NEW DELHI — Global technology leaders, policymakers, and companies gathered in the national capital on Wednesday for the India AI Impact Summit 2026, where discussions focused on artificial intelligence, innovation, and expanding international collaboration across emerging technologies.
Experts attending the summit said the event reflects India’s rising role in the global AI ecosystem and its ability to attract partnerships spanning research, industry, and government.
Geraint Rees, Vice-Provost for Research, Innovation and Global Engagement at University College London, described the scale and energy of the summit as striking. He announced that UCL has signed a memorandum of understanding with Tech Mahindra aimed at strengthening research collaboration and innovation.
“The partnership aims to boost research and innovation while offering students opportunities to work on real-world business challenges,” Rees said, adding that the agreement underscores growing ties between India and the United Kingdom.
Rees said India is increasingly being seen as a modern, entrepreneurial economy with ambitions extending into artificial intelligence, advanced medicine, robotics, and space exploration.
From the Switzerland Pavilion, Dr. Lina Robra said Switzerland is promoting artificial intelligence grounded in transparency and openness. She highlighted an open-source large language model developed under the Swiss AI initiative, designed to allow visibility into both training data and model behavior.
The goal, she said, is to encourage responsible and ethical use of AI technologies in the public interest, particularly within government and civic applications.
France also used the summit to reinforce its technology partnership with India. Estelle David, France’s Trade and Investment Commissioner, said the country has established its largest-ever national pavilion at the event, showcasing around 30 French AI companies.
She added that nearly 120 French companies are visiting India this week, signaling deeper engagement between the two countries in innovation, investment, and advanced technologies.
Technology firm Fujitsu brought a mix of artificial intelligence software, quantum computing, and supercomputing solutions to the summit. Jungo Okai of Fujitsu said quantum computing could fundamentally change how complex simulations, optimization problems, and scientific research are conducted.
As India’s economy continues to expand, Okai said the country will require robust data centers and homegrown computing infrastructure to fully capitalize on AI-driven growth.
Maz Ansari, co-founder of Oriserve, said his company has spent the past seven years automating conversations between brands and customers. He said the platform can deliver instant, accurate responses while understanding multiple Indian dialects.
This capability, Ansari said, could help people in rural and remote areas access banking and other essential services over the phone, reducing the need to travel long distances to physical branches.
The India AI Impact Summit 2026 brought together a broad mix of international participants, reinforcing India’s position as a key hub for global AI collaboration and innovation. (Source: IANS)
