AI in filmmaking is just a layer and not a driver behind the whole film, the director of India's first AI-powered Bollywood film told NDTV's Shiv Aroor at the NDTV India.AI Summit today.

"In human history there were so many things that we didn't imagine would happen, but new innovation are part of life, thus AI doesn't surprise. I don't find anything 'Artificial' in Artificial intelligence because it is based on human data. It is a true human experience," says Prasoon Joshi, Chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification.

On an analogy comparing the early age of AI with living through a Covid-like moment - no one really thought the illness in China would affect lives across the globe, assuming Covid was self-limiting and would go away - Amit Zavery, President, Chief Product Officer and COO, ServiceNow, said while it is an interesting take, AI - unlike Covid - has not come as a surprise.

"The Covid moment took a lot of people by surprise. I don't think AI has been a surprise. We have been talking about AI for probably 10 years now. What's happening now is that a lot of the things are all starting to come together. Every part of any industry, look at it. And if you look at society, everybody's aware of it," Zavery said.

"The question becomes how do you use it in a way which helps you? That's the part I think which is confusing for many people. Some people are worried about job losses. Some people are worried about what happens to industry. And some people are worried about how you can control and manage it? Does AI control you or are you going to control AI?" he said. "But there's no confusion that this is going to impact your life... while also understanding the power of it [AI] so they can put some controls and some guidelines around it, and you can get benefits out of it in the long term."

India should strive to occupy the AI-for-enterprise space, which will help in areas like drug discovery and bring down research times and prices, Ajai Chowdhry, the Chairman National Quantum Mission of India's Mission Governing Board, said.

Chowdhry also introduced quantum mechanics-based computing, which he introduced as "spooky physics", and said, "This whole technology is based on quantum mechanics."

This, he said, would add to current computing capabilities driving Artificial Intelligence and "provide phenomenal capability to do things we could not till now.... by classical computers".

"If we look at AI there has been a lot of talk about India being far behind in terms of LLMs, i.e., large language models. Now LLMs fundamentally use data that can be hugely taken from India or, and in addition, LLMs are fundamentally addressing consumer market, in a very big way."

Hardeep Gambhir, Co-founder, Media, Partnerships & Events, LocalHost says AI will create new jobs in film industry.

Ajai Chowdhry, Chairman, Mission Governing Board, National Quantum Mission Of India said that India will have it's first $100 billion enterprise in 3-5 years.

India will have enough SLMs (Small Language Models) within a year: Ajai Chowdhry

"I think what I, what I hope we get to in 2030 is where, you know, we've hopefully collectively delivered on what I think of as the why of AI. Uh, and the why of AI, I think if you ask any of us, and hopefully people in the audience too who are working on AI, I think, you know, I would say we're, we're working on AI because of the potential we see in empowering people, empowering economies, advancing science, and solving societal challenges," Manyika said.

"So that's kind of our view of the why of AI. So those are the things where we're trying to, we, the reasons we're pursuing AI then I hope by 2030, we have something to show for it. We can show that we've actually delivered on some of that, you know, the economies are growing, people are benefiting from it. We've advanced science and solved some challenges, but more importantly, I hope we'll have done that in ways where not just a few, but everybody benefits," he added.

#NDTVIndAISummit | Watch insightful discussion between Akis Evangelidis (@AkisEvangelidis), Co-founder & President - India, Nothing and NDTV AI editor @aayush_a6 on built-in intelligence - the new technology default @ShwetaRKohli @SPF_India pic.twitter.com/IatNOQFrj9

— NDTV (@ndtv) February 18, 2026

The world does not have an answer yet to what would happen to humanity if machines start 'thinking', UC Berkeley professor Stuart Russell said at the NDTV Ind.AI Summit today.

#NDTVIndAISummit | Is the fear now super intelligence? Is that the next big concern on all of our minds? Stuart Russell, President, International Association for Safe & Ethical AI answers @aayush_a6 @SPF_India @ShwetaRKohli pic.twitter.com/JOiQ2lsBos

— NDTV (@ndtv) February 18, 2026

"I have children, I do not want AI systems convincing my children to commit suicide. And that has happened to some people's children. And it's a tragedy, and we need to make sure that those responsible, pay compensation, and that it doesn't happen again," Stuart Russell said.

"The argument that I'm seeing right now as well. Ok, yes, it did convince someone to commit suicide, but it helped, you know, 100 other people. And so surely that's fine, right? But if a psychiatrist said, 'well, yeah, I've helped 100 people, and yeah, I did convince that child to commit suicide, but I helped all those other people.' He would still go to prison. Right? This is not a valid moral argument for allowing a product to do that to a child. For the companies, I would say, uh, actually listen to your own conscience. Some of the CEOs, in fact, pretty much all the leading CEOs have admitted that there is this enormous risk to humanity," Russell added.

"The stated aim of the major AI companies is to create machines more intelligent than human beings. And when you ask ordinary people what they think about that, they say that would be really stupid. For obvious reasons, uh, intelligence is what gives us power over the world. So how can we expect to maintain power forever over entities more powerful than ourselves," Stuart Russell said.

"We are pouring enormous resources into building a technology that its own creators, the CEOs of the companies who are building it say has a significant chance of causing human extinction," he added.

"At the geopolitical level, the major powers, the United States, China, and Russia all view artificial intelligence as the linchpin of global domination for the rest of this century and perhaps for the rest of time," Stuart Russell said. 

#NDTVIndAISummit | NDTV's @ambikas80 speaks to Dr Jean Shahdadpuri, Founder, Allyra .ai, on how her company helps small and middle-class businesses in the world of artificial intelligence, India's AI future, and more @SPF_India | @ShwetaRKohli
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NDTV's @ambikas80 speaks to Puneet Chandok (@puneetck), President, Microsoft India and South Asia on India's AI roadmap, and more at #NDTVIndAISummit @SPF_India | @ShwetaRKohli
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#NDTVIndAISummit | NDTV's @twoonezerosix speaks to Kirthiga Reddy (@kirthigareddy), CEO OptimizeGEO & Founder, AI Kiran, on launch of OptimizeGEO, future of AI, and more@SPF_India | @ShwetaRKohli
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#NDTVIndAISummit | NDTV's @twoonezerosix speaks to Kirthiga Reddy (@kirthigareddy), CEO OptimizeGEO & Founder, AI Kiran, on launch of OptimizeGEO, future of AI, and more@SPF_India | @ShwetaRKohli
Knowledge Partner: Dayananda Sagar University
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— NDTV (@ndtv) February 18, 2026

#NDTVIndAISummit | "Most people in their twenties don't manage other people but I think today and tomorrow's 20 year olds will be managing AI agents to help them accomplish their work": Former UK PM Rishi Sunak (@rishisunak) to @rahulkanwal @SPF_India @ShwetaRKohli pic.twitter.com/xJbZl1pygo

— NDTV (@ndtv) February 18, 2026

"AI helps me make better decisions, and be better informed. AI also has good personal applications. Recently, my wife was away and she asked me to prepare our younger one, Anushka, for her physics test and make sure she does well. At that point I was a bit stressed considering my in-laws's definition of 'doing well' in a physics test is a bit higher than mine, especially since I haven't done any physics since I was 16. Then Claude came to the rescue, I put my daughters's revision test in Claude and prepared a teaching guide for me. Thank fully she did well on the test. If this AI can turn me into a 'Murthy family level' physics tutor, then there's nothing it can't do," Sunak said, recalling an anecdote from his personal life.

The scale of AI's runaway growth is such that companies are investing 20 times more than the entire Manhattan Project, former British prime minister Rishi Sunak told NDTV Editor-in-Chief Rahul Kanwal at the NDTV India.AI Summit today.

#NDTVIndAISummit | "I think AI is going to change the labour market. Some jobs will be lost; I think many more will be redesigned. I think history shows us that societies flourish when we manage that transition well": Former UK PM Rishi Sunak (@rishisunak) to NDTV's @rahulkanwal pic.twitter.com/BZiHWMjsVh

— NDTV (@ndtv) February 18, 2026

"India has recognised that leadership in technology doesn't depend on inventing it. It depends on how effectively you deploy it. By focusing on mass adoption, supported by deep talent pool in India, strong public infrastructure, and public that's very supportive of the technology, India is well positioned to take leadership role in AI," Rishi Sunak said.

"I think that AI debate has is, you know, has moved from technology to strategy. From talking about the tools to talking about what countries are doing with the tools and it's impact on societies," Rishi Sunak.

"AI is general purpose technology which can reshape entire countries," says Rishi Sunak at NDTV India.AI Summit.

Former UK Prime Minister discusses 'power, policy, innovation in the age of AI'.

Could emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) replace chartered accountants (CAs) soon? NDTV asked this question to Deepak Dhanak, a chartered accountant who is the co-founder of an AI platform, Rocket.

"I don't think AI or any tool will replace an individual. I think a person who understands and knows and uses these tools will replace the one that is not using them," he said at the NDTV AI summit.

His remarks came amid various companies across the world laying off thousands of employees to invest in new technologies like artificial intelligence.

"Our job is made of two things. One is tasks that you should not be doing, and the other is the core value that you add in any job: decision-making, creativity, governance, accountability, vision, good biases, and bad biases. Those things are the core of us, and today, in the era of processes and speed, we have been consumed by non-valued work. So those guys will have to think about it, but for others, it will open the doors because now I have more time to do things that I excel at," Dhanak said.

NDTV's Ratan Bhardwaj uses AI-powered platform Emergent for vibe coding, creates an app to track breaking news.

NDTV’s Ratan Bhardwaj uses AI-powered platform Emergent for vibe coding, creates an app to track breaking news.
Here's a live demo at #NDTVIndAISummit@mukundjha | @emergentlabs | @SPF_India | @ShwetaRKohli | @aayush | @alexandermats pic.twitter.com/TofWNhk6rR

— NDTV (@ndtv) February 18, 2026

Former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (@rishisunak) arrives at #NDTVIndAISummit
More on: https://t.co/0pvEGaA83G @SPF_India | @ShwetaRKohli
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As AI becomes embedded in everyday work, a four-member panel - Puneet Chandok, President, Microsoft India and South Asia, Kumaresh Pattabiraman, Head, LinkedIn India, Madhav Krishna, Founder & CEO, Vahan.ai, and Kirthiga Reddy, CEO OptimizeGEO & Founder, AI Kiran, explores how organisations are rethinking productivity, talent, and decision-making. Leaders from technology, startups, and global enterprises discuss what responsible, human-centric AI adoption looks like in the workplace.

Watch #LIVE | #NDTVIndAISummit - a dialogue that will explore how deeply artificial intelligence is now woven into India's economic priorities, policy frameworks, and strategic thinking.
Listen in as AI experts, policymakers, industry leaders, innovators, and thinkers speak to…

— NDTV (@ndtv) February 18, 2026

Arvind Jain, Founder & CEO, Glean, brings a practitioner's perspective on how AI can augment human capability, unlock organisational knowledge, and redefine productivity in the workplace.

"I think of AI as a tool that is available to us humans, and which is going to reduce the boring, repetitive work. It will also help leave more time for creative work for all of us. That's the positive side of what AI is going to do for us," he said.

#NDTVIndAISummit | Should AI Be Sovereign?
On the panel with @ShivAroor: Raffi Krikorian, Chief Technology Officer, https://t.co/JtsojueQ8k (@mozilla), Arun Subramaniyan, Founder & CEO, Articul8 (@Articul8_AI), Siddharth Bhatia (@siddharthb_), Co-founder & CEO, Puch AI… pic.twitter.com/jKfkhQvsN0

— NDTV (@ndtv) February 18, 2026

#NDTVIndAISummit | The End Of Coding? Emergent's Mukund Jha Says Just Prompt Your Dunzo https://t.co/nL75qq0eDB@mukundjha | @emergentlabs | @alexandermats | @aayush_a6 pic.twitter.com/2vc5r4ojxx

— NDTV (@ndtv) February 18, 2026

AI is the biggest global technology disruptor after the internet. With more and more powerful and capable artificial intelligence being developed, are there any risks, something that often comes along with advances in technology?

In other words, can AI go rogue, like how it is shown in the movies?

Chris Lehane, Chief Global Affairs Officer of OpenAI, in a session moderated by NDTV Editor-in-Chief Rahul Kanwal and public policy expert Shweta Rajpal Kohli, at the NDTV India.AI Summit shared his views to a question about the likelihood of AI going out of humanity's control.

"I think where we come from is a little bit more of an optimistic view. I mean, we are realists. We do build all sorts of safety mechanisms into our models before they are publicly released, and I think one of the things that Sam [Altman] talks about, and you'll probably hear him talk about, is how does society start to build resilience out there," Lehane told NDTV.

"Let me give you a specific example. In the US, there was something formerly called the AI Safety Institute. It's now called CAISI. There's a version of this that exists in the UK, in Japan, in Singapore, and India is thinking of versions of this," he said.

#NDTVIndAISummit | Leading Investors On How To Balance The Need For Capital @SPF_India
On the panel with @ShwetaRKohli: Vikram Vaidyanathan (@VikramV23), Managing Director, Z47, Harshjit Sethi (@HarshjitSethi), Early Stage Investor, Ashutosh Sharma (@Ashutosh_Blr), India Head,… pic.twitter.com/xmvPplek5l

— NDTV (@ndtv) February 18, 2026

At NDTV's Ind.ai Summit Wednesday, four prominent business leaders and investors from the world of Artificial Intelligence dissected sovereignty for an AI-driven world, urging India to rethink control beyond borders to encompass data, culture, and individual agency.

Sovereignty operates on multiple levels, Raffi Krikorian, Chief Technology Officer of mozilla.org, argued - from national governments navigating diverse global value chains to corporations and even citizens protecting their digital footprints. In an era where AI algorithms shape personal choices and national strategies, relinquishing control at any layer erodes autonomy.

"I think sovereignty is important at every single level. So, I think one question is sovereignty at the government level... value chains are different across every level in the world and it is different for India. The difference matters but I think it also matters down to the individual level," he said.

Mukund Jha, co-founder and CEO, Emergent Labs, said a lot of effort has gone into making sure that their platform is designed to scale. 

"Considerably, we have been staying ahead in the field. Every time an application gets built on a platform, our agent self improve. We have a high-intensity, small but super strong engineering research team, and we ship really fast," he said, while speaking at the NDTV India.AI Summit.

As AI becomes increasingly global, the panel discussion with - Raffi Krikorian, Chief Technology Officer, mozilla.org, Arun Subramaniyan, Founder & CEO, Articul8, Siddharth Bhatia, Co-founder & CEO, Puch AI, Manu Chopra, CEO, Karya, and Anagh Prasad, Vice President, Accel - unpacks what sovereignty means across borders - highlighting collaboration between public institutions, open-source communities, industry, and academia to steward AI responsibly.

Watch #LIVE | #NDTVIndAISummit - a dialogue that will explore how deeply artificial intelligence is now woven into India's economic priorities, policy frameworks, and strategic thinking.
Listen in as AI experts, policymakers, industry leaders, innovators, and thinkers speak to…

— NDTV (@ndtv) February 18, 2026

#NDTVIndAISummit | "The excitement and awareness around AI is incredible": Aakrit Vaish (@aakrit), Founder, Activate, to @ambikas80 @SPF_India | @ShwetaRKohli
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State Partner: UP Government (@upgovt)… pic.twitter.com/ssv9ZBymT6

— NDTV (@ndtv) February 18, 2026

Rocket co-founder and COO Deepak Dhanak does not believe AI or any tools would replace an individual.

"I think a person who understands, knows, and uses these tools will replace the ones who are not using them. When we look at our jobs - it is made up of tasks that you should not be doing, and the other is the core value that you add in any job. Today, in the era of speed, we have been consumed by known value and work. So those guys will have to think about it. But for others, it will open doors for them," he said.

#NDTVIndAISummit | Is DeepSeek stealing OpenAI data? What Chris Lehane said@SPF_India | @ShwetaRKohli | @rahulkanwal pic.twitter.com/W6EVmUIBm8

— NDTV (@ndtv) February 18, 2026

Chris Lehane oversees government affairs and worldwide policy as a senior policy executive at OpenAI. He developed a career in strategic communications and US public service prior to joining the technology industry, which included positions in the Clinton administration and well-known business advisory work.

Lehane's portfolio at OpenAI is centred on establishing a connection between swift technical advancement and regulatory structures. The organisation has repeatedly called for international collaboration on AI standards, safety, and risk management-priorities underlined during the meeting in New Delhi.

Lehane will be speaking at the NDTV Ind.AI Summit in New Delhi, where researchers, industry executives, and politicians discuss the best ways to manage and use AI.

The summit has been framed as a discussion on India's AI future, placing a high priority on responsible adoption, public trust, and equal access. Besides Lehane, key speakers at the summit include former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, NVIDIA Executive Vice President Jay Puri, Glean founder and CEO Arvind Jain, Sarvam AI co-founder Pratyush Kumar, and Eleven Labs co-founder Mati Staniszewski.

Chris Lehane, Chief Global Affairs Officer of OpenAI, while speaking at NDTV India.AI Summit, gave one advice to the government about one thing it needs to unlearn in the age of AI.

"This is a productivity-driving technology. It is not social media. You want to make sure that your people are generating and creating as much agency as possible. Those countries that develop agency in AI with their population are going to be the countries that lead the AI revolution. India, right now, is at the front of that, and India needs to continue doing what it's currently doing," he said.

India is growing fast in AI literacy and agency and the country can help democratise artificial intelligence, Chris Lehane, Chief Global Affairs Officer of OpenAI said in a session at NDTV Ind.ai today.

The session, moderated by NDTV Editor-in-Chief Rahul Kanwal and public policy expert Shweta Rajpal Kohli, dealt with topics like how India is becoming well-positioned in data and talent on developing AI.

Chris Lehane, OpenAI's Chief Global Affairs Officer, said what's really important if you're going to have AI for and by India is that the model here, the inference model here reflects culture, reflects the languages, reflects the context, and that is part of the piece that's inherent to actually building that kind of sovereign AI. 

"Certainly what we're committed to and you know, we again look at this not as an extractive technology in the way perhaps maybe social media was to some level. This is a productivity. This is bringing economic activity here. it's the only way it's almost like an inherent social contract to this like we will only grow here if India is growing. We will only succeed here if Indians are succeeding with this technology on the ground," he added.

Chris Lehane, OpenAI's Chief Global Affairs Officer, said India is "leading the way in terms of AI literacy".

Chris Lehane, OpenAI's Chief Global Affairs Officer, on Wednesday said that AI is not only accessible in India, but there is literacy that is "building and developing" around it.

"India has always been my favourite place to get to. The energy level here, this is the country that is on the move. It is the world's largest democracy. What's really interesting about what's going on in India currently is that the talent is there on the ground. Not only is AI accessible in India, but there is literacy that is building and developing. But even above that, people are actually using AI to think and build," he said.

Jay Puri is the Executive Vice President of Worldwide Field Operations at NVIDIA. He plays a significant role in managing NVIDIA's global business, overseeing areas such as sales, business development, and partner alliances.

He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Minnesota and a Master of Science in electrical engineering from the California Institute of Technology. Puri also holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Starting in 2005, Puri has contributed to NVIDIA's growth, particularly in accelerated computing and generative AI.

Prior to NVIDIA, he spent 22 years at Sun Microsystems, where he held leadership roles in sales, marketing and general management. He also worked at Hewlett-Packard, Booz Allen & Hamilton, and Texas Instruments.

Dr. D Premachandra Sagar, Pro Chancellor, Dayananda Sagar University, announces partnership with Nvidia to build India's first academic AI factory.

Jay Puri, Nvidia Executive Vice President, while speaking at the NDTV India.AI summit, said AI is a very powerful force, and like every other technological disruption that we have had, it will have an impact on jobs. 

"Some jobs will be lost, and a lot of new jobs will be created. To begin with, what we are finding is that right now in the knowledge economy, AI is impacting people's ability to augment what they are doing. It is increasing the productivity of knowledge workers. If you are a doctor, for example, you will be able to do many more diagnoses with AI, and you'll have much better access to patient data. When a company becomes more productive, its profits go up, eventually leading it to hire more people. I believe AI is going to create more jobs and help the economy," he said.

#NDTVIndAISummit | "Sovereign AI is designing and developing your own AI infrastructure": Jay Puri, Executive Vice President, NVIDIA (@nvidia) on sovereign AI@SPF_India | @ShwetaRKohli pic.twitter.com/oSeNK5Vxlv

— NDTV (@ndtv) February 18, 2026

Jay Puri, Nvidia Executive Vice President, while speaking at the NDTV India.AI summit, said at the foundation of the stack, it's about energy. The amount of computing or intelligence you would be able to produce fundamentally depends upon how much energy you have. On top of that, we have chips - that's where Nvidia builds most advanced chips. The next layer of the stack is what we call infrastructure - building the AI factories. The next layer is the models - like ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, and so on. The other set of models is open models, like DeepSeek. The fifth layer, the top layer, is the applications that are built on top.

#NDTVIndAISummit | "In the past 10 years, NVIDIA has increased computing 1 million times and that has made these developments possible": Jay Puri, Executive Vice President, NVIDIA (@nvidia)
More on: https://t.co/0pvEGazAe8 @SPF_India | @ShwetaRKohli pic.twitter.com/zIj2viaTxB

— NDTV (@ndtv) February 18, 2026

Jay Puri, Nvidia Executive Vice President, while speaking at the NDTV India.AI summit, said AI  - the ability to manufacture intelligence at scale - it's a miracle. 

"It is just amazing and unleashing a new industrial revolution. The question is, how did AI become a reality? There is actually a fundamental change in the way computing and software are done, which is what made it possible. In the past, software was very explicit; you had to tell a computer exactly what to do. But AI and computers now are very different. You can basically talk to them, and they understand your intent and context and give incredible responses. All these are in real-time  - which requires a tremendous amount of compute," he said.

Puri added that it was Nvidia - which has essentially pioneered that method of computing. 

Jay Puri, Nvidia Executive Vice President, while speaking at the NDTV India.AI summit, said, "It is an absolute honour to be here at this momentous occasion. We had all been looking forward to the AI summit. The PM has great aspirations for AI to democratise things for the global south, and he wants India to be a digital hub for AI infrastructure."

"We are just so delighted to be here and celebrate our ecosystem," he added.

The real magic of artificial intelligence will happen when the cost comes down and the technology is available at scale, Z47's manging director Vikram Vaidyanathan said while speaking at the NDTV AI Summit in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Speaking during a session titled 'Investing In The AI Advantage', Vaidyanathan added that layering AI on top of the digital public infrastructure will democratise services pertaining to several sectors, including finance and health. "The only friction point is that the cost of inferencing is too high to be available on scale," he said. He added that the opportunities lie in helping the world build AI at scale and building tools that do the work, not help with it.

Emphasising the fast-changing AI landscape, Prosus' Ashutosh Sharma said the picture painted today will be obsolete tomorrow. "We are wired to be lazy and nobody needs to teach us things that make us more productive. Entrepreneurs need to understand that every sector is going to change you need to figure out which actions you want to drive," he said.

#NDTVIndAISummit | 'AI for India...': Vikram Vaidyanathan (@VikramV23), Managing Director, Z47, (@Z47_vc) speaks to NDTV's @ambikas80 while highlighting the AI opportunities for India@SPF_India | @ShwetaRKohli
More on: https://t.co/0pvEGazAe8
Knowledge Partner: Dayananda… pic.twitter.com/qpJ0pvxNjM

— NDTV (@ndtv) February 18, 2026

Manav Garg, Co-founder and Managing Partner, Together Fund, told NDTV that at a structural level, what belongs to India is the data. "First thing we need to make sure that data is being used for India and only in India. We also need to compete on a business model within the countries and not just within companies," he said while speaking at NDTV India.AI Summit.

Harshjit Sethi, Early Stage Investor, said, "I think we just have to be cutting edge and marrying capability with cost and context."

Artificial intelligence is no longer a frontier experiment. It is the new capital cycle, the new operating system of business, and perhaps the most defining investment thesis of our time. In this high-powered conversation, leading investors and builders unpack what it truly means to invest in the AI advantage. From early-stage bets to scaled global plays, from foundational models to vertical AI applications, the panel will explore where smart capital is flowing and why.

Watch #LIVE | #NDTVIndAISummit - a dialogue that will explore how deeply artificial intelligence is now woven into India's economic priorities, policy frameworks, and strategic thinking.
Listen in as AI experts, policymakers, industry leaders, innovators, and thinkers speak to…

— NDTV (@ndtv) February 18, 2026

 Manav Garg, Co-founder and Managing Partner, Together Fund, told NDTV during the India.AI Summit that the fastest-growing AI companies in the world are Indian companies.

#NDTVIndAISummit | @ambikas80 speaks to Manav Garg, Co-founder & Managing Partner, Together Fund, on India's AI roadmap @manav_garg | @SPF_India | @ShwetaRKohli
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State Partner: UP Government (@upgovt)… pic.twitter.com/AJgx7H9v6S

— NDTV (@ndtv) February 18, 2026

Sarvam AI co-founder Pratyush Kumar joined a host of visionaries at the AI Summit 2026, hosted by NDTV at ITC Maurya today. The Summit coincides with the government's five-day India AI Impact Summit inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday at Bharat Mandapam.

Who Is Pratyush Kumar?

Pratyush Kumar completed his BTech in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from IIT Bombay in 2009. He went on to earn a PhD in Computer Engineering from ETH Zurich in 2014.

Kumar then joined IBM Research in 2015 as a research scientist. He worked on advanced AI and computing projects. He subsequently spent two years as a researcher at Microsoft Research.

From 2018 to 2021, he served as faculty at IIT Madras. He remains adjunct faculty at IIT Madras.

He co-founded Sarvam AI alongside Vivek Raghavan. The company has claimed that its AI models outperform global leaders such as Google Gemini and OpenAI's ChatGPT. 

Kumar also spearheaded AI4Bharat, an initiative dedicated to creating AI tools for Indian languages.

Kumar also launched PadhAI, an online learning platform designed to make high-quality education more affordable and scalable.

In 2019, he co-founded One Fourth Labs, a venture specialising in AI education and consulting. 

Pratyush Kumar, CEO and co-founder of Sarvam AI - who joined the India CAN initiative (that focuses on fostering sustainable, tech-driven solutions for environmental, industrial, and social challenges) - called it an "interesting evolution".

"There were times when people said India shouldn't, right? Shouldn't build models, right? There are times when people said India must build models, and some people say India must, and so on, which are just opinions. I think what we are trying to show is that India can, and that the proof of concept of deep tech in India is done. We can build it. It's now about figuring out how to have proof of scale and then taking it forward, right? So I'm, I'm generally optimistic India is a country that will, that has demonstrated success over millennia," he said.

Pratyush Kumar, CEO and co-founder of Sarvam AI, said he is most excited about education and AI.

Speaking at NDTV's India.AI summit, Kumar said, "Imagine giving a free tutor to every student in this country, which they can access on a feature phone, on a smartphone. They can say, I just studied this today in class. I didn't understand it. Help me out, and it is personalised. It is at the level of the student in their language and can help them, right? This is not at all a fantasy with very, very low cost. We can provide access to education to all, right? And of course it applies to healthcare and agriculture. But education, especially in this fast-moving world, is going to be a big challenge, and that's one thing that we can solve."

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Pratyush Kumar, CEO and co-founder of Sarvam AI, speaking at NDTV's India.AI summit, said India is a "tremendously hard benchmark for what AI needs to get right to work for all of India".

"One of the most exciting things that Sarvam is doing is taking Indian languages, optimizing them using homegrown AI deck, and scaling them up for the entire populations, and this is something that very few people can do. The global majors, want a piece of it, but it's only a company like Sarvam that can actually get into it from its very core," he said.

Pratyush Kumar, CEO and co-founder of Sarvam AI, spoke at NDTV at the India.AI summit about his AI-powered glasses, which were worn by PM Modi.

"We had a chance to show him each of our products. What is very interesting to me was the security folks had put a little bit of a mark on the ground where he should stand and look at the products. He came there, of course, and then we showed him the models we are training," Kumar said.

He added, "We talked about the talent we have, the amount of quality we have in building AI from India, and that we can do it in India. The other thing that I found interesting was that I showed him a feature that AI doesn't require expensive gadgets on a feature phone; somebody can actually call up and ask any question to the models that we have built. He listened to it. He said, Does it speak Gujarati? We showed him an example of Gujarati. So it was really, was really energizing."

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Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales, speaking with NDTV's Senior Executive Editor Aditya Raj Kaul from the AI Summit at Bharat Mandapam, struck an optimistic yet cautious note on India's role in shaping the future of AI, stressing the importance of human oversight, open knowledge, and public-private collaboration. Wales described the scale and energy of the event as emblematic of India’s growing influence in global technology debates. With more than 200,000 registrations and delegations from over 20 countries, the summit, he said, exceeded expectations. “It’s all the energy of India. I thought it would be big. It’s bigger than that,” Wales remarked. 

According to Wales, one of the most promising aspects of artificial intelligence is its growing ability to work across languages, an area that still needs improvement but holds enormous potential for countries like India. Combined with a strong software workforce and a deeply entrepreneurial culture, AI could significantly boost productivity and innovation. “It’s a very exciting time,” he said.

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Anchored in India's distinctive strengths - from its population-scale digital public infrastructure to its dynamic startup and research ecosystem - NDTV's Ind.ai will position India not merely as a participant in the AI revolution, but as a shaper of its global norms and direction. The Summit aims to convene policymakers, technologists, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders to chart a framework for AI that is trusted, inclusive, and transformative - for India and for the world.

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The stage is set for the NDTV India AI Summit, bringing together policymakers, industry leaders, innovators, and thought leaders to shape an AI future grounded in human values and ethical responsibility.

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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.

NDTV is hosting the India AI Impact Summit 2026 on its third day at ITC Maurya in New Delhi, beginning with a dance performance in front of an LED screen that tells the story of the Summit. As artificial intelligence transitions from experimentation to real-world deployment at scale, the Summit will explore the delicate balance between innovation and safeguards, growth and ethics, disruption and inclusion. The Summit aims to convene policymakers, technologists, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders to chart a framework for AI that is trusted, inclusive, and transformative - for India and for the world.

NDTV will speak to many leaders, including Rishi Sunak, who will discuss the age of intelligence - power, policy, and innovation.