India’s technology leaders are voicing a collective commitment to building artificial intelligence solutions that are innovative, inclusive, and responsibly deployed. From enabling urban safety to protecting digital infrastructure, the conversations reveal a strong belief that AI has become a foundational technology and is no longer a futuristic tech.
In the same vein, Vijayant Rai, Managing Director- India, Snowflake, said: “Today, we must acknowledge AI’s pervasive impact on our day-to-day lives and its potential to solve our country’s grassroots-level challenges, whether in healthcare, agriculture, climate solutions, or financial inclusion programs. With India’s AI market projected to grow at a CAGR of 25–35% by 2027, fuelled by national-scale programs like the IndiaAI Mission, a thriving GenAI startup ecosystem, the second-largest developer population, and the growing need for an AI talent base, India is uniquely positioned to lead in the age of intelligent technologies. We are witnessing AI enabling businesses across various sectors to unlock deeper insights, personalize experiences, and optimize their operations at scale, moving from the AI hype and POCs to large-scale adoption. At Snowflake, we view this moment as just the tip of the iceberg; we are at a pivotal point to help organizations make AI the driving force behind unprecedented innovations. To this extent, we are empowering Indian enterprises, from large to MSMEs, to democratize access to data by building a strong data foundation. We believe there is no AI strategy without a data strategy. As India moves towards the Viksit Bharat vision, becoming a $5 trillion economy, we see ourselves as a key enabler in this journey, helping enterprises of all sizes build a skilled AI-ready workforce, leverage AI to drive inclusive growth, efficiency, and global competitiveness.”
AI must be contextual, explainable, and purpose-led, believes Naresh B Wadhwa, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, Videonetics: “As we celebrate AI Appreciation Day, it is essential to recognize that the true potential of artificial intelligence lies not just in automating tasks, but in empowering intelligent, real-time decision-making across critical environments. At Videonetics, we believe in building what we call ‘True AI’: AI that is explainable, contextual, and deeply integrated with real-world scenarios. From enhancing urban safety to streamlining traffic systems and securing vital infrastructure, our mission is to enable organisations to look deeper into video data and derive actionable insights that drive impact. India has the talent, scale, and ambition to lead the next wave of AI innovation, and we are proud to be building world-class, Made-in-India solutions that are already transforming how cities and enterprises think about security and intelligence. AI is not just the future; it is the foundation of smarter, safer societies, and it must be built responsibly, for people and with purpose.”
AI’s most transformative impact will emerge at the grassroots, says Ankit Kedia, Founder and Lead Investor, Capital-A: “AI’s most meaningful impact will come not from the labs, but from the shop floors, logistics hubs, local banks, and rural clinics where real work gets done. The technology is already reshaping how we build, move, serve, and decide. But what matters now is accessibility. We need artificial intelligence models that are cost-efficient, energy-efficient, and tuned for specific sectors and local conditions. The future belongs to founders who can apply AI with discipline and clarity, especially in sectors like manufacturing, cleantech, mobility, and financial inclusion. These are high-friction sectors where the right AI use case can shift an entire cost structure or unlock new customer segments. What we are seeing in India is a steady rise in such grounded innovation. As early-stage investors, we look for startups that are building domain-specific products that solve well-defined problems. That’s where defensibility, scalability, and long-term value will emerge.”
AI is fast becoming the operating layer for enterprise infrastructure, shares Keith Odom,
Executive Vice President- Services, Consulting and, India Operations, AHEAD: “AI is becoming the operating layer for how modern IT infrastructure is monitored, managed, and optimized. The volume, velocity, and variability of today’s enterprise environments make manual intervention both unsustainable and ineffective. AI-driven operations are essential for anticipating incidents, reducing response times, and improving overall resilience. But the value of AI in infrastructure lies in how well it enables continuous improvement without sacrificing control. Intelligent systems must be explainable, interoperable, and aligned with business priorities. That includes identifying performance gaps before they turn into service failures, optimising resource allocation in real time, and supporting compliance without adding overhead. At AHEAD, we have seen how AI Ops, when designed to work across hybrid environments, becomes the connective tissue that allows enterprises to operate with both scale and stability. This is quickly becoming the baseline for enterprise readiness.”
Modern cybersecurity depends on AI—but human context remains critical, explains Ashish Tandon, Founder and CEO, Indusface: “AI has become essential in modern cybersecurity, not because it replaces human decision-making, but because it enables faster, more precise action in an environment defined by scale and unpredictability. As attack patterns grow more distributed and sophisticated, intelligence must evolve from reactive to anticipatory. This is especially urgent in areas like API security, where attacks have now surpassed those on traditional websites. In our recent analysis of over 7 billion attacks, APIs saw 30% more intrusion attempts, and bot attacks surged by 48%. The future of security lies in systems that can filter noise, detect intent, and enable real-time decisions with confidence. But intelligence without verification can be risky. That’s why AI needs to be paired with people who understand the application, the risk, and the response path. At Indusface, we combine AI-powered threat detection with human-led tuning and response. The goal is not just automation, but trusted outcomes. That’s what gives our customers clarity under pressure and confidence when it matters most.”
India is building its own inclusive and scalable AI model, observes Karan Kirpalani, Chief Product Officer, Neysa, said: “Much of the global AI conversation still revolves around model innovation. But in India, the focus is shifting to something more foundational, how we build and deploy AI systems at scale, within real-world constraints. At Neysa, we are working with enterprises that are dealing with fragmented data, multilingual user bases, evolving compliance needs, and limited infrastructure budgets. Despite that, they are moving from pilots to production-grade deployments in a matter of months. That kind of progress is no longer limited to large tech companies. It’s happening across sectors, and it’s shaping a version of AI that’s more inclusive, grounded, and scalable both for India and the rest of the world.”
Process Intelligence is the foundation for effective enterprise AI, asserts Kaushik Mitra, Vice-President and Head of India GTM, Celonis: “Enterprise AI can only create a lasting impact when it understands how the organization actually operates. Data alone is not enough. What matters is how processes run, where they stall, and what is needed to improve them. This is where process intelligence becomes essential. It gives AI the visibility, structure, and context needed to reason through decisions, simulate outcomes, and act with relevance. There is no AI without PI. Intelligence requires a living map of the enterprise. With process intelligence, teams can move from isolated automation to coordinated, continuous transformation. AI becomes a support system for human judgment, not a black box. At Celonis, we are enabling this shift through our Process Intelligence Graph and platform innovations that help businesses across the world unlock trapped value, build trust in outcomes, and improve how decisions are made across systems. A better future with AI depends on what powers it. Process intelligence is that foundation.”
AI is redefining mobile and semiconductor innovation, says Anku Jain, Managing Director, MediaTek India: “Artificial Intelligence has evolved from a futuristic concept to a transformative force, particularly in the semiconductor and smartphone industries. AI is redefining user experiences by enabling everyday features, from voice assistants and computational photography to real-time translations. At MediaTek, we’re embedding advanced AI capabilities into our chipsets to make devices smarter, faster, and more responsive. Our latest flagship Dimensity 9400 series and performance-driven MediaTek Dimensity 8450 SoC feature next-gen NPUs built to handle complex AI tasks efficiently. By integrating AI across our premium platforms, we enable brands to deliver cutting-edge, flagship-level experiences. As AI continues to evolve, MediaTek remains focused on enabling meaningful, intelligent technology for the next generation of devices.”
Geospatial AI is making complex spatial data truly usable, explains Agendra Kumar, Managing Director, Esri India: “AI is transforming the world by unlocking new possibilities across every sector. From automating routine tasks to generating deep insights from massive datasets, it is enabling faster, smarter decision-making. The integration of AI into geospatial workflows is transforming how we collect, analyze, and share spatial data. We are calling this Geospatial Artificial Intelligence (GeoAI). With GeoAI, users across sectors are able to derive actionable insights from satellite imagery, drone videos, unstructured text, and more at unprecedented speed and scale. Additionally, natural language-powered AI assistants are making GIS more accessible, enabling users to interact with complex spatial datasets simply by describing what they need in plain English or even in their native language. These advancements are happening now, and our newly launched GIS and AI Centre is a step towards democratizing this potential, empowering users across domains to solve real-world problems more intelligently and intuitively.”
GenAI enhances cybersecurity but also increases the attack surface, warns Chetan Jain, Founding Executive Director and Managing Director, Inspira Enterprise: “At Inspira Enterprise, we celebrate the endless possibilities and opportunities presented by AI and generative AI (GenAI), on this AI Appreciation Day. This technology continues to empower our cybersecurity defenses by enhancing the Security efficiency in across threat detection, mitigation, and response, in addition to anomaly detection. GenAI enables real-time threat simulation and threat modeling for testing and improving security systems as well. However, it is important to note that while GenAI is a valuable tool for cybersecurity, it is also being used maliciously by cybercriminals to launch sophisticated cyberattacks. Organizations have to utilize a robust AI governance framework and implement robust security solutions to address threats posed by GenAI, while establishing digital trust to enable a safer and smarter future.”
The cloud is now a launchpad for intelligence, not just infrastructure, reflects Rahul S Kurkure, Founder and Director, Cloud.in: “At Cloud.in, we don’t just look at AI as a tool, we see it as a force that’s reshaping the way businesses think, operate, and innovate. With GenAI revolutionizing creativity and interaction, and Agentic AI stepping in as autonomous decision-makers, the cloud has gone beyond infrastructure it’s now the launchpad for intelligence. On AI Appreciation Day, we celebrate how far we’ve come, and more importantly, where we’re heading.”
Digital trust must scale with AI innovation, emphasizes Anant Deshpande, Regional Vice President, India and ASEAN, DigiCert: “This AI Appreciation Day, we’re not just celebrating the power of artificial intelligence but we’re championing its responsible evolution. At DigiCert, we believe that as AI becomes more integral to business, security must scale alongside innovation. Generative AI, autonomous systems, and machine learning models are transforming how we work, communicate, and build. But with these advancements come growing risks – deepfakes, misinformation, model drift, and quantum-era vulnerabilities that threaten the very trust AI depends on. That’s why we’re embedding digital trust into the core of every AI interaction, from identity-backed content provenance to PKI-secured AI pipelines. As the lines blur between human and machine-generated actions, trust becomes the defining currency. Our AI initiatives ranging from anomaly detection to post-quantum cryptographic readiness and secure agentic AI are built with one goal in mind: to make AI not just smarter, but safer. Because when you anchor innovation in verifiability, authenticity, and transparency, AI doesn’t just solve problems faster – it earns the confidence to lead us into the future.”
AI brings immense cybersecurity advantages but demands faster detection, adds Shrikrishna Dikshit, Partner – Digital and Cyber Security, Baker Tilly ASA India: “On AI Appreciation Day, we celebrate how AI is transforming cybersecurity—but also acknowledge the new risks it introduces. According to IBM’s Q1 2025 Cost of AI Breach Report, organizations take an average of 290 days to detect and contain AI-driven cyber incidents—significantly longer than traditional breaches. At ASA Baker Tilly, we help clients build robust AI governance frameworks that secure AI pipelines, enforce access controls, and monitor anomalies in real time. Our approach aligns with global best practices in threat detection, enabling faster, more effective response. On this day, we reaffirm our commitment to securing the future of AI.”
Pushpavalli G, Lead Content Marketer, VDart Inc, adds: “Honestly, you’re just missing out if you’re not tapping into all the incredible opportunities AI offers. Hear it from a marketer and a mom to twin toddlers, it’s true! AI helps me save so much time, automating all sorts of marketing research, co-creating designs, and even handling emails so I can truly focus on my writing. As an introvert, I totally rely on GenAI to help me get my speeches and pitch decks just right before I deliver them. And let’s not forget the mental load we carry as women; it can be overwhelming. But AI helps lighten that load, automating my to-do lists, keeping me organized, and even reading stories to my toddlers to sleep while I’m in meetings with my US team. It’s how I manage to be truly present for both my family and my career. I’ve seen AI evolve from simple tools to the powerful GenAI we have now, and I’m super excited to see where agentic AI will take us next.”
