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Artificial intelligence today resembles a high-stakes chessboard rich with opportunity, geopolitical competition and economic recalibrations. AI-led innovations command the majority of venture capital investments of about 51% globally. Investors, companies, even countries want to invest heavily in AI and seek its benefits. But amid this competition something remarkable is underway, a quiet shift is underway. In the race today, the Global South is no longer just a follower; it is redefining the board altogether. And leading this transformation is India confident, ambitious, and emerging as a pivotal force in the AI landscape.
India’s AI startup funding rose 50% to $665 million this year, fuelled by surging interest in generative AI and deep tech. This is happening against the backdrop of the country’s strong digital foundation with nearly 900 million internet users, one of the world’s youngest workforces, and a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem with more than two lakh DPIIT recognised startups. India is projected to have 2.3 million AI job openings by 2027, creating unprecedented opportunities for its young workforce. While the talent-supply gap is real, it is also a powerful catalyst prompting India to rapidly scale AI skilling, education, and industry–academia collaboration. Rather than a bottleneck, this moment is becoming a springboard for India to build one of the world’s largest and most future-ready AI talent pools.
The IndiaAI Mission represents a decisive step forward. With 38,000 GPUs deployed to democratise compute access, India is ensuring that startups and researchers especially from Tier II and Tier III regions are not locked out of innovation because of infrastructure limitations. Equally powerful is the rise of Bhashini, now facilitating millions of multilingual interactions every day. It is not just a technological platform; it is a bridge to an inclusive digital economy, ensuring AI speaks to, and for, 1.4 billion Indians in their own languages.
India’s rise in the AI landscape also comes with certain challenges. While domestic AI funding has grown steadily, it remains below levels seen in larger markets such as China. But India possesses a differentiator: a unique adaptive edge built on frugal engineering, value-centric innovation, and a policy ethos that prioritises equity alongside efficiency. This sentiment was echoed during OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s February visit when he noted, “India should be one of the leaders of the AI revolution.” Prime Minister Narendra Modi reinforced this global confidence at the Paris AI Summit, declaring that the world stands at “the dawn of the AI age” with India as a natural leader.
On the global AI chessboard, every major power plays its own game: the US drives open, market-led innovation; China advances a State-directed, infrastructure-heavy model; and Europe prioritises rules and rights through regulation. India takes a distinct path combining world class talent and a dynamic startup ecosystem with strong digital public infrastructure and an inclusive governance philosophy. Rather than copying existing models, India is expanding the board itself, showing that AI can be both transformative and equitable for the Global South.
It is within this broader vision that India’s venture capital ecosystem must find its footing. AI models evolve faster than traditional business cycles, and this volatility, while challenging, also demands investors who can back founders that are agile, design-driven, and adept at navigating ambiguity. To keep pace with the momentum, India will need deeper pools of early-stage capital and investors willing to take a longer, conviction-led view. When entrepreneurs are building at the edge of what is possible, patience and belief matter as much as capital. If we can strengthen this alignment between ambitious founders and investors who trust in their long-term arc, India’s AI ecosystem will not only grow, it will lead.
The India–AI Impact Summit, scheduled to be held from 15-20 February 2026, carries a historic weight for India. For the first time, a global-scale AI summit is being hosted outside the traditional power centres of Silicon Valley, Europe, or East Asia. Its location in India signals a quiet but decisive redistribution of technological influence.
With this shift underway, India’s AI journey will hinge not just on ambitious initiatives but on the measurable impact they produce. It will not be a race to build the loudest or most opaque models, but to build the most contextual, human-centred, and socially relevant ones. If we can combine our demographic advantage with upskilling, inclusive design, global collaboration, and progressive policy, India can emerge not just as an AI superpower but as a responsible AI superpower. With founders, investors, policymakers, and global partners aligning around a shared vision, 2026 could well be remembered as the year India stepped decisively into the role of a global AI leader not just for itself, but for the entire Global South.
This article is authored by Archana Jahagirdar, founder & managing partner, Rukam Capital, New Delhi.