Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a speculative frontier technology. It is now a structuring force in global power competition, reshaping the way nations gather information, wage war, plan influence, control borders, secure cyberspace, and even shape public perceptions. India hosted the AI Impact Summit 2026 and showed the world that it is ready for AI, but deeper questions remain. Is India ready to treat AI not just as a driver of economic growth and digital governance, but as a fundamental pillar of national security?
The past decade has seen significant changes in the nature of warfare. Battlefields are no longer limited to land, sea, air, or even space. It spans the electromagnetic spectrum, data networks, social media ecosystems, satellite constellations, supply chains, and financial infrastructure. Conflicts are increasingly complex and persistent, falling below the threshold of a declaration of war. These are accelerated by machine learning, shaped by predictive analytics, and mediated by autonomous systems. Nations that successfully integrate AI into their national security architectures are not just increasing their capabilities; They are redefining strategic advantage.
The past decade has seen significant changes in the nature of warfare. Battlefields are no longer limited to land, sea, air, or even space. It is distributed across the electromagnetic spectrum, data networks, social media ecosystems, satellite constellations, supply chains, and financial infrastructure.
India is at a critical juncture. We have world-class AI talent, a vast digital ecosystem, a growing space program, and one of the world’s largest militaries. It also faces security competition in the region while navigating a complex geopolitical environment in a divided and multipolar world. In response, India’s national security agencies have adopted several technological tools, including AI, to carry out their tasks. However, the pace of this AI adoption remains uneven and often in silos. Without a comprehensive doctrinal and institutional shift, India risks falling behind strategically in areas where delay increases vulnerability.
It is essential to understand AI not as a discrete technological tool, but as a comprehensive transformation of national security practices.
The changing nature of war: From industrial conflict to algorithmic conflict
Historically, warfare has evolved alongside technological innovations. The industrial age gave rise to mass mobilization and mechanized warfare. The nuclear age introduced deterrence and strategic stability frameworks. The information age has given rise to the principles of network-centric warfare and precision strikes. Today, we have entered an era called the era of algorithmic warfare.
India is at a critical juncture. We have world-class AI talent, a vast digital ecosystem, a growing space program, and one of the world’s largest militaries.
Characteristics of modern conflicts are:
- Decision speed advantage: Victory increasingly depends on the ability to process, interpret, and act on data faster than the enemy.
- Data-centric operations: Intelligence, logistics, targeting, and command structures revolve around large-scale data fusion.
- Sustained hybrid engagement: Conflict extends to the information ecosystem, cyberspace, and economic infrastructure.
- Autonomy and human-machine teaming: Machines assist or perform decisions under defined parameters.
- Gray zone escalation: States are acting under open warfare and are gradually applying pressure.
AI is now a core system linking intelligence, defense, cyber, space, and maritime security. Improve pattern recognition in complex environments, support predictive modeling, automate iterative analysis, and enable autonomous systems to recognize and act. For India, this change is critical amid persistent two-front warfare, increasing competition in the Indian Ocean, and expanding information warfare. Therefore, AI must be included at all levels of the national security architecture.
The nuclear age introduced deterrence and strategic stability frameworks. The information age has given rise to the principles of network-centric warfare and precision strikes. Today, we have entered an era called the era of algorithmic warfare.
Modern intelligence generates vast amounts of data from satellites, drones, intercepted communications, financial networks, and social media. Human analysts alone cannot manage this scale. AI can classify signals, detect anomalies, combine multiple intelligence streams, predict escalation risks, and identify insider threats. Under initiatives such as JADC2, the United States (US) is integrating AI across government agencies through cloud infrastructure and collaborative data sharing platforms, thereby increasing cross-domain collaboration.
China follows a civil-military fusion model in which private AI companies directly support military intelligence and “intelligent warfare.” Russia is applying AI to hybrid warfare, including automated cyber operations. India has taken steps such as establishing the Defense AI Council (DAIC), Defense AI Projects Agency (DAIPA), iDEX Initiative for Defense Innovation, and AI-based surveillance systems along its borders.
Similarly, control of the electromagnetic spectrum is now central to warfare, as is cyber conflict. Radar, satellite, communications, and missile systems depend on it. China is investing heavily in AI spectrum domination in its anti-access/area denial strategy, while the US is integrating AI spectrum awareness into joint command systems.
For India, this change is critical amid persistent two-front warfare, increasing competition in the Indian Ocean, and expanding information warfare.
Although India has strengthened its cyber capabilities through several institutional and regulatory measures, it still needs a more robust indigenous AI-based threat detection system to protect its power grid, communication networks, financial systems, and defense infrastructure. For example, South Korea has deployed AI patrol cars that integrate voice recognition, video analytics, and real-time data processing, as well as modern tools developed by central agencies such as India’s Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), to closely monitor the dark web and conduct predictive and pre-emptive analysis of existing threats. India has expanded its use of drones and maritime surveillance from space in the Indian Ocean region, but current technology does not allow it to detect deep-sea submarines via satellite.
India’s structural challenges
India’s structural challenges are not due to lack of ambition, but to gaps in coordination and capacity. Integrating artificial intelligence into India’s national security architecture poses several operational and technical challenges.
One of the most significant issues is that organizational silos exist across organizations, including the military, ministries, and private technology companies, hindering the integration of AI and national security domains. A particularly significant problem is the lack of integration between intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) systems that support decision-making. India currently lacks a robust platform that can integrate multi-sensor data through edge computing and AI analytics. Additionally, training and deploying advanced AI systems requires large-scale computational infrastructure, including high-performance GPUs and large data centers, which is still limited in the country.
India needs to strengthen inter-ministerial coordination. Instead, we need to develop a democratic AI security framework based on accountability, strong institutions, indigenous technology, and a coordinated national strategy.
Defense acquisition policies have traditionally been slow and risk-averse, making it difficult to quickly develop and deploy emerging technologies such as generative AI systems. Additionally, there is a shortage of specialized AI talent within the defense ecosystem, compounded by traditional agencies’ reluctance to recruit from the private sector. These technical, organizational, and infrastructural challenges have delayed India’s ability to fully incorporate AI into its national security framework.
Initiatives such as iDEX and the Technology Development Fund have attempted to fill this gap, but cooperation remains limited. Another structural challenge is the absence of data sharing, edge computing, and networked combat systems. AI-powered military operations require interoperable platforms that allow disparate systems, sensors, and forces to communicate seamlessly. However, India currently lacks uniform standards for such integration.
Finally, financing and institutional arrangements remain major constraints. Efforts from organizations like the Defense AI Council and the IndiaAI mission are important steps, but the lack of a coherent national framework for defense AI development continues to slow progress.
Conclusion: From symbolism to strategic transformation
AI is transforming intelligence, cyber operations, the electromagnetic spectrum, information warfare, logistics, and warfare in space. India has the talent and capacity to develop AI systems.
India’s AI security model will need to adapt to its democratic system and threat environment, learning from countries like the US, China, and Russia. For example, the United States demonstrates the value of integration and public-private partnerships. Through institutions such as the Joint AI Center and the Defense Innovation Unit, we connect technology companies with defense needs and create a shared cloud system for intelligence and joint command. China offers lessons on strategic coherence through its civil-military fusion model, which ensures that advances in civilian AI quickly support military objectives.
India needs to build sovereign AI in the national security domain. This is critical because defense applications rely on sensitive data sets such as satellite imagery, electronic information, and battlefield information, which can be vulnerable when processed through foreign platforms.
India should not emulate this centralized approach but must ensure better inter-ministerial coordination. We need to develop a democratic AI security framework based on accountability, strong institutions, indigenous technology, and a coordinated national strategy. The real challenge is not access to AI technology, but the transformation of organizations to use it effectively.
Finally, India needs to build sovereign AI in the realm of national security. This is critical because defense applications rely on sensitive data sets such as satellite imagery, electronic information, and battlefield information, which can be vulnerable when processed through foreign platforms. To achieve sovereign AI, India will need to invest in domestic computing infrastructure such as GPU clusters and a secure defense cloud, harmonize and integrate government datasets, and build a complete national AI stack through collaboration between the military, academia, and industry.
In today’s technology-driven world, strength comes from integration as well as innovation. India’s main challenge is not just to write better code, but to reform its institutions to use AI effectively. And that change must start now.
Sowmya Awasthi He is a fellow at the Observer Research Foundation’s Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology.
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