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India Has Declared Its AI Ambition
Has Your Board?
When a government commits over ten thousand crores and hosts world leaders at Bharat Mandapam, the signal to Indian boardrooms is clear. The real question is whether directors are paying attention?
The India AI Impact Summit 2026, the first global AI summit ever hosted in the Global South was not just a technology event. It was a declaration of national strategic intent, backed by over INR 10,000 crores Mission, 38,000 GPUs already deployed (IndiaAI Mission cabinet approved budget), and a vision of Prime Minister framed as transformative as the invention of written language itself.
When a government moves at this pace and with this conviction, the message to corporate India is not subtle. AI is no longer a technology question. It is a national priority, which inevitably makes it a boardroom's responsibility.
So, here is the question every director in board room must answer honestly: if the Government of India has a declared AI strategy, a funded AI mission, and a global direction - Where does your board stand?
If the Government of India has a board-level AI strategy and your company does not - Who exactly is governing the gap?
From Bharat Mandapam to Boardroom
The IndiaAI Mission is no longer theoretical. It's already operational. Scores of AI labs opened in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, indigenous large language models (LLMs) are being built in 22 Indian languages, and nearly 90% of new startups since 2024 have integrated AI into their core products. According to the Stanford AI Index, India now ranks in the top four globally for AI skills, policy readiness, and technical capability.
This matters to every corporate board in India for a simple reason: talent, infrastructure, and policy momentum is converging simultaneously when it comes to AI. Companies that build AI capabilities now will tap into government infrastructure, subsidised compute and a growing pool of AI talent. Those that wait will find themselves competing for the same resources at significantly higher cost - against rivals who got there first.
The Summit also produced something concrete: the New Delhi Declaration on AI, endorsed by 88 countries and international organisations, which sets principles for inclusive, human-centric AI development. India did not merely host a global conversation. India set its terms for the globe. The boards of India's companies must now match that national ambition with their own strategic conviction.
The Summit also sent a message about India's global positioning. PM Modi's invitation to the world to “Design & Develop in India - Deliver to the World” was aimed squarely at positioning Indian enterprises, not just Indian government, as AI-native organisations. The boards of India's companies are the bridge between that national aspiration and its commercial reality. That is not a small responsibility.
The board that cannot ask hard questions about AI will find that management stops bringing them hard problems. That is how strategic blind spots are born.
Real Opportunity, Real Risk: Both Demand Your Attention
A director who embraces AI uncritically is as dangerous as one who dismisses it reflexively. The opportunity is real and measurable: AI is projected to contribute $1.7 trillion to India's economy by 2035 - with Banking, Financial Services and Insurance, Manufacturing, Healthcare, and professional services among the highest-impact sectors (KPMG - WEF Davos 2026). Based on my 40 years of experience spanning financial services business, technology and professional services and being at the intersection of these, I can vouch for Indian enterprises that adopt AI early will compound advantages in efficiency, customer experience, and talent attraction that are genuinely difficult to unwind.
But the risks are equally real and must be named just like uncontrolled autonomous AI agent, or for that matter algorithmic bias can embed discrimination into lending, hiring, & customer service at scale - creating legal and reputational exposure that is difficult to reverse. India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act and evolving RBI and SEBI guidelines on AI in financial services are tightening. AI systems that make decisions without adequate human oversight can amplify errors at a speed no human process can match. And poorly governed AI investments driven by competitive anxiety rather than strategic clarity - destroy value as efficiently as they create it.
The board's role is not to choose between ambition and caution. It is to ensure that ambition is well governed & well balanced - and that caution never becomes an excuse for inaction while competitors and government both accelerate past you.
Five Questions to Walk into Your Next Board Meeting With
Board leadership on AI does not require a technology background. It requires disciplinedquestioning and the same rigour you apply to every material business issue in your Board interactions!
1. Do we have a board-approved AI strategy? Or is AI being driven entirely at management's discretion, without explicit direction from the board on risk appetite, investment, and accountability?
2. What is the quality of our data? AI is only as good as the data it learns from. If our data is siloed, inconsistent, or poorly governed, no AI platform will deliver its promise regardless of the vendor's assurances.
3. Where are our competitors right now and what is the cost of our current pace? Management should answer this with evidence, not reassurance. If they cannot quantify the competitive gap, that itself is an answer.
4. What is our AI risk and governance framework? Covering algorithmic bias, regulatory compliance, data privacy, and the human oversight mechanisms that must sit alongside any automated decisionmaking.
5. Do we have the capability to execute & govern? Building AI capacity and governing it responsibly are different skills. Does the organisation have both, or is it wholly dependent on external vendors?
The Takeaway: A National Moment That Starts at Your Board Table
The directors who will define this decade are not those who understand AI the most. They are those who ask the most penetrating questions about it, earliest. Take these five questions into your next board meeting. Listen carefully to what management says and to what they don't. Then decide whether your board is truly leading India's AI moment or simply watching it from the sidelines.
India has put AI on the global agenda. The only agenda that remains is yours.
Back to HomeAuthor
Mr. Vijay Mallya
He is a Global IT and Financial Services Transformation Advisor with over 40 years of international experience. He serves as an Independent Director at Trigyn Technologies and is the Founder - Vitoria Innoventures & Consulting. He is a Certified Director (IICA & IoD) and a Certified ESG Impact Leader and a banker by profession. Previously, he served as Corporate Vice President at HCL Technologies, where he led a global delivery business with revenues exceeding USD 1 billion across operations in more than 50 countries. He currently advises CXOs and Boards on Go-to-Market (GTM) strategy, AI strategy, Global Capability Centres (GCCs), ESG, and Digital transformation.
Owned by: Institute of Directors, India
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the articles/ stories are the personal opinions of the author. IOD/ Editor is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information in those articles. The information, facts or opinions expressed in the articles/ speeches do not reflect the views of IOD/ Editor and IOD/ Editor does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.
