India’s expanding influence in artificial intelligence earned strong validation from international technology leaders at the India AI Impact Summit 2026, where senior executives and industry pioneers characterised the country as an emerging powerhouse in the global AI landscape.
Addressing the “Governing in the Age of AI: Sovereignty, Impact and Strategy” session in New Delhi, Alexandr Wang, Chief AI Officer of Meta, described India as a “very positive case study” in AI growth, attributing its progress to a deep talent reservoir and a rapidly expanding startup ecosystem.
Wang shared that in conversations with Indian founders and venture capitalists, he came across data suggesting that India now hosts more consumer-focused AI startups than the United States. He pointed to the swift transformation of the country’s technology ecosystem, calling it home to “shining examples of incredible development.”
His comments were made during a fireside discussion with former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on the sidelines of the summit, highlighting India’s increasing strategic relevance in the evolving global AI order.
Reinforcing confidence in India’s AI trajectory, Kris Gopalakrishnan, co-founder of Infosys and chairman of Axilor Ventures, said the country has the potential to rank among the world’s top three nations across multiple AI domains.
Speaking on the sidelines of the summit, Gopalakrishnan emphasised that the real measure of AI’s impact lies in the applications developed and deployed. He highlighted India’s vast market size and strong developer ecosystem as significant advantages.
“At the application level, India can actually become number one,” he said, stressing the country’s strength in building practical AI-driven solutions for real-world challenges.
He also pointed to India’s efforts to develop advanced multi-modal and multilingual AI models that extend beyond English-only systems. Such innovations, he noted, are crucial in addressing the country’s linguistic diversity and expanding the accessibility of AI technologies.
Gopalakrishnan further underscored the need for sustained investment in research and innovation, particularly in low-power computing.