New Delhi, February 19
Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani on Thursday said that the AI Impact Summit held in the national capital has been "fantastic" and noted that AI will really take off in the country with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of its role in benefiting the common man, workers and farmers.
Speaking at the CEOs Forum, Nilekani recalled how PM Modi gave them a suggestion to extend AI application to dairy besides agriculture.
He said India will lead the world in showing how AI diffusion can matter to improve the lives of the common man, farmers, students, and patients.
"Congratulations, PM Modi, on a fantastic Summit. It's really been great. I want to talk about AI diffusion in India with an example. When I met PM Modi on 8th January and talked about applying AI to farmers. He said, why can't we apply it to cows and cattle? Because if the cow is sick, it can't tell you that it is sick. How can you solve this problem? He gave us his vision of applying AI to agriculture and dairy," he said.
"The same day, the PMO had a meeting along with Krishnan and Abhishek of MeitY, with Amul, and with some of my colleagues. Within three weeks, the application went live... This is the world's largest cooperative with 3.6 million farmers, 2 billion milk transactions per year, and 40 million cattle. This, to me, is an example of the speed of execution of AI diffusion in India," he added.
Nilenkani said he got the same sense of excitement as on December 30, 2016, when the PM Modi launched the BHIM payment application on UPI.
"And when he launched that application, he started something where today we have 21 billion transactions a month with 500 million users and the world's largest payment system. I feel the same sense that AI is at that point. With his leadership and vision of how AI can be used for the benefit of Indians, the common man, farmers, and workers, I think it's going to really take off," he said
"By the time many of these people come back in a few months, there will be many more applications. India will lead the world on showing how AI diffusion can matter to improve the lives of common man, farmers, students, patients. This is where the AI road, the race to the top is going to happen," he added.
In his remarks at the Leaders' Plenary Session during the India AI Impact Summit 2026 at Bharat Mandapam, PM Modi expressed confidence that the summit will play a crucial role in building a human-centric and sensitive global AI ecosystem.
He remarked that history shows humanity has always turned disruptions into opportunities, and today presents another such moment to transform disruption into humanity's greatest opportunity.
PM Modi recalled Lord Buddha's teaching that "Right Action comes from Right Understanding," stressing the importance of creating a roadmap that ensures AI's positive impact through timely, well-intentioned, and correct decisions.
The Prime Minister remarked that during the COVID global pandemic, the world witnessed that when nations stand together, even the impossible becomes possible.
The Prime Minister remarked that while technology in the past created divisions, AI must now be accessible and within everyone's reach. He stressed that as the future of AI is discussed, the aspirations and priorities of the Global South must be placed at the center of AI governance.
- ANI
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