Mumbai, Mar 17: When Chandan Bagwe, Founder and Director of C Com Digital — one of Mumbai’s most respected full-service digital and technology marketing agencies — walked into the auditorium of Sant Rawool Maharaj Mahavidyalaya (SRM College) in Kudal, Sindhudurg, he didn’t walk in as a visiting speaker. He walked in as a neighbour who made good and came back to make sure others could too.
In what is emerging as one of the most meaningful industry-academia partnerships in Maharashtra’s Konkan belt, C Com Digital has initiated a multi-pronged AI education drive at SRM College, Kudal and PBVM College, Pandur — bringing live demonstrations of artificial intelligence tools, structured curriculum inputs, faculty training, and real-world internship opportunities directly to students who have historically had limited access to the technology industry.
A 40-Year Institution Meets a 21st Century Inflection Point.
Established on 25th June 1984 under the Karachi Maharashtriya Shikshan Prasarak Mandal (K.M.S.P. Mandal) — an educational trust with roots going back to 1929 — Sant Rawool Maharaj Mahavidyalaya is among the oldest and most respected institutions in Sindhudurg district. Affiliated with the University of Mumbai and spread across a 10-acre campus on the Goa-Mumbai Highway, SRM College serves over 1,100 students annually from the hilly, rural, and economically weaker sections of the Konkan region, offering programmes in Arts, Commerce, Science, IT, and Management.
For four decades, the institution has prided itself on academic integrity, social responsibility, and a commitment to the region’s first-generation learners. Yet, like most rural colleges across India, it found itself facing a widening chasm: the rapid rise of Artificial Intelligence and its implications for every career path its students were preparing to enter.
That’s where C Com Digital stepped in.
Not a Lecture. A Live Reckoning with the Future.
Bagwe’s engagement with SRM College and PBVM College, Pandur, went far beyond a standard guest lecture. Working with students and faculty in packed auditorium sessions, he led immersive, hands-on demonstrations of how AI is already reshaping advertising, marketing, content creation, research, and client servicing — the very fields many of these students aspire to work in.
Students witnessed, in real time, how generative AI tools can write, design, strategise, and analyse. More critically, Bagwe facilitated a candid conversation: not ‘Will AI replace you?’ but ‘How do you make sure AI works for you?’ — a framing that resonated deeply with students who had never had direct exposure to such technology.
The initiative covered: curriculum advisory inputs to integrate AI literacy into existing courses; faculty orientation on AI-forward teaching methodologies; practical training on tools currently used in industry; and a pathway for select students to pursue internships at C Com Digital’s Mumbai office, giving them first-hand exposure to a live agency environment.
“When I look at these students in Kudal, I see exactly the kind of hunger and potential that the industry needs. The only thing standing between them and opportunity is access — access to the right knowledge, the right tools, and the right mentors. If I can help bridge that gap, even partially, then everything I’ve built in Mumbai means something beyond just business.” Chandan Bagwe, Founder & Director, C Com Digital
“For decades, SRM College has believed that access to quality education can transform lives — and today, that transformation includes access to the technologies shaping the future. Having C Com Digital bring AI directly into our classrooms is not just an academic exercise; it is a statement of intent. Our students from Sindhudurg deserve to stand shoulder to shoulder with their counterparts in any city in India, and partnerships like this make that possible. We are proud to be among the first institutions in Konkan to take this step, and grateful to Chandan Bagwe for remembering where he came from.” Dr Smita Survase, Principal of Sant Rawool Maharaj Mahavidyalaya, Kudal
Giving Back the C Com Way: Where Industry Meets Impact
C Com Digital, known for building data-driven, technology-forward marketing campaigns for clients across categories — from F&B to finance — has always believed that creativity and technology are only as powerful as the people wielding them. For Bagwe, the Kudal initiative is not a CSR checkbox. It is a personal conviction.
India’s AI story is being written in boardrooms and startup hubs in metros. But the students who will eventually execute on this story — the content writers, the campaign managers, the brand strategists of tomorrow — are sitting in classrooms in places like Kudal, Pandur, and thousands of similar towns across the country. Reaching them early, equipping them meaningfully, and offering them a real shot at the industry through internships is C Com Digital’s way of investing in the ecosystem that feeds it.
The initiative’s internship component is particularly significant. Selected students from SRM college will have the opportunity to work with C Com Digital’s team in Mumbai — participating in live campaigns, client interactions, and technology-led workflows — gaining experience that no classroom alone can provide.
A Model Worth Replicating
India’s National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 calls for industry-academia collaboration, AI integration in curricula, and skilling at scale. Yet, implementation remains uneven — weighted heavily toward urban, well-resourced institutions. What C Com Digital is doing in Sindhudurg is a grassroots proof of concept: that impactful AI education doesn’t require a metropolitan address. It requires intent, expertise, and access.
The partnership with SRM College — an institution that has served Sindhudurg’s students for over 40 years through sheer commitment to quality education — makes the symbolism even more powerful. One of Konkan’s oldest colleges is now also among its earliest to engage with the AI wave, not as spectators but as active participants.
