Tech Explained: India AI Summit: Ops need to match Optics in Simple Terms

The high-stakes India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi has been extended into a six-day affair. By Saturday afternoon, however, exhibition booths will begin to come down, global leaders will slip into private meetings or board flights home—their tickets and hotel bookings fixed long ago—and the crowds will thin.

The expo started on Monday, 16 February, with ambition to position India as the AI voice of the Global South—championing inclusive policy built on open-source models and digital public infrastructure—and sought to marry geopolitical aspiration with technological leadership.

However, while large summits (over 20 heads of state, more than 250,000 visitors from 45 countries, and 600 startups spread across a 70,000 square-metre venue) promise visibility and access, they also demand precision planning and seamless execution.

In this week’s edition of Tech Talk:

• India’s MANAV vision for AI
• AGI likely in 5-8 years? Demis Hasabbis has cues
• Will AI replace you at work? CEOs are divided
• Who said what at India AI Summit
• AI Tool of the Week: How to use Claude in Excel

Pageantry & Chaos

Mint cautioned earlier this week — global gatherings often risk flirting with pageantry, and chaos. Day 1 was marked by chaos with registration systems crashing, cash-only payment counters at an AI summit (an irony in a country that touts UPI as a global payments model), serpentine queues, patchy networks, and food stalls shutting down without notice. The security tightened abruptly to accommodate PM Modi’s revised schedule, adding to the confusion. In the melee, a founder reported wearable products stolen from a stall.

For exhibitors who paid between ₹15 lakh and ₹50 lakh for the week, the opening day was close to a washout. Several privately questioned whether the investment would translate into meaningful leads, partnerships, or policy traction.

Then, confusion erupted over Bill Gates’ participation at the India AI Summit following conflicting statements from government sources and his foundation. Gates finally dropped out. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang also pulled out.

These setbacks were accompanied by moments of embarrassment: a professor manning the Galgotias University booth claimed that a Chinese-made Unitree Go2 robotic dog, named ‘Orion’, had been built by the varsity’s centre of excellence.

Following a massive online backlash, the varsity issued a statement that the professor was “ill-informed“, but it was asked to leave the summit.

“The main problem is they claimed to be something they are not. They misled. The whole world is here,” Abhishek Singh, additional secretary at MeitY and India AI Mission CEO, said while acknowledging the controversy. Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw too apologised for the issues on the first day of the India AI Summit, assuring attendees that efforts are being made to enhance their experience.

That said, while these incidents cast a blot on the event, the buzz around AI will endure since the summit successfully brought together policymakers, industry leaders and technology experts to deliberate on AI innovation, governance and real-world applications. World leaders underscored the need for equitable, collaborative and responsible development of AI. India also secured a place in the Guinness World Records after nearly a quarter of a million people signed up for an AI responsibility campaign, within 24 hours.

Who said What at India AI Summit

• We are entering an era where humans and intelligence system co create, co-work and co-evolve. — Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India

He announced India’s MANAV vision for AI — M: Moral and Ethical System; A: Accountable of Governance; N: National Sovereignty (right to data); A: Accessible and inclusive; V: Valid and legitimate.

• We are at a threshold moment where Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) is on the horizon, maybe in the next 5-8 years. — Demis Hassabis, co-founder and CEO, Google DeepMind

A scientific method should be adopted to understand AGI’s full capabilities, build good guardrails and monitoring systems—an approach Hassabis believes will help unlock the full potential of technology for the benefit of humans.

• India will emerge as one of the greatest AI powers in the world in the 21st century. AI is the mantra that powers every yantra (machine) to perform better. — Mukesh Ambani, chairman, Reliance Industries

Reliance and Jio will plow as much as ₹10 trillion over seven years into AI-related infrastructure, joining the global rush into technology’s fastest-growing arena.

• I remember Vizag being a quiet, modest coastal city brimming with potential. Now in that same city, Google is establishing a full-stack AI hub. — Sundar Pichai, CEO, Alphabet

Google is investing $15 billion in India to build an AI hub in Visakhapatnam, including a gigawatt-scale data centre and a new international subsea cable. That will bring jobs and cutting-edge AI to people and businesses across India.

• AI, in my mind, is the next big infrastructure. It is the infrastructure of intelligence. It will have a very profound impact, exactly the same way as electricity, or the internet. — Natarajan Chandrasekaran, chairman, Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd.

OpenAI is partnering with Tata Group for an AI push into India, which includes up to gigawatt-scale data centres and embedding Agentic AI tools for clients handled by Tata Consultancy Services.

• India is currently leading the world in AI adoption and is poised to become one of the largest markets for the technology. — Sam Altman, CEO, OpenAI

Acknowledging that AI advancement will definitely impact the job market, Altman said he remains confident in human adaptability.

AI TOOL OF THE WEEK

by AI&Beyond, with Jaspreet Bindra and Anuj Magazine

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙰𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚊𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚠𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝙲𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚍𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝙴𝚡𝚌𝚎𝚕．

𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚖 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚟𝚎? 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚏𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐: 𝚒𝚝’𝚜 𝟷𝟷:𝟶𝟶 𝚊𝚖, 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚊 𝚋𝚘𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚢𝚘𝚞’𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝 𝚊 𝟺𝟶-𝚝𝚊𝚋 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚕 𝚖𝚘𝚍𝚎𝚕 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚎𝚕𝚜𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚝, 𝚊 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚞𝚕𝚊 𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚗, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚗𝚘 𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚊 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚜 “𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝙿𝙰𝚃 𝚒𝚏 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚜 𝚍𝚛𝚘𝚙 𝟹%?”, 𝚛𝚎𝚋𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎.

𝙲𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚍𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝙴𝚡𝚌𝚎𝚕 𝚙𝚞𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚗 𝙰𝙸 𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚢𝚜𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚎𝚝, 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚜, 𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚎𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚜 𝚊 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜. 𝙸𝚝 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚎, 𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚛, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚊𝚕．

𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜: 𝙸𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙼𝚒𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚘𝚏𝚝 𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚎𝚝𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 → 𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚌𝚑 ‘𝙲𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚍𝚎 𝚋𝚢 𝙰𝚗𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚒𝚌 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝙴𝚡𝚌𝚎𝚕’ → 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝙲𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚍𝚎 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝 (𝙿𝚛𝚘, 𝙼𝚊𝚡, 𝚃𝚎𝚊𝚖 𝚘𝚛 𝙴𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚍)

𝙲𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚍𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝙴𝚡𝚌𝚎𝚕 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙 𝚢𝚘𝚞:

• 𝙴𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚖𝚘𝚍𝚎𝚕 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢: 𝙰𝚜𝚔 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝’𝚜 𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚗𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚊 𝚌𝚎𝚕𝚕-𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚜.
• 𝚃𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎: 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝙿&𝙻 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚍.
• 𝙳𝚎𝚋𝚞𝚐 𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜: 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚊 #𝚁𝙴𝙵! 𝚘𝚛 #𝚅𝙰𝙻𝚄𝙴! 𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚌𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚞𝚕𝚊.

𝙴𝚡𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎: 𝙰 𝙲𝙵𝙾’𝚜 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚖 𝚒𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚓𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚊 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙴𝙱𝙸𝚃𝙳𝙰 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚘 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚢. 𝙷𝚎𝚛𝚎’𝚜 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝙲𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚍𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝙴𝚡𝚌𝚎𝚕 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙𝚜 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚍𝚒𝚊𝚐𝚗𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚘𝚊𝚛𝚍-𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚙𝚞𝚝:

#𝟷: 𝙴𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝’𝚜 𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚗𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚖 𝚌𝚊𝚗’𝚝 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙴𝙱𝙸𝚃𝙳𝙰 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚒𝚗 𝚍𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜． 𝙸𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚊𝚜𝚔:

“𝚆𝚑𝚢 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙴𝙱𝙸𝚃𝙳𝙰 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚒𝚗 𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚀𝟹 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚞𝚜 𝚀𝟸? 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚏𝚒𝚌 𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎.”

𝙲𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚍𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚍𝚎𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚜, 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚞𝚎, 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚌𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚍𝚎𝚍．

#𝟸: 𝙻𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚘 𝚝𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐

𝙻𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐:

“𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙴𝙱𝙸𝚃𝙳𝙰 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝟹𝟶% 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕-𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝙿𝙰𝚃. 𝙷𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚌𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚜.”

𝙲𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚍𝚎 𝚞𝚙𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝙿&𝙻 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚍𝚎, 𝚑𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚌𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙿𝙰𝚃 𝚟𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚘𝚞𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚞𝚕𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎.

#𝟹 𝙿𝚛𝚘𝚓𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚔 𝚏𝚕𝚊𝚐𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙲𝙵𝙾 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚓𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚜 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚛-𝚎𝚗𝚍:

“𝚆𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚓𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝟻𝟶% 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚟𝚊𝚕𝚞𝚎? 𝙽𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖, 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚖𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚕𝚊𝚐 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚝 𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚔 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎.”

𝙲𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚍𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚘 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚜 𝚊 𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚔 𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚢—𝚗𝚘 𝚙𝚒𝚟𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚍.

#𝟺 𝙱𝚘𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚢, 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢

𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚗𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚍, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚖 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚜 𝚊 𝙲𝙵𝙾 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚢:

“𝚄𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙵𝚈𝟸𝟻 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙵𝚈𝟸𝟼 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚓𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚎𝚝, 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚊 𝟹-𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎, 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚎𝚢 𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑.”

𝙲𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚍𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚜 𝚒𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚌𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚟𝚊𝚕𝚞𝚎𝚜—𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕, 𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚍, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝.

𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝙲𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚍𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝙴𝚡𝚌𝚎𝚕 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚕？

𝙸𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔: 𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞’𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚊𝚋, 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚞𝚕𝚊, 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚍𝚎𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚢—𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎．

𝙲𝚎𝚕𝚕-𝚕𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚕 𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜: 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚌𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝, 𝚜𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚏𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚒𝚌 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚝．

𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚕 𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚊: 𝚅𝚒𝚊 𝙼𝙲𝙿 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚜, 𝚒𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚒𝚗 𝙵𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚂𝚎𝚝, 𝚂&𝙿 𝙶𝚕𝚘𝚋𝚊𝚕, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙱𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚐 𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚊 𝚍𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚍𝚎𝚕．

𝙽𝚘𝚝𝚎: 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚕𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚢𝚜𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚟𝚊𝚕𝚞𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚝𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙾𝚞𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚕𝚞𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚕 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚜.

INDIA AI SUMMIT — BITS AND BYTES

Will AI replace you at work? CEOs are divided

A majority of Indian IT sector workers worry AI could replace their jobs, according to a study by economic think tank ICIER. The report found that 65% companies reduced hiring after adopting Generative AI, as fewer fresh recruits were needed to handle similar or higher workloads aided by AI tools.

Upskilling efforts, however, remain limited. And only 4% of firms said they had trained more than half their workforce in AI-related skills, with companies citing shortages of qualified trainers (70%) and high costs (68%) as key constraints.

Thinking divide on AI: As newer AI tools continue to emerge and attract attention, the gap between supporters and critics is only widening.

In an interview with Hindustan Times ahead of the India AI Summit, tech billionaire and venture capitalist, Vinod Khosla, warned that IT services and BPOs will “almost completely disappear” within five years as AI tools will take over tasks currently handled by human workers. Khosla noted that AI would wipe out most expertise-based professions within the next 15 years, though it could democratise access to healthcare and education. BPO, or business process outsourcing, refers to a large segment of work that companies outsource to third-party service providers, which, according to Khosla, will face major disruption. He added that IT services are expected to be similarly affected, with significant implications for India.

• Sanjeev Bikhchandani, founder and executive vice chairman of Info Edge (India) Ltd., the company that owns Naukri.com, asserted that AI will not eliminate jobs but will significantly enhance productivity.
• Sateesh Seetharamiah, chief executive officer of EdgeVerve, described AI as a “capability multiplier”. He acknowledged that productivity improvements are undeniable, but emphasised that “ultimately there has to be a human being to take accountability”. According to him, employment itself is not under threat—rather, “the nature of jobs will change”.
• Vineet Nayar, founder-chairman of Sampark Foundation and former CEO of HCLTech, suggested that automation could eliminate nearly half of existing jobs, but an equivalent number of new roles may also be created.
• Puneet Chandok, President of Microsoft India and South Asia, said AI will not eliminate employment but reshape it.

AI talent hubs: Interestingly, Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR collectively hold a 50% share of India’s AI job postings, cementing their position as the country’s two largest AI talent hubs, according to an analysis by CBRE Research. The findings from a study of over 64,500 AI-tagged job listings on Naukri.com as of December 2026 reveal that Bengaluru leads in AI job hiring with a 25.4% share, closely followed by Delhi NCR at 24.8%.

BharatGen’s sovereign AI model

BharatGen, an IIT Bombay-incubated and government-funded consortium, unveiled PARAM-2, a 17-billion-parameter multilingual foundation model, at the India AI Impact Summit. Built on India-centric datasets, it leverages Mixture of Experts (MoE) architecture, and is designed to support all 22 official Indian languages.

BharatGen is being positioned as a public digital goods, enabling secure, local deployment across governance, education and industry.

A few days back, Bengaluru-based Sarvam AI, backed by investors such as Peak XV and Vinod Khosla, unveiled three foundational AI models with 3-billion, 30-billion and 105-billion parameters. The company, the first to be funded by the India AI Mission in April 2025, said its models can be used through voice commands and are accessible through 22 Indian languages. It also offers Agentic AI applications that can execute a range of tasks with minimal human intervention.

The government is investing in indigenous AI models to tackle bias, according to S Krishnan, secretary in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). He explained that sovereignty is a very important issue, and India needs to have AI models where “nobody else has the kill switch, and it was always with us”. According to him, a country of the size of India needs to necessarily have control over the way AI models function.

Nvidia, sans Jensen Huang, goes into GPU overdrive

Nvidia Corp. has announced a spate of partnerships with top Indian enterprises for its GPU chips. The company has partnered with Reliance New Energy, Hero MotoCorp, L&T Semiconductor, and Tata Consultancy Services, among others. Nvidia also said India’s IT services firms—including Infosys Ltd., Persistent Systems, Tech Mahindra, and Wipro—are using its enterprise software platforms to onboard new software management capabilities for clients.

The partnerships involve access to Nvidia’s computing chips, as well as open-source AI models and AI development software across industrial applications.

Meanwhile, Adani Group’s $100-billion investment commitment for an AI-ready data centre and power ecosystem, along with investment commitments of other Indian conglomerates like Reliance Industries, Tata Group and Larsen & Toubro, is taking a leaf out of the $500-billion Project Stargate playbook of the US.

The ecosystem not only gives Indian conglomerates a cost advantage but also better control over the operationalisation of their multi-gigawatt data centres, experts said. So far, investment commitments by top Indian conglomerates in the AI ecosystem have reached $125 billion, including those from Reliance Industries, Tata Group and Larsen & Toubro, according to Mint’s calculations based on public announcements and analyst estimates.

India to add 20,000 GPUs in a week, over and above the 38,000 onboarded

Hope you folks have a great weekend, and your feedback will be much appreciated— just reply to this mail, and I’ll respond.

Edited by Rashmi Sanyal. Produced by Tushar Deep Singh.

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