Gautam Adani: Tomorrow's Seeds Are in Algorithms, Not Soil

Adani Group has entered into a transformative partnership, formally signing an MoU with Vidya Pratishthan, Baramati, to enhance AI collaboration.

The Sharadchandra Pawar Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence in Baramati, Pune district, funded by the Adani Group, has been established under Vidya Pratishthan, an educational institute governed by the Pawar family.

"This partnership is a commitment to build applied technological capability, where AI research, engineering, and execution move together in an integrated fashion," Gautam Adani said in his address after the inauguration of the centre of excellence today.

Gautam Adani said Baramati stands as a symbol of one such transformation, with limitless potential, made possible by the vision of an extraordinary leader and mentor, Sharad Pawar.

"I have been blessed to have known Pawar sahib for more than three decades, and what I have learned from him has no parallel. But beyond knowledge, it is his wisdom, his affection, and his deep empathy that leave the strongest imprint," he lauded the leadership of veteran leader Sharad Pawar.

"That is why, for me, he has always been a mentor in the truest sense. Having visited Baramati dozens of times, I can say with absolute conviction that what Pawar sahib has achieved here is beyond just local development. By transforming agriculture, strengthening cooperatives, encouraging entrepreneurship, building educational institutions, establishing industry policy, and doing so in an unparalleled, integrated manner," Gautam Adani continued.

Stressing the importance of AI as a future technology, Gautam Adani said, "While the seeds of yesterday were sown in the earth, the seeds of tomorrow will be planted in the algorithm."

"Human progress does not move in a straight line. It advances in leaps. Each leap is propelled by a technology revolution that first unsettles society, and then rebuilds it at a far higher level of capability," he said.

According to Gautam Adani, the first industrial revolution harnessed the power of steam and mechanisation. The second brought electrification and mass production. The third connected the world through digital computing and the internet.

"Today, we are living through the fourth industrial revolution, an age defined by artificial intelligence," he said, understanding the need for capacity building in the AI space.

"What history teaches us is that every such transition carries two opposing forces. Extraordinary opportunity and profound anxiety. Fear of displacement, fear of irrelevance, fear of giving up control to systems, we do not yet fully understand," he said, in a way reflecting the apprehensions of people that AI may disrupt jobs.

Then he argued that technology does not destroy work -- it first disrupts roles and then expands possibilities.

Looking back, he said each industrial revolution created far more jobs than it displaced by unlocking entirely new industries and business models that had not been imagined.

"Bharat's own experience offers clear evidence. The mobile revolution, much as many feared, did not destroy jobs. Instead, it multiplied them at a massive scale. When smartphones and low-cost data reach ordinary Bhartiyas, it releases an enormous surge of economic energy at the grass roots," he has asserted.

"The numbers are indisputable. Between 1991 and 2024, Bharat added over 230 million non-farm jobs, most created after the expansion of digital infrastructure. None of these models were visible before mobile penetration, he said, referring to a few popular Indian digital service platforms."

These evolutions, according to Gautam Adani, did not arise from a policy alone or capital alone.

"They emerged when capability reached the common citizen. And therefore, I can confidently say that artificial intelligence will now represent the next and far more powerful leap," he pinned hope for the AI future.

If mobile gave Bharat greater access, AI would provide Bharat greater capability, he said, referring to India's financial inclusion initiatives.

"AI is said to become the fourth foundation, embedding capability, decision making, and productivity into every corner of the nation. Imagine that over this decade, as 1.4 billion Bhartiya start to carry AI-powered intelligence in the palm of their hands, progress will no longer be linear. It will compound, accelerate, and explode," he further stressed.

In his address, he noted that history has often shown that every great technological leap is a double-edged sword. And the fourth industrial revolution, driven by AI, is no exception.

"Because growth without sovereignty creates dependence. And progress without control creates risk," he said.

While job creation is vital, a nation of 1.4 billion people cannot afford to place its jobs, data, culture, and collective intelligence at the mercy of foreign algorithms and foreign balance sheets, he noted, calling for India-made AI models.

- ANI