Several leading innovators and startup founders in the artificial intelligence (AI) space met Narendra Modi on Friday to discuss India’s AI roadmap, ethical innovation, and the country’s role in shaping
global AI development.
After the meeting, industry leaders said the Prime Minister displayed deep clarity on technology, India’s unique challenges, and the need to build AI models rooted in Indian data and languages.
Pratyush Kumar, co-founder of Sarvam AI, said the Prime Minister’s insights were inspiring from a technical perspective.
“India has a lot of diversity and many languages, but there is unity between them. The Prime Minister said AI can help bring that unity out, which was very inspiring for us,” Kumar said.
Nikhil Malhotra, Chief Information Officer at Tech Mahindra, recalled an example shared by the Prime Minister during an earlier summit in France.
“He spoke about how everyone paints with their right hand and asked if anyone has tried using the left hand. That showed he knows exactly what he is saying,” Malhotra said, adding that Modi understands the importance of ethical and responsible AI diffusion in India.
Siddharth Panwar, CEO of NEURODX, said the discussion helped refine their thinking.
“We realised we don’t want to copy the West. We want to build something that truly changes lives in India,” he said.
Parth Sarthi, research engineer at GAN.AI, credited the Prime Minister’s vision for his decision to return to India from the US.
“Earlier, such opportunities were only available abroad. Now in India, we have GPUs, funding, and the ecosystem to build world-class AI models,” he said.
Arastu Sharma, CEO of SHODH AI, said such opportunities were unimaginable a decade ago.
“Today, working on deep-tech and ambitious projects in India is a reality,” he noted.
Ayush Gupta, CEO of Genloop, said the Prime Minister stressed authenticity and ethics.
“India’s AI has to be ethical and authentic. That is how India can leave its mark on the world,” he said.
Ganesh Gopalan, co-founder of GNANI AI, said he was surprised by the Prime Minister’s grasp of technical challenges.
“He understands our models, our problems, and is actively helping us move forward globally,” Gopalan said.
Srikanth Velamakanni, co-founder of Fractal AI, said the Prime Minister’s vision is clear.
“India must use its own data, build its own models, and serve every citizen in their own language,” he said.
Sravanth Aluru, CEO of Avataar AI, highlighted the clarity of purpose given to the industry.
“There is a clear role defined for each of us and a strong push to collaborate for India’s AI leadership,” he said.
Hrishikesh Bal, CEO of Bharatgen, said the Prime Minister is thinking beyond text-based AI.
“He is focused on AI’s role in science, innovation, and real transformation,” Bal said.
Echoing similar views, Sashikumaar Ganesan, founder of Zenteiq, said the leadership has brought industries back to innovation in the AI era.
Abhishek Upperwal, CEO of Soket AI, said platforms like the Impact Summit are crucial for India.
“AI must reach the grassroots and the common people. That is the biggest vision shared by the Prime Minister today,” he said.
