As India accelerates its position in the global AI race, sovereignty, scale, and speed of execution were the key themes that were discussed during a fireside chat between Seema Ambastha, CEO of L&T Cloudfiniti, and Vishesh Khurana, Advisor – Strategy and Growth, Shiprocket, at Shiprocket Shivir 2025. The session explored the relevance and urgency of sovereign AI in the Indian context and the foundational role of infrastructure in making AI not just inclusive but affordable and accessible for all.
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“The very word sovereign means being self-reliant,” said Seema Ambastha. “You do not have to rely on global black boxes anymore. From infrastructure to models, from data pipelines to governance, we need all of it built for India, by India, and governed by India.” Seema emphasized the importance of customizing AI models and platforms for the Indian ecosystem, calling for native infrastructure that serves not just large enterprises or research institutions but small and medium businesses as well.
She also underlined L&T Cloudfiniti’s commitment to affordability: “We have built our AI-native infrastructure to drastically lower the unit cost of compute. AI cannot just be for the privileged few. In fact, it must be available to every business that is solving a real-world problem.”
Highlighting L&T Cloudfiniti’s differentiated approach, she added: “We did not retrofit old data centers. We built them ground up for AI. Whether it is GPU-as-a-service or soon-to-be-launched sovereign quantum infrastructure, every layer is optimized for speed, scale, and sustainability.”
On the question of governance, Seema Ambastha made a strong case for privacy, compliance, and responsible AI deployment: “If there is no governance, people will not share their data, and rightly so. Sovereign AI is not just about control. It is about trust. Security and privacy are foundational, and not optional.”
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Addressing India’s position in the global AI conversation, Seema was clear: “The question is not ‘Can India build AI?’ We have already answered that. Now the only thing we must focus on is speed of execution. We have the talent, the infrastructure, the imagination, and we just need to move faster.”
Looking ahead, she announced that L&T Cloudfiniti will launch India’s first sovereign quantum compute platform in November, designed to solve complex, resource-intensive problems in sectors like logistics and manufacturing. “Quantum will not replace everything, but for the right problems, it’s a game-changer,” she said. “It’s energy-efficient, exponentially faster, and perfectly aligned with India’s sustainability goals.”
The conversation concluded with a note of optimism and resolve. “Every small business here will one day sit up and say, I’m an enterprise. And I believe that. We are fully capable,” Seema affirmed.
