The need to scale up research and development (R&D) across Indian academia and industry was a recurring theme at the ‘AI for India’ summit in Bengaluru, where leading voices in artificial intelligence stressed the urgency of cross-sectoral collaboration to make AI work at scale in India.“This is an opportunity. R&D must step up, and this effort needs to be implemented across the industry and in academia,” said Ganesh Ramakrishnan, Professor at IIT Bombay, during a fireside chat, according to ANI. He emphasised that while industries do face challenges in adapting to disruptive changes like AI, the responsibility to scale innovation lies with both industry and academic institutions.Rishikesha Krishnan, Director of IIM Bangalore, highlighted a shift already visible in placement processes. “This year itself, in our placement interviews, we found companies asking prospective candidates: if you have to make a digital marketing plan for the company, how will you use AI tools to do it more effectively?” he said. He added that the institute is focusing on “co-creation,” where “the human being and the AI work together,” rather than simply relying on generative AI tools.In a separate panel, Gourav Gupta of TVS Motors shared that the company is deploying AI across a range of functions. “Our AI is being utilised in manufacturing efficiencies, equipment efficiencies, predictive maintenance, safety, and other areas,” he said. Gupta noted that TVS is also actively working with conversational and voice AI tools for customer service, sentiment analysis, and marketing campaigns, including a fully AI-generated ad campaign, ANI reported. “We’re using GenAI content that is very specific to consumers,” he said, underlining the potential for hyper-personalisation.On internal operations, Gupta said TVS Motors is also applying AI to employee engagement, reflecting the company’s broader digital transformation strategy. Sateesh Seetharamiah, CEO of EdgeVerve, said his company has seen productivity improvements of “close to 40 to 50 per cent” using AI.The ‘AI for India’ summit, organised by AI4India, seeks to establish actionable collaboration between deep tech startups, large enterprises, academia, civic bodies, and government stakeholders. ANI reported that the initiative promotes ethical research, open innovation, and capacity-building, with campaigns like DataDaan designed to ensure AI reaches every Indian.According to ANI, the summit is also showcasing cutting-edge models and technologies from leading startups such as Sarvam, BharatGen, Latlong AI, Parlaxiom, and Pienomial. Industry speakers from HDFC Bank, Tejas Networks, Sahamati Foundation, and Yotta are also participating.The ongoing discussions reflect a broader push to position India as a global hub for ethical and inclusive AI development, with institutions and industry converging to develop solutions that are both technologically advanced and socially responsible.
