The need to expand research and development (R&D) across India's academia and industry (R&D) was a recurring theme at the AI for India for India summit in Bengaluru. There, the leading voices of artificial intelligence highlighted the urgency of cross-sectional collaborations to create large-scale AI in India.According to ANI, Ganesh Ramakrishnan, professor at IIT Bombay, said: He stressed that while industry faces challenges in adapting to disruptive changes like AI, the responsibility lies with both industrial and academic institutions to expand innovation.IIM Bangalore Director Rishikesha Krishnan highlighted the shifts already visible in the placement process. “This year itself, in our placement interview, we found a company that is looking for candidates. If we need to create a digital marketing plan for our company, how can we use AI tools to do it more effectively?” he said. He added that the lab focuses on “co-creation” rather than simply relying on generative AI tools.In another panel, TVS Motors' Gourav Gupta shared that the company is deploying AI in a variety of features. “Our AI is used in manufacturing efficiency, equipment efficiency, predictive maintenance, safety and other areas,” he said. Gupta said TVS is actively collaborating with conversation and voice AI tools for customer service, sentiment analysis, marketing campaigns, including fully AI-generated ad campaigns. “We use very specific genai content for our consumers,” he said.In internal operations, TVS Motors also applied AI to employee engagement, reflecting the company's broader digital transformation strategy, Gupta said. Edgeverve CEO Sateesh Seetharamiah said his company has seen “nearly 40-50%” productivity gains using AI.The AI For India summit, hosted by AI4India, seeks to establish practical collaboration between deep tech startups, large corporations, academia, civic groups, and government stakeholders. ANI reported that the initiative will promote ethical research, open innovation and capacity building with campaigns like Datadaan designed to allow AI to reach all India.According to ANI, the summit will showcase cutting-edge models and technologies from major 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 debate reflects the broader driving force for positioning India as a global hub for ethical and inclusive AI development, with institutions and industries converging on the development of technically sophisticated and socially responsible solutions.
