India, Oct. 2 -- A decade ago, the biggest demographic concern gripping the globe was population overgrowth. Cut to 2026, and the demographic worry has shifted to the other end of the spectrum: declining birth rates. In developed economies such as Germany and Japan, fertility rates have fallen well below the replacement rate of 2.1 births per woman.

The demographic imbalance is resulting in a growing shortage of workers to support the ageing population. Such countries are increasingly looking overseas, particularly to talent pools in parts of South and Southeast Asia, to fill blue-collar jobs.

Plugging this supply-demand mismatch is the opportunity that upGrad cofounder Mayank Kumar is betting on.

While helming the upskilling giant, Ku...