Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has partnered with the Institute of Engineering & Management (IEM), Kolkata, to establish an artificial intelligence-focused Centre of Excellence aimed at connecting academic learning with industry applications.
Announced on September 28, the collaboration will bring together TCS' industry experience and IEM's academic ecosystem to support applied learning, research, experimentation and AI-led innovation. The initiative is structured as a three-year engagement and will provide students and faculty with opportunities to work on industry-relevant AI use cases and gain exposure to real-world applications.
The Centre of Excellence will serve as a platform for workshops, faculty development programmes, student learning initiatives and skill-based certifications. TCS and IEM will also collaborate on research projects, proofs of concept and the development of AI applications addressing industry requirements.
Students participating in the initiative will have opportunities to work on active projects under the mentorship of TCS professionals. The programme will also include hackathons, innovation challenges and knowledge-sharing initiatives designed to provide practical exposure alongside academic learning.
The collaboration is part of TCS' broader Academic Alliances initiative, which focuses on establishing Centres of Excellence at select academic institutions. The company is using these partnerships to create stronger links between academic research, technology skills and evolving industry requirements.
Abhijit Niyogi, Vice President and Business Head, Retail UK, EMEA & India at TCS, said the skills required for the future will increasingly depend on how effectively academic learning is connected with technology and business challenges. He said the partnership is intended to create an environment where students and faculty can experiment and develop solutions with practical relevance.
Prof. Dr. Satyajit Chakrabarti, Director of IEM Kolkata, said the Centre of Excellence would allow students and faculty to engage more closely with emerging technologies, applied research and real-world problem solving.
The partnership comes as TCS expands its AI-related initiatives in Kolkata. Earlier this year, the company launched an Oracle AI Data Platform Lab and Centre of Excellence in the city, followed by a Gemini Experience Center with Google Cloud focused on consumer businesses.
For the IEM collaboration, the focus is primarily on education, talent development and joint research rather than enterprise deployment. TCS and IEM said the initiative could eventually expand into additional technology areas, research themes and industry use cases as the partnership develops.
The centre adds to the growing number of industry-academia collaborations focused on preparing students for AI-related roles while providing researchers with greater exposure to how emerging technologies are being applied in business environments.
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