknowledged uncertainty ahead but framed it as an opportunity. "The world may be unpredictable, with technology evolving and geopolitics shifting. But uncertainty is not our enemy, it is our proving ground."