AI Black Box Found, For India

There are lots of low-hanging fruits when it comes to AI. Many of these are inflection-points which India has missed grabbing. But the game has just begun and we could crack it for the winning lap if we go after the low-hanging branches.

The branches being research, patents, funding and core AI stuff. At the 18th edition of Zinnov Confluence in Bangalore, CEO Pari Natarajan talked about where India stacks up in the global AI reckoning. He went for the jugular first by narrating weak spots and data that reflect India’s slow and tepid advances in AI. 

India rarely comes in the global AI spotlight. But we have the potential to lead in AI

He said that as he dissected three key planks of AI and explained where India stands on them.  Infrastructure is about data centres and hardware. Models are where talent density is required. Agent layer is where just having algorithms and people won’t suffice and deep understanding would ace. As to infrastructure, we may be lagging behind but we have done it before and can do it again, he underscored. Consider that USD 170 billion is being invested in data centres by 2030 and India has built an impressive network and connectivity fibre in the last 17 years, he argued.

But there is a lot where we need to pull up our socks if we really want to run with AI shoes. And two sore areas remain to be addressed as Natarajan pointed out – academic research and innovation. “India is only six per cent of global AI citations. Only one per cent of global patents relevant to corporate AI are granted in India. The top Indian universities receive just four per cent of R&D funding compared to others globally. Also 70 per cent of ITT-JEE toppers have moved out of India. A Zinnov Engineering Student Survey 2025 unravelled that the top reason for such exodus is not salary or professional opportunities but the lack of research infrastructure. We lack a lot at the model layer and we need to develop innovation at the foundational layer, he observed.

But all is not dismal, he added. “We have the potential to lead the agentic AI wave. With 84 per cent VC funding in this area and 58 per cent start-ups founded by domain experts, India is on a good curve. Government’s impetus is also helping. We have USD 5.8 billion committed towards academic R&D and USD11.6 billion towards private sector R&D. India has proven its mettle in satellites and vaccines, we can do it again.”

For that we need over 50 world-class AI institutes by 2030 and 5 times more Computer Science PhDs annually along with USD 25 billion funding over the next five years.” Natrajan also stressed on the ‘why’ here. India needs tech-sovereignty, and a realm of AI that is affordable, accessible and locally-relevant.
As he encapsulated well- When India leads, no one is left behind.

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