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THE TALK – AI Impact Summit 2026 – Bulletin #Day-1
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16 February 2026 | Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi
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The opening day of the AI Impact Summit 2026 brought together policymakers, technologists, researchers, and development practitioners from across the Global South and beyond to deliberate on the governance, infrastructure, inclusivity, and real-world applications of artificial intelligence (AI). Discussions throughout the day emphasised trust, collaboration, responsible deployment, and public-interest innovation as the central pillars shaping the future of AI.
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South–South Cooperation in AI Policymaking: Developing a Collaboration Roadmap
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The summit commenced with a high-level dialogue among policymakers from Africa and Asia, exploring collaborative pathways for AI governance rooted in shared development priorities. The discussion highlighted that effective AI governance must extend beyond policy documents to include peer learning, institutional capacity building, and context-sensitive cooperation across the Global South.
Country experiences revealed common priorities such as data governance, ethical safeguards, infrastructure readiness, and skills development, alongside shared challenges including limited compute capacity, fragmented regulation, and cross-border data constraints. Concrete cooperation mechanisms—such as regulatory sandboxes, shared AI playbooks, talent mobility programmes, and collaborative auditing frameworks—were proposed to strengthen interoperability, trust, and harmonisation.
The session concluded with a collective call to translate dialogue into practical South-South collaboration capable of ensuring inclusive and development-oriented AI governance.
On the panel were: Cyprien Nshimiyimana, Strategy & Policy Analyst, Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution; Irene Karungi Sekitoleko, Senior ICT Infrastructure Engineer at Uganda's Ministry of ICT and National Guidance; Kautsarina Adam, Coordinator of Data Protection and Information Security Management, Ministry of Communication and Information Technology of the Republic of Indonesia; Odilile Ayodele, Senior Research Specialist, Human Sciences Research Council; Rachel Adams, CEO and Founder, Global Centre on AI Governance; Rama Devi Lanka, NITI Aayog, GoI; Richard Mwaura Kiarie, Deputy Director of ICT, National Treasury; Siphokazi Novukuza, Cyber Security Operations, Department of Communications and Digital Technologies, South Africa; Wolfger Bungarten, Senior Policy Officer, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Germany.
– Reporting by Bhavika Khatter
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Policymakers’ Dialogue on AI, Policy Evolution, and the Rule of Law
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A dedicated policy dialogue examined India’s evolving AI governance framework through the lens of constitutional values, democratic accountability, and inclusive innovation. Speakers underscored India’s preference for soft-touch, guardrail-based regulation that enables innovation while safeguarding equity and transparency.
Key recommendations included early multi-stakeholder engagement, policy experimentation through pilots, investment in domestic AI research and startups, and the creation of AI testing and quality-certification mechanisms to strengthen public trust. Embedding privacy, security, and ethical safeguards by design emerged as a central governance principle.
The discussion concluded that balancing innovation with equity and institutional capacity will be critical to ensuring AI contributes to inclusive national development.
On the panel were: Markus Siewert, MD, TUM Think Tank, Munich School of Politics and Public Policy; Sasmit Patra, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, India; Ivana Bartoletti, Vice President, Global Chief Privacy and AI Governance Officer at Wipro; Jameela Sahiba, Associate Director, AI and Public Affairs, The Dialogue; Mathukumilli Sribharat, Member of the Lok Sabha, Telugu Desam Party, India; Mahaveer Singhvi, Additional Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs; Pravin Anand, Anand and Anand (Law Firm); Kristina Sinemus, Professor, Hessian Ministry of Digitalisation and Innovation, Germany
– Reporting by Bhavika Khatter
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Women, Work, and the Future of AI
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This session explored the gendered dimensions of AI-driven economic transformation, highlighting a structural paradox: women remain under-represented in visible, high-skill AI roles while dominating invisible labour segments such as data annotation and gig-platform work.
Panellists warned that AI systems designed without incorporating women’s lived experiences may achieve technical efficiency but lack meaningful social relevance. Discussions emphasised the need to move beyond token participation toward decision-making power, gender-sensitive policy frameworks, and recognition of invisible labour.
The session concluded that equitable AI requires integrating women’s voices into design, governance, and data ecosystems, positioning them as co-creators rather than beneficiaries of technological change.
On the panel were: Aranya Sahay, Director: Humans in the Loop; Saachi Bhalla, Deputy Director, Gender Equality at Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Kalika Bali, Senior Research Specialist, Microsoft Research India; Shikoh Gitau, CEO, Qhala Limited; Safiya Husain, Co-Founder and Chief Impact Officer at Karya; Urvashi Aneja, Founder and Director, Digital Futures Lab.
– Reporting by Bhavika Khatter
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Responsible AI for Bharat: Building Trust, Safety, and Global Leadership
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A central theme of Day-1 focused on how India can build a trustworthy, transparent, and people-centric AI ecosystem while emerging as a global leader in ethical governance. Speakers stressed that explainability, clean data, strong oversight, and accountability are foundational to responsible AI.
Sectoral discussions highlighted AI’s transformative potential in agriculture, power systems, and renewable energy, alongside risks such as large-scale crop losses if AI systems fail without transparency or safeguards. Education and skilling—particularly for young engineers—were identified as essential as India enters a new phase of AI-driven transformation.
On the panel were: Subi Chaturvedi, InMobi; Tripta Thakur, UTU; Ankush Sabharwal, CoRover.ai; Arvind Kumar, STPI; Ravi Arora, Mastercard; Vivek Raj, Panama Corporation and Nitin Saxena, Professor, IIT Kanpur.
– Reporting by Vidhi Maharishi
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Building Sustainable and Resilient AI Infrastructure
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Infrastructure resilience emerged as a prerequisite for AI-enabled growth. Speakers noted a significant data-centre capacity gap between India and global benchmarks, calling for accelerated execution, policy support, and streamlined approvals.
Resilience, security-by-design, sovereignty, redundancy, and zero-downtime operations were framed as non-negotiable priorities. Sustainability was emphasised through clean energy integration, efficient AI models, and climate-sensitive infrastructure design, alongside the need for frugal, multilingual, and context-aware AI systems suited to India’s diversity.
On the panel were: Sharad, CIFI Infinite Space; Ruchali, Google; Nicole Foster, AWS; Ritu Mehrotra, Shunya Labs; and Professor Ravi Kiran, IIIT Hyderabad/BharatGen.
– Reporting by Vidhi Maharishi
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AI × Creativity: Skills for Innovation in the Intelligent Economy
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A global roundtable explored how AI is reshaping creative industries, education, and workforce skills. While AI enhances efficiency in filmmaking, storytelling, and design workflows, speakers emphasised that human creativity, emotion, and cultural context remain irreplaceable.
The conversation highlighted the urgency of curriculum reform, lifelong learning, micro-credentials, and capability-driven skillsets combining creativity with responsible AI use—seen as essential for inclusive participation in the intelligent economy.
On the panel were: Ashish Kulkarni, Punnaryug Artvision; Abhilasha Gaur, NASSCOM-SSC; Jayadev Gopalakrishnan, Adobe; Mala Sharma, Adobe; Rana Daggubati, Anthill Studio; Rishi Raj Singh, MakeMyTrip; and Saransh Agrawal, Cognizant.
– Reporting by Vidhi Maharishi
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AI for Smart and Resilient Agriculture
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Sessions on agriculture demonstrated AI’s potential to advance climate-resilient farming, livestock management, and farmer decision-making through tools such as advisory chatbots, health-monitoring systems, and AI-driven nutrition planning.
However, challenges including limited awareness, data interoperability gaps, and governance uncertainties persist. Speakers stressed that scalable agricultural AI must be context-sensitive, equitable, and supported by strong regulatory and institutional frameworks.
On the panel were: Bharat Kakade, BAIF Research Development Fondation NGO; Carole Caranta, INRAE Research Institution; Thierry Caquet, INRAE Research Institution; Vincent Martin, FAO Intergovernmental Institution; Henri Verdier, Inria Foundation CEO; Henry Van Burgsteden, Senior Innovation Officer, FAO.
– Reporting by Dr. Drishti Parnami
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Standards and Policies for Farmer-Centric Smart Agrifood Systems
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Complementing the agriculture discussion, experts emphasised the need for global standards, interoperability, traceability, and ethical accountability in agrifood AI systems.
Strengthening digital public infrastructure, data governance, and contestability mechanisms was identified as essential for responsible scaling—ensuring AI tools remain grounded in farmer realities and sustainability goals.
On the panel were: Atukso, International Telecommunication Union and United Nations; Gopal Patra, CSIR- Fourth Paradigm Institute, Bengaluru; Rabi N. Sahoo, Division of Agricultural Physics, ICAR- Indian Agricultural Research Institute; Raghu Chaliganti, Interactive and Cognitive Systems Group at Fraunhofer HHI; Santanu Chaudhury, IIT Delhi; and Volker Klima, German Embassy in New Delhi.
– Reporting by Dr. Drishti Parnami
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The AI–DPI Nexus: The Future of Public Interest Technology
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The final session of the day examined how combining digital public infrastructure (DPI) with AI can generate inclusive public value. While DPI provides interoperable foundations such as digital identity, payments, and data exchange, AI enables personalised, context-aware public services.
Speakers cautioned that AI without DPI risks exclusion, weak consent, and fragile governance, urging governments to prioritise trust, interoperability, user empowerment, and continuous evaluation to ensure measurable social impact.
On the panel were: Antonio Zaballos, Asian Development Bank; Olubayo Adekanmbi, Data Science Nigeria; Howard Lakougna, Gates Foundation; Kamya Chandra, CDPI; Kay McGowan, Digital Impact Alliance; Keyzom Ngodup Massally, UNDP Chief Digital Office, Olivier Twagirayezu, Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Rwanda; Seydina Ndiaye, Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) and the UN High-Level Advisory Body on AI, Senegal; Vyjayanti Desai, World Bank.
– Reporting by Krishaank Jugiani
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Competing to Innovate: How Competition Accelerates AI Innovation
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The session highlighted rising concerns around competition and digital sovereignty within India’s AI ecosystem. A key challenge identified was the slow pace of enforcement, with cases moving from the CCI to the Supreme Court of India, often by which time technological change renders remedies ineffective.
Market concentration is increasing at the foundation model and infrastructure levels, where high capital requirements, advanced computing needs, and control over cloud and semiconductor resources create significant barriers to entry. Dominance in operating systems, browsers, and app stores further entrenches incumbents. Vertical integration across infrastructure and downstream platforms raises risks of self-preferencing, bundling, and restrictive terms that may constrain startups and weaken contestability.
Indian startups generally view collaboration with global AI firms as an opportunity, though safeguards remain essential. Policymakers are pursuing a dual approach of strengthening domestic capabilities while remaining open to foreign investment. Speakers supported proportionate ex ante regulation, drawing lessons from the Digital Markets Act, alongside closer alignment between industrial and competition policy to balance innovation with fairness.
On the panel were: Payal Malik, Former Head, Economics & Competition; Shweta Rajpal Kohli, President & CEO, Startup Policy Forum; Augustine Peter, Former Member, Competition Commission of India (CCI); Kush Amlani, Director, Global Competition and Regulation, Mozilla; and Amba Kak, Co-Executive Director, AI Now Institute.
– Reporting by Vijay Singh
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The Sustainable Digital Infrastructure Accord (SDIA)- Driving the sustainability of the Asia-Pacific region
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The session highlighted an initiative of the Asia-Pacific Data Centre Association, the Sustainable Digital Infrastructure Accord, aimed at ensuring that the rapid expansion of data centres, particularly those supporting AI, is environmentally sustainable. As the Asia Pacific region, especially India, positions itself as a major technology and AI hub, data centres are becoming critical infrastructure. However, their growing electricity and water consumption is raising serious concerns around energy demand, carbon emissions and water stress.
The Accord seeks to establish a common sustainability baseline across the region and prevent fragmented national regulations. It encourages collaboration between industry, governments and hyperscalers, with voluntary targets focused on improving energy efficiency, such as PUE standards; increasing the use of renewable and carbon-free energy; promoting responsible water management; and advancing circular economy practices, including waste heat reuse and reducing embodied carbon.
For India, where data centre capacity is expanding rapidly, electricity demand from the sector could rise sharply by 2030. While growing renewable energy capacity presents an opportunity to align digital growth with the clean energy transition, water use remains a significant concern, particularly in stressed regions such as Greater Noida. The session underscored that AI growth and sustainability must progress together.
On the panel were: Bimal Khandelwal, STT, GDC, India; Sumit Anand, Vice President- Investments & Strategy, Digital Connexion; Aruna Sundararajan, IAS, Chairperson, BIF; Alexander Smith, Principal Global Infrastructure & Energy, Google; and David Skelton, Head of APDCA Secretariat, Moderator.
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– Reporting by Vijay Singh
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Jaipur • New Delhi • Chittorgarh • Kolkata • Hanoi • Nairobi • Lusaka • Accra • Geneva • Washington DC
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