India Poised to Lead Global AI with Open Standards, Say Sunil Mittal & Shantanu Narayen

During the Fireside Conversation at the AI Summit both Sunil Bharti Mittal Founder and Chairman of Bharti Enterprises and Shantanu Narayen, Adobe CEO shared their views on the AI development in the country.

Sunil Bharti Mittal, Founder and Chairman of Bharti Enterprises, said AI is increasingly shaping how companies operate and manage digital infrastructure.

"So from our company standpoint, AI is becoming a really integral part of how we operate, how server customers build the networks, manage the networks," Mittal said.

Shantanu Narayen, Chairman and CEO of Adobe, highlighted the transformative impact of AI across sectors, including healthcare, education, and access to information.

He also noted that India is expected to become one of the largest users of AI in the coming years, positioning the country to play a leadership role in areas such as data governance, privacy, security, and trust.

"Given the number of people who use AI in India will be greater than, I think, anywhere in the world over a few years, I think the leadership that India can play, not just in what these models mean, how do you think about data, how do you think about privacy and security and trust," Narayen said.

He further emphasised the importance of content authenticity and highlighted discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on ensuring trust in digital information.

"I want every piece of information that's produced to have the provenance and the watermark so that people can actually know what is real and what's fake," Narayen said, referring to the Prime Minister's emphasis on content authenticity.

Mittal also highlighted the importance of open standards and global collaboration in AI development, stressing that AI should remain accessible and benefit humanity.

"The Prime Minister also spoke about making open standards, keeping AI open to the world for the benefit of democratising AI, as opposed to caging it and having it in the hands of a few. This seems to be a very clear message. Engage with each other, make open standards, AI should be available to all for the benefit of humanity," Mittal said.

Responding to concerns about companies keeping AI proprietary, Narayen acknowledged that balancing commercial interests and societal good would remain an ongoing challenge.

"You're going to have the inevitable challenge between commercial enterprises who want to keep information proprietary and how do you do good for humanity," he said, adding that open standards have historically helped technologies scale globally, citing the example of PDF.

Narayen also expressed confidence in India's position in the global AI ecosystem.

"I do think India is better positioned than most other countries. I'm a lot more confident about what will happen in India," he said.

Mittal highlighted India's strength in frugal innovation, citing the country's space achievements as an example.

"Look at the moon mission. India did it at USD 74 million. The U.S. did it at USD 92 billion. And India had a perfect landing on the moon on the difficult side of the moon," Mittal said.

Shantanu responded to that by stating that India's cost-effective innovation model represents a unique advantage and can serve as a learning model for global companies.

The leaders emphasised that India's combination of digital scale, talent, connectivity, and innovation positions it as a key global hub for AI development and responsible technology adoption.

- ANI