India is firmly positioned in the global artificial intelligence (AI) race and is now focused on scaling its national AI initiatives, said Nandan Nilekani , co-founder of Infosys and architect of Aadhaar, during the Global Technology Summit on Friday. Nilekani emphasized that while India may not yet have developed large-scale AI models like some other countries, significant progress is already underway.
"Indians should not worry about not having developed large AI models like some other countries. We should not be losing sleep because somebody has not built any AI models,” he said. “The Indian AI mission is active, and now the focus must shift to scaling it up.” He underscored that the current AI wave marks a major shift from earlier technology revolutions. “For the first time, we are placing our trust in non-human intelligence. In the past, technology followed predictable rules; now, we’re expecting machines to make decisions. That’s a major leap of faith,” he noted.
Nandan Nilekani's AI warning for 'Every day life'
Despite the excitement around AI, Nilekani warned that integrating the technology into everyday systems won't be straightforward. “Adopting AI is not going to be easy. It requires just as much, if not more, effort than previous technologies,” he said. “You have to reengineer workflows in both enterprises and government to make AI truly effective. It demands extensive upgrades, though the core principles still apply.”
However, he believes India’s digital transformation over the past 15 years gives it a competitive advantage.
“Given our current tech infrastructure, the gap between global AI developments and India’s progress is narrowing rapidly,” he said. “Enterprise AI will be a long journey, and public sector adoption will be even tougher due to structural limitations.”
India to be home to 1 million startups by 2035
Nilekani also painted an ambitious picture for India’s startup landscape. He predicted the country could be home to one million startups by 2035, a dramatic jump from just 2,000 in 2015.
“From 2,000 startups in 2015 to 150,000 today—we’re in the midst of a virtuous cycle,” he explained. “Startups solve real-world problems, scale up, go public, and spark the creation of more startups. This cycle is accelerating innovation across sectors like climate, energy, and space.”
He celebrated India’s growing private innovation in sectors traditionally led by the state, highlighting the country’s “fabulous” space narrative as an example.
Nilekani also revisited some milestones in India’s digital public infrastructure journey. These include: Aadhaar reaching 1 billion people; UPI launch, Reliance Jio disrupting the telecom sector, demonetisation reshaping financial behavior and BHIM app launch.
“These were not overnight developments. They were years in the making,” he said. “You need patience to lay the foundation. Once it's in place, transformation can happen rapidly—and now, we’re more prepared than ever.”
"Indians should not worry about not having developed large AI models like some other countries. We should not be losing sleep because somebody has not built any AI models,” he said. “The Indian AI mission is active, and now the focus must shift to scaling it up.” He underscored that the current AI wave marks a major shift from earlier technology revolutions. “For the first time, we are placing our trust in non-human intelligence. In the past, technology followed predictable rules; now, we’re expecting machines to make decisions. That’s a major leap of faith,” he noted.
Nandan Nilekani's AI warning for 'Every day life'
Despite the excitement around AI, Nilekani warned that integrating the technology into everyday systems won't be straightforward. “Adopting AI is not going to be easy. It requires just as much, if not more, effort than previous technologies,” he said. “You have to reengineer workflows in both enterprises and government to make AI truly effective. It demands extensive upgrades, though the core principles still apply.”
However, he believes India’s digital transformation over the past 15 years gives it a competitive advantage.
“Given our current tech infrastructure, the gap between global AI developments and India’s progress is narrowing rapidly,” he said. “Enterprise AI will be a long journey, and public sector adoption will be even tougher due to structural limitations.”
India to be home to 1 million startups by 2035
Nilekani also painted an ambitious picture for India’s startup landscape. He predicted the country could be home to one million startups by 2035, a dramatic jump from just 2,000 in 2015.
“From 2,000 startups in 2015 to 150,000 today—we’re in the midst of a virtuous cycle,” he explained. “Startups solve real-world problems, scale up, go public, and spark the creation of more startups. This cycle is accelerating innovation across sectors like climate, energy, and space.”
He celebrated India’s growing private innovation in sectors traditionally led by the state, highlighting the country’s “fabulous” space narrative as an example.
Nilekani also revisited some milestones in India’s digital public infrastructure journey. These include: Aadhaar reaching 1 billion people; UPI launch, Reliance Jio disrupting the telecom sector, demonetisation reshaping financial behavior and BHIM app launch.
“These were not overnight developments. They were years in the making,” he said. “You need patience to lay the foundation. Once it's in place, transformation can happen rapidly—and now, we’re more prepared than ever.”
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