India, April 7 -- The world is being rewritten faster than any government can track. Artificial intelligence is automating entire categories of administrative work. Digital citizen services have raised public expectations to a standard set by the private sector. A restructuring global trade and technology order is placing demands on India's regulatory and diplomatic institutions that are qualitatively different from anything their officers were trained to handle.

Most governments respond to this kind of disruption by hiring new talent. India's permanent, cadre-based civil service cannot do that at scale or quickly. Permanence, however, comes with an obligation. A workforce that cannot be replaced must be continuously renewed. Renewing it...