This Data Science Professional cum Entrepreneur leads an "IPL" of his Own Pinkesh Shah, Director of Programs at the Institute of Product Leadership states that reskilling entrepreneurs and professionals needs to be taken up on a war footing.

With modern-day entrepreneurship being adapted increasingly even by professionals working for other organizations and by the corporate honchos, the sixty four-thousand dollar question to ponder over at this juncture is whether these professionals possess the requisite skillsets and entrepreneurial innovation that are key to drive next-gen ventures.

In this regard, Entrepreneur India sought insights from Pinkesh Shah, who is Co-Founder and Director of Programs at the Institute of Product Leadership (IPL) that stresses on the need for reskilling of working professionals to make them industry-ready also empowering them to start ventures on their own.

Pinkesh also stresses on the importance of data sciences-driven entrepreneurs ,who he considers as playing vital roles in building the Indian economy. To add substance to this fact, IPL very recently hosted the Data Sciences Summit 2018 at Bengaluru that saw participation from a multitude of data scientists and entrepreneurs alike. The summit also saw the emergence of a huge gap with respect to data sciences in India. As per these statistics, India needs at least 45,000 data scientists on an immediate basis.

Analysing the need for reskilling to kindle entrepreneurial instincts

"By nurturing budding entrepreneurs, it is certain that the inception of a start-up will happen in future, hence generating new opportunities for job seekers. This is why supporting and nurturing entrepreneurs to grow their businesses is important as it will have an impact on the employment rates," states Shah to Entrepreneur India.

"Data is the buzzword today & use of big data to customize a more effective experience to meet customer needs and goals is the latest trend," stresses Shah

In this regard, Shah with his IPL has gone all guns blazing to reskill working professionals; with a special focus on solving vital societal issues through data-driven entrepreneurial models.

"We at IPL feel that an essential framework is needed to start building a viable product, what we call the Minimum Loveable Product – MLP," explains Shah.

He also informs that developing the MLP is done through structured, hands-on learning focussed on aspects such as reducing customer and market risk while launching the product, cross-border/Global networking and coaching with Silicon Valley mentors and coaches, and systematic learning about entrepreneurship and innovation while the idea is being nurtured and developed.

Reskilling parameters

For professionals seeking to reskill themselves, potentially to explore entrepreneurial prospects, Shah states that the criterion to enrol at the IPL is to possess at least 5 years of work experience.

He states that IPL also welcomes professionals not happy at their current job profile and growth, and meeting the above criteria.

An eye-catchy reskilling program at the IPL is the Data Science Upskilling courses that are potential kindlers of entrepreneurial aspects.

Others major programs include EMBA, International Certificate Program in Product Management and Marketing, amongst others.

"Professionals with these parameters can enrol with us and look forward to better career prospects," invites Shah.

Mentoring Entrepreneurs – From the Data Sciences perspective

Mentoring is undoubtedly a key requirement as far as entrepreneurs across any sector are concerned; more so the ones who look at developing models by harnessing the potential of Data Sciences.

In this regard, Shah explains that at IPL, professionals can expect a dedicated facility called the School of Data Sciences catering exclusively to professionals desirous of furthering a career in Data Sciences.

"Our programs; PGP in Advanced Data Science- PGPADS and International Certificate Program in Data Science-ICDS are industry focused and developed in collaboration with our industry council, which caters to the needs of working professionals," informs Shah.

In addition to the above, there would also be internship opportunities with exposure to real-world data science problems.

As per Shah, the scope for data-science professionals is now at an all time high as organizations constantly seek people with data science skillsets, to achieve scalability.

"There are dedicated start-ups that are built solely to meet the client's demand for venturing into the data pool & building businesses based on the relevant data extracted," states Shah.