At The Future Factory Forum held on 27th June at Taj Yeshwantpur, Bengaluru, one of the most enlightening and action-oriented sessions came from Vasuki Kashyap, who leads the SME Initiatives at nasscom SME Connect. His powerful session titled “Industry 4.0 Readiness for SMEs – Transforming Challenges to Opportunities through Digital Adoption” resonated deeply with the audience of over 150 manufacturing SMEs.
Vasuki opened his talk with an overview of the NASSCOM SME initiatives, a flagship program supported by MeitY Startup Hub and K-tech, with Centres of Excellence located in Bengaluru, Vizag, GIFT City, and Gurugram. He proudly highlighted the milestones of NASSCOM’s journey – with over 31,000 tech startups, 70+ patents filed, and collaborations with premier institutions like IITs and NITI Aayog to drive innovation in sectors like healthcare, agriculture, and energy.
He brought attention to the Nasscom Startup Accelerator Program now running at the new facility in HSR Layout, Bengaluru — a launchpad for groundbreaking digital transformation solutions. NASSCOM’s SME Connect program, which has already trained over 2,000 SMEs, is playing a pivotal role in bridging the digital divide. Notably, 20 successful digital adopters from this program were showcased at the Global Investors Meet, inspiring many to take their first steps toward transformation.
In the heart of his presentation, Vasuki simplified the evolution from Industry 1.0 to 4.0, illustrating how we moved from steam and mechanisation to cyber-physical systems, automation, and smart manufacturing. He even touched on Industry 5.0, where human-machine collaboration is set to redefine productivity.
Through a recent survey conducted across the SME manufacturing sector, he revealed a striking insight — while 43% of SMEs and 31% of large enterprises acknowledged the benefits of digital adoption, most had yet to take action. The barriers? Everything from labour management issues, operational costs, old machinery, frequent breakdowns, and dependence on experienced workers to the belief that “AI and IoT are not for me.”
But Vasuki dismantled these myths one by one. He outlined the three pillars of Industry 4.0 transformation for SMEs — Modernisation, Optimisation, and Transformation. Through compelling real-world use cases, he showcased how low-cost digital solutions, ranging from ₹50,000 to ₹5 lakhs, could deliver significant operational improvements. Many of these services, now available through affordable monthly subscription models, are helping SMEs cut downtime, optimise resources, and make informed decisions with real-time data dashboards.
He emphasised that digitisation is not about replacing what works, but enhancing it. From energy management to predictive maintenance, and from shop-floor visibility to AI-powered analytics, the possibilities are endless, and accessible. More importantly, the digital journey doesn’t need to be overwhelming. He walked attendees through a step-by-step approach to get started, making it clear that the right time to begin is now.
The session concluded with an engaging Q&A, where several SMEs shared their unique challenges and received practical insights and actionable solutions.
Vasuki Kashyap’s session was more than just a presentation, it was a call to action for SMEs to embrace digital transformation with clarity and confidence. As the world enters a new phase of industrial innovation, K-Tech CoE Data Science & AI – NASSCOM is lighting the path for Indian SMEs to compete, innovate, and lead on the global stage.