- AI is a present operational necessity in India's defence sector, DRDO chief Chandrika Kaushik told NDTV
- She said AI helps systems learn from themselves and create a form of operational wisdom
- Human brain alone would find difficult to achieve at that speed, she said
Artificial Intelligence is no longer a futuristic concept for India's defence sector but a present-day operational necessity, Dr Chandrika Kaushik, the Director General (Production Coordination & Services Interaction) at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), said in an exclusive interview with NDTV on the sidelines of the AI Summit in New Delhi.
Speaking to NDTV's Senior Executive Editor Aditya Raj Kaul, Dr Kaushik underlined that AI will play a decisive role in national security as the volume and complexity of data available to armed forces continue to grow exponentially.
"The amount of data that is available across the defence spectrum today is humanly impossible to crunch and make meaningful sense of in real time. This is where AI plays a leading role," she said.
According to Dr Kaushik, AI-powered systems enable defence forces to draw critical inferences instantly while allowing models to learn and evolve autonomously.
"AI helps systems learn from themselves and create a form of operational wisdom which the human brain alone would find difficult to achieve at that speed," she noted, adding that this capability will be crucial in future conflict scenarios.
India, she said, has already begun integrating artificial intelligence across multiple defence applications. From advanced surveillance platforms to systems that can improve their own performance over time, AI use cases are expanding rapidly within the armed forces.
"Whether it is surveillance, target detection or performance optimisation, the applications are numerous and growing," she explained.
The comments come at a time when the AI Summit has drawn participation from over 70 countries, with discussions ranging from innovation and governance to security and military applications.
India, Dr Kaushik said, is actively collaborating with global partners on AI and emerging technologies but stressed that such cooperation must not dilute the country's strategic autonomy.
Reflecting on lessons from global conflicts and recent Indian military operations, including Operation Sindoor, Dr Kaushik identified self-reliance as the most critical takeaway. "The single most important lesson is that India has to be self-reliant," she said emphatically.
She warned against dependence on foreign AI models, datasets or tools, particularly in sensitive defence domains.
"If we depend on models developed outside, or on datasets sourced externally, we can never be fully sure of their efficacy. There could be vulnerabilities, biases, or even backdoors," she cautioned.
For India, she said, indigenous AI development is not just a technological goal but a strategic imperative.
"We must have our own datasets, train our own AI models and ensure that they are relevant to our operational environment and challenges. Only then can we be confident that these solutions will perform when it matters the most," Dr Kaushik said.
The push for indigenous AI aligns with the broader vision of 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' in defence manufacturing and technology, where India aims to reduce reliance on imports while building robust domestic capabilities. Dr Kaushik's remarks reinforce the view that AI sovereignty will be as critical as hardware self-sufficiency in future warfare.
As discussions at the AI Summit highlighted, artificial intelligence is increasingly shaping doctrines, decision-making and deterrence strategies worldwide.
For India, the message from DRDO is clear: AI will be central to national security, but its true strength will lie in systems built, trained and controlled at home.
