Impact Summit to help India project itself as AI nation: Alok Agrawal of AI4India

New Delhi [India], February 16 (ANI): Artificial Intelligence (AI) will not eliminate jobs but transform them, and India is poised to emerge as a major global AI force, AI4India leadership said on the inaugural day of the India AI Impact Summit.
Speaking to ANI, Alok Agrawal, Co-Founder of AI4India, emphasized that technological disruption has historically created more opportunities than it has eliminated. He said the India summit will help the country to be projected as an AI nation.
Drawing parallels with earlier technological revolutions, he said, "All the panelists believed that as old technology came, like computers, mobile phones, apps, that time (also) some jobs were finished but many new jobs were created."
AI4India.org, a non-government entity, is working to democratise access to Artificial Intelligence and ensure social and inclusive growth for India.
Agrawal stressed that AI is not a passing trend. "The biggest thing is that AI is here to stay and move ahead. So everyone needs to how they can work and their capabilities. And we need to reskill and move actually."
He noted that one of the key outcomes of the summit would be greater awareness about AI across the country.
"I think there would be two good things. First, the entire India will understand that AI is something, AI is working, what its capabilities, how can it how it be used. And secondly, the summit will help India to be projected as an AI nation. So far, people talk about US and China when it comes to AI. But after this summit, I think India will strongly come on that level. And as far I know, India's sovereign models, big models and many more are to be launched here," Agrawal added.
Echoing similar sentiments, Shashi Shekhar Vempati, Co-Founder of AI4India, described the summit as a significant milestone.
Speaking to ANI, he said the key takeaway from the panel discussion was that jobs will not go, but their nature will change, for which people will have to re-skill.

"AI Summit is taking place in India as it was PM Modi's dream to bring all global leaders in AI to India to see AI impact in India. The key takeaway from our panel discussion was that jobs will not go, but their nature will change, for which people will have to re-skill," Vempati told ANI.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will officially inaugurate India AI Impact Expo 2026 this evening.
The India AI Impact Expo 2026 is being held from February 16-20, alongside the India AI Impact Summit, at Bharat Mandapam. The Expo will serve as a national demonstration of AI in action, where policy meets practice, innovation meets scale, and technology meets the everyday citizen.
Spread across 10 arenas covering more than 70,000 square metres, the Expo will bring together global technology firms, startups, academia and research institutions, Union Ministries, State Governments, and international partners. The Expo will also feature 13 country pavilions, showcasing international collaboration in the AI ecosystem. These include pavilions from Australia, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Serbia, Estonia, Tajikistan, and Africa.
The Expo will host over 300 curated exhibition pavilions and live demonstrations, organised into three thematic chakras: People, Planet, and Progress. In addition, the Expo will feature over 600 high-potential startups, many of them building globally relevant and population-scale solutions. These startups will demonstrate working solutions that are already deployed in real-world settings.
The India AI Impact Expo 2026 is expected to attract over 2.5 lakh visitors, including international delegates. The event aims to foster new partnerships and create business opportunities within the global AI ecosystem.
Over 500 sessions will be organised, featuring more than 3250 visionary speakers and panel members. These sessions will focus on acknowledging the transformative impact of AI across sectors and deliberating on future actions to ensure that Artificial Intelligence benefits every global citizen. (ANI)