RT team
Nandan Nilekani, co-founder and chairman of Infosys, and the architect behind Aadhaar, recently highlighted India’s unique approach to artificial intelligence (AI) at the People+AI event in Bengaluru. Unlike the global race to develop large language models (LLMs), India is set to focus on creating practical AI applications that benefit every citizen, aspiring to become the AI use-case capital of the world.
During the event titled ‘Making an Adbhut India’, Nilekani emphasized the importance of leveraging existing technologies to address the real-world challenges faced by India’s vast population, rather than competing in costly technological advancements. The event also saw the launch of the Open Cloud Compute (OCC) project by People+AI, an initiative of the non-profit EkStep Foundation, aimed at creating an accessible network for AI compute resources.
Additionally, several groundbreaking AI applications were unveiled, including Sesame by fintech firm Setu—the first Indian LLM tailored for the banking and finance sector—and a unique AI voice agent for the Haryanvi dialect introduced by STAGE on their OTT platform. The event also showcased innovations like BharatDiffusion v2 by Fynd, a diffusion-based AI model that captures the essence of Indian culture in images, and JOHNAIC by Von Neumann AI, a cost-effective personal AI server designed to support SMEs and startups.
Nilekani criticized the protectionist attitudes in the AI industry, advocating for open innovation to democratize AI benefits. His vision is clear: to harness AI’s potential to transform everyday lives across India, proving that the future of AI lies in its applications rather than in its mere development.
