Industry Reactions: India Kicks Off AI Impact Summit, The Global South’s First Major AI Gathering

Over 35,00 people registered even before the India AI Impact Summit 2026 had kicked off in New Delhi. Heads of government, ministers, CEOs, innovators and researchers have joined the summit, and PIB Delhi described it as “the largest of the four global AI summits hosted to date”.

The statement added that the Summit “will prioritise the translation of vision into execution, with a clear focus on outcomes that matter on the ground.” The message from organisers is practical delivery, not abstract debate.

This is said to be the biggest AI summit in the global south so far. This is a huge milestone…

What Is In The 5-Day Programme?

The week opened with keynote speeches, policy panels and expert roundtables designed to set national priorities. The India AI Expo launched on the first day, bringing startups, technology companies and public institutions together under one roof. Young firms were placed together with established players in front of policymakers and investors.

Yesterday, discussions were to turn to sector specific use. Organisers released Knowledge Compendiums, including casebooks on AI in health, energy, education, agriculture, gender empowerment and disabilities.

Today is the day where academic research and commercial practice come together. A Research Symposium convenes academics, researchers and think tanks to present new methodologies and evidence based policy insights. Industry Sessions allow global technology leaders and startups to present working systems and large scale deployments.

On 19 February, the Prime Minister of India will lead the Formal Opening Ceremony. A CEO Roundtable will gather investors, policymakers and business leaders to deliberate on investment pathways and responsible AI. A Leaders’ Plenary will bring national and international decision makers together to define collective commitments.

The final day hosts GPAI Council Meetings, where member countries review progress and align priorities on responsible and inclusive AI. The Leaders’ Declaration will then be adopted, setting out a shared roadmap for global AI governance.

Industry Reactions So Far

Two days in, industry experts around the world are already talking. Here’s what they’re saying…

Raj Abrol, CEO, Galytix said: “The AI era of delivering real, measurable impact has truly arrived and the opportunity for financial services firms has never been greater. The firms that will win are those building systems that deliver accurate decisions, not just fast ones, because in financial services, trust isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s everything.

What concerns me is that too many providers are repackaging web-scraped LLMs as ‘AI agents’ that hallucinate, amplify bias, and create technical debt, putting banks and insurers at real risk when it comes to the decisions that matter most.

The real opportunity lies in going deeper — embracing domain-specific AI built specifically for financial services, with explainability at its core. That’s not just an edge. That’s a moat.”

Nick Reed, Chief Strategy Officer, Bizzdesign said: “With the India AI Impact Summit convening world leaders to move AI from ambition to accountable impact, the real test now lies in translating AI vision into structural change. AI has the potential to reshape productivity, enable new forms of work, and unlock meaningful growth but realizing that promise requires moving beyond isolated experimentation to systemic impact.

“That shift is less about simply deploying AI models and more about redesigning how organisations operate. Sustainable value emerges when AI is woven into the architecture of the enterprise with purposeful operating model design across business processes, data, people, systems, and governance. Structural coherence allows organisations to see how intelligence influences decisions, how dependencies cascade, and where accountability resides, which is precisely what makes effective governance possible at scale.

“As regulatory frameworks like the EU AI Act raise expectations around traceability and oversight, that governance capability becomes a foundation for both compliance and competitive advantage. Organisations with architectural coherence in place are better positioned to adapt, scale AI confidently, and convert responsible innovation into a durable strategic advantage.

Levent Ergin, Chief Strategist for Agentic AI, Regulatory Compliance & Sustainability at Informatica from Salesforce, comments: “With global consensus on AI governance still fragmented, the push at India’s AI Impact Summit to shape a shared roadmap is timely. As countries accelerate AI capability, the real differentiator will not be model size but control. The ability to know where data comes from, how it is used and how decisions are monitored at scale is crucial.

“Our research shows 65% of organisations report high employee trust in AI data, yet 71% admit their workforce needs significant upskilling to use it responsibly. That gap between confidence and capability becomes more significant as AI is embedded into public services and critical sectors. AI systems are only as effective as the context they are built on, making trusted data, transparency and oversight essential to scaling AI safely.”