'Where's The Innovation?' — Hotmail Co-Founder Sabeer Bhatia Criticises Indian Engineers

Sabeer Bhatia, the co-founder of Hotmail, has raised concerns over the state of engineering education and work culture in India. In a recent podcast appearance, Bhatia raised serious questions about the country’s innovation potential. He criticised what he perceived as a neglect of technical skills and hands-on learning.

Bhatia said that India's engineers are drifting away from the core of their profession. "99% of Indian engineering graduates move into management roles and start giving ‘gyaan’ to everyone. But where’s the work ethic?," he said on a podcast on the YouTube channel 'Singh in USA'.

"Where are the people building real products with their own hands?" he added, expressing concern over the growing distance between education and actual product development.

"We celebrate people who promote body shopping, not original software. Somehow, they become India’s software gurus, despite not writing any code themselves," he said, taking aim at the culture of glorifying outsourcing over innovation.

Bhatia stressed the need to rethink the way technical skills are valued. "Till we change our work ethic and we actually start doing work with our own hands and start respecting people who write software, who write code, who do things, or who think about these problems in a critical way…we've got to change the education system," he said.

Comparing with China, Bhatia pointed to that country's inclusive and subsidised education model as a driver of progress. "China educates everyone. They subsidise education, even cars. In India, education has become a luxury for the rich. And what do many of them do? Get a degree, marry someone, and focus on dowry. What kind of mindset is that?" he added, highlighting how social norms may be obstructing India’s innovation trajectory.

Despite the strong critique, Bhatia remains hopeful about India’s potential. He believes technology could be the key to bridging the skill gap. “We can teach critical thinking through an app. Let's encourage problem-solving. Real happiness comes from solving other people's problems,” he said, proposing digital learning tools as a possible solution.

Reflecting on his own career, Bhatia contrasted real-world experience with academic learning. “Stanford teaches what's relevant now, but much of the IIT academia is stuck in the past,” he said. “I got into Apple based on my grades, but I built Hotmail by learning on the job. Innovation doesn't come from textbooks, it comes from doing.”

Watch the podcast here:

Bhatia's critique comes at a time when calls for reform in India’s technical education system are growing louder. Just recently, India’s G20 Sherpa, Amitabh Kant, also highlighted the need to revamp engineering curriculums, particularly in prestigious institutions like the IITs.