SAP Labs India today announced the signing of a 
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bangalore-based Srishti Institute of Art, Design & Technology, with the intent of building a pipeline for early talents in the User Experience Design (UXD) area.
As part of the collaboration, Srishti and SAP’s human resources team with support from key lines of businesses will be offering a one-of-a-kind “work while you study” pilot program. Selected students will have the opportunity to work and earn whilst they pursue a Masters’ program in Experience Design. SAP will sponsor their education and also pay the students a monthly stipend.
Dilipkumar Khandelwal, Managing Director, SAP Labs India, Executive Vice President and Global Head of Suite Engineering, SAP said “Our aim is to identify and absorb early talent in the UXD area, which we believe will go a long way in achieving our strategic people-centric goals of promoting talent from within”.
As a part of the pilot program, the selected scholars will work out of the SAP Labs office in Whitefield, Bangalore for three days of the week and be on campus at Srishti for the remaining two days. The total program duration will be for two and a half years, during which the scholars will dedicate two years towards their academics and the remaining six months for their induction into SAP Labs.
The scholars will initially work in two different UXD teams for two practical phases, each lasting 12 months. Based on fulfilling the academic criteria set by Srishti, the scholars will be awarded an M.A. (Professional Practice) in Experience Design which is also accredited by the University of Mysore. They will then have the opportunity to be absorbed into full time employment with SAP Labs based on their performance in academics and practical phases.
Dr. Girish Prabhu, Director, Srishti Labs at Srishti Institute of Art, Design & Technology and the key architect in designing this industry focused program said, “It gives us immense pleasure and pride to partner with a leading global firm such as SAP in our efforts to facilitate the empowerment of potential talent to design for the real world. We strongly believe that the creative design expertise of Srishti and the technology expertise of SAP Labs will help nurture and enable the successful linking of creativity and innovation within the identified talent, who would eventually contribute to the running of SAP Labs’ business”.
The program intends to extend SAP’s current portfolio of business offerings as the human resources team had received feedback and suggestions from the business to look at a possible program in the design sphere. SAP’s human resources team worked closely with Srishti and experts from the UXD field to build the curriculum and model as per SAP’s requirement
