AI Impact Summit 2026: Zepto, Swiggy to manage food at Bharat Mandapam

by Hansraj Agrawal | Feb 15, 2026 | Technology

As India prepares to host the biggest artificial intelligence (AI) summit this week, the organisers are laying out detailed logistics plans to manage requirements for snacks and meals.

Quick commerce platform Zepto will set up a dedicated dark store within the summit venue, while Swiggy will work closely with on-ground food kiosks to ensure seamless meal distribution for thousands of attendees.

The summit will be held from February 16 to 20 at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi.

Both platforms, Zepto and Swiggy, have set up dedicated delivery points at the venue where attendees can collect their ordered items. Orders can be placed on the mobile applications and picked up from designated drop-off zones. The platforms will have dedicated delivery partners at the venue.

For delivery, the nearest pickup points can be chosen from the app, for instance, Hall 1, Ground Floor, or Hall 4, First Floor.

With an estimated 2.5 lakh registrations and participants expected from nearly 100 countries, the upcoming summit is set to be one of the largest gatherings on AI in the Global South.

The agenda is expected to span discussions on sovereign AI infrastructure, access to compute, AI safety, responsible deployment, public digital infrastructure, multilingual AI, and sectoral use cases across healthcare, agriculture, financial services, manufacturing and governance.

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Top Putin aide to lead Russian delegation for AI Impact Summit in New Delhi

by Hansraj Agrawal | Feb 15, 2026 | Technology

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s senior aide Maxim Oreshkin will lead a large delegation for the AI Impact Summit being held in New Delhi from Monday.

India is set to host the AI Impact Summit 2026, a high-profile gathering of global leaders and industry heavyweights in Artificial Intelligence from February 16-20 at New Delhi’s ‘Bharat Mandapam,’ bringing together policymakers, industry leaders and technology innovators.

Oreshkin, who is deputy chief of the Kremlin staff and economic aide to President Putin, is set to lead the Russian delegation to the India AI Impact Summit 2026.

This (choice of sending Oreshkin) highlights a strategic push for AI collaboration between the two nations, a Kremlin source told PTI, adding, the delegation will focus on secure, trusted, and sovereign AI, with active engagement in discussions on AI governance, technology, and partnerships within BRICS and other platforms.

In an interview to BRICS TV Network on February 9, Russian Foreign Minister Segei Lavrov noted: “India also emphasises ICT security, which we actively support, contributing to the agenda. This is significant, as norms regulating AI use between states, and AI applications by individual states, are only now being established.”
Lavrov said these norms will regulate behaviours that affect security. “Some countries are actively introducing AI into military applications. While each state has the right to determine its own approach, certain countries are already attempting to centralise control, subordinating what states can and may do with AI in the military sphere,” he said.

BRICS members will not accept infringements on their sovereignty, yet transparency remains crucial, the minister added.

In an article published by state-run news agency TASS on Friday, India’s Ambassador to Russia Vinay Kumar outlined the promising prospects for IndiaRussia cooperation in the field of Artificial Intelligence, highlighting the growing strategic and technological partnership between the two nations.

The synergy between Moscow and New Delhi in AI would act as a catalyst for shared growth and technological advancement of the two strategic partners, Ambassador Kumar said.

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AI buzzwords decoded: What terms like LLMs, generative AI, guardrails mean

by Hansraj Agrawal | Feb 15, 2026 | Technology

Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping industries, workplaces and the daily digital life, emerging as one of the most transformative technologies – and a focal point of global conversations.

As chatter around AI intensifies ahead of the mega summit that New Delhi is set to host, here is a straightforward guide to some frequently used terms making headlines, and what they mean.

From LLMs to guardrails, decoding AI vocabulary:
— AI: First things, first. Artificial Intelligence, or AI, refers to the simulation of human intelligence by machines. Think of it as systems designed to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence – understanding language, recognising images, making decisions, solving problems, and increasingly, creating content such as text, music or videos.

At its core, AI is about enabling machines to learn from data. Instead of being programmed step-by-step for every scenario – as is the case with conventional software – AI systems are trained on large volumes of information to detect patterns, make predictions and improvise over time.

— Large Language Model (LLM): An LLM is a type of AI model trained on vast amounts of data (books, websites, articles) to understand and generate human-like language. LLMs power chatbots, writing assistants, coding tools and search summaries.

They work by predicting the next word in a sequence based on patterns learned from massive data sets. An LLM specialises in language.

Prominent examples include Grok, GPT-4o, Claude 4, Gemini 2.5, Llama 4 and DeepSeek-R1.

— Generative AI: AI that can create new content – text, images, music, code or video in response to prompts.

It includes text generators (often powered by LLMs), as well as image models, video models, voice synthesis tools and music generators.

These systems respond to prompts and generate outputs that resemble human-created work, from summarising reports and writing code to composing music, designing logos, creating marketing copy, generating product descriptions, producing social media posts, building presentations, creating synthetic voices, generating realistic images and videos, and even simulating customer service conversations.

— Use Cases: A ‘use case’ means how AI is applied in real-world scenarios, or simply, its practical impact. Common use cases could include fraud detection in banking, personalised recommendations on OTT platforms, AI tools in agriculture, analysing soil and weather data, healthcare diagnostics, and drug discovery.

— Algorithm: A set of defined rules or instructions that tells a computer how to process data and make decisions. Think of algorithms as the building blocks of AI systems.

— AI guardrails: Safeguards woven into AI systems to ensure they operate safely, ethically and within defined boundaries. They are designed to prevent harmful, biased, illegal or inappropriate outputs, and to align the system’s behaviour with laws, policies and human values.

Guardrails could be around content filters, safety policies, bias mitigation, among others.

— Bias (AI Bias): Systematic errors in AI outputs caused by skewed training data, flawed assumptions or design limitations.

— AI hallucination: When an AI system generates information that appears plausible and convincing but is factually incorrect or fabricated.

— Prompt: The input or instruction given to a generative AI system to produce a response.

— Token: A unit of text (word, sub-word, or character) that an AI model processes during training and inference.

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'India pivotal for AI-driven change', say tech CEOs ahead of key summit

by Hansraj Agrawal | Feb 15, 2026 | Technology

The India AI Impact Summit being held at the Bharat Mandapam from February 16-20 showcases India front and centre as a key player in Artificial Intelligence.

The Summit is envisioned as a pivotal global platform to shape a future-oriented agenda for inclusive, responsible, and impactful AI and aims to move beyond high-level discussions and deliver tangible outcomes that can support economic growth, social development, and sustainable use of AI.

Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen says India has led the way to show what is possible with the confluence of ambition and imagination.

“India has always shown what’s possible when imagination meets ambition. I commend Honourable Prime Minister Modi and the Ministry of Electronics and IT for their visionary leadership in organizing the AI Impact Summit, the first global AI summit in the Global South. It reflects our shared commitment to harnessing the transformative power of AI to drive inclusive growth, unlock human potential, and create a sustainable future. At Adobe, we’re proud to lead the way in developing commercially safe creative AI, supporting the vision of a Viksit Bharat and empowering everyone to create,” he said in a video posted by the Indian Embassy in the US.

This year’s Summit will serve as an impact-focused global platform, shaping AI into measurable outcomes across economies, aligning with the national vision of Welfare for All, Happiness of All and global principle of AI for Humanity.

Raj Koneru, Founder & CEO Kore.AI says AI is more than transformation and India will play a pivotal role in this.

“I’ve been a tech entrepreneur all my life, and I’ve never seen technology like AI before. We’ve seen the internet, we’ve seen the cloud, we’ve seen mobile, but AI is more than just transformation. It is going to change the way humans live. India has a pivotal role in this process. With its digital infrastructure, the enormous human talent, and a supportive government, it’s going to provide AI to the entire world as time develops. We saw this early. About a dozen years ago, we built Kore.ai from India and brought a world-class AI platform to the world. I’m excited to be here at the India AI Summit, along with other business leaders and technology leaders, to learn and exchange ideas,” he said in a video posted by the Indian Embassy in the US.

India’s rapid adoption of AI is opening new pathways for innovation and inclusive growth across sectors. As technology evolves, India is advancing workforce readiness for an AI-driven economy while ensuring broad participation across regions and socio-economic groups.

Vinod Khosla, Founder, Khosla Ventures says he looks forward to discussion on what AI service can do for Indian citizens.

“The AI summit in India is going to be a really exciting opportunity to talk about the benefits of AI. AI is such a transformational opportunity, especially for the bottom half of the population that has very little access to the knowledge economy. It’ll be most helpful to them and provide them services like healthcare services, education, and other things at their level, in their language. So it’s such a large opportunity and I look forward to the discussion there about AI services and what it can do for the Indian population, especially those with the least resources today,” he said in a video posted by the Indian Embassy in the US.

The India-AI Impact Summit 2026 strengthens India’s role as a key platform for shaping the global AI agenda.

By linking policy with implementation and innovation with public purpose, the Summit establishes a structured approach to responsible AI deployment. It aligns technological advancement with inclusive growth and sustainable development.

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India must pursue 'sovereign by design' AI approach to benefit all: BCGX

by Hansraj Agrawal | Feb 15, 2026 | Technology

AI in India will drive productivity, quality, and role redesign in the near term rather than mass unemployment, but the country must pursue a “sovereign by design” approach, maintaining control over its data and capabilities while staying globally integrated to ensure AI benefits everyone, according to BCGX.

India’s talent base is a real advantage, with 13 per cent of the global AI talent pool as new centres of influence emerge beyond AI superpowers US and China, top officials of BCGX, the AI, digital and innovation division of global consulting firm BCG, told PTI in an emailed interview.

“The Asia-Pacific region is often described as being ahead of the curve in AI adoption, for example, a recent BCG report found that 92 per cent of employees in India use AI at least several times a week,” Sylvain Duranto, Global Leader BCGX, said, referring to how AI has gained traction in India.

On India’s AI talent pool, Duranto said, “Beyond the AI superpowers of the US and China, new centres of influence are emerging. With a population of 1.4 billion, and (India has) 13 per cent of the global AI talent pool”.

Elaborating, BCGX India Leader Nipun Kalra said, “BCG-sized estimates put India’s AI talent pool at 6,00,000 today, projected to exceed 1.25 million by 2027, with an AI skill penetration factor of 3.09 (highest among G20/OECD)”.

However, he said, “With over 2,000 AI startups, India is only second to the US, but lags in AI patents with less than 1 per cent patents from India”.

India needs to solve for AI adoption formally by the workforce with scaled pilots that are enforced organisationally to drive success, Kalra added.

When asked about the impact of jobs in India, he said, “The near-term story in India is productivity and quality uplift-paired with role redesign more than mass displacement”.

Citing BCG’s executive survey, he said 64 per cent expect ‘AI and humans working side by side’, and fewer than 10 per cent expect a net headcount decrease due to AI automation.

Yet, Kalra said, toil tasks — repetitive, rule-based activities will increasingly be automated, while ‘reasoning tasks’ such as analysis, synthesis, decision support will be augmented through AI copilots.

On the other hand, expertise-driven roles such as healthcare, advisory, engineering, and financial services will see the strongest augmentation, where AI enhances judgment rather than replaces it, Kalra noted.

When asked what policy safeguards are needed so that AI remains a boon, not a bane, he said, “India’s approach should be AI for all, sovereign by design”.

“Sovereign AI is not about isolation. It is about ensuring that India controls its data, context, and critical AI capabilities, while remaining globally connected.”
Kalra stressed the need to “scale skilling and transition pathways” so that “AI adoption creates productivity, not displacement, especially across MSMEs and Tier-2/3 cities”.

Noting that sovereign AI infrastructure is critical, he said it will play a key role in reducing dependence on external platforms while ensuring affordability.

“Governance must move beyond compliance to proactive enablement,” he said, adding that already the IndiaAI Safe & Trusted AI Mission and the DPDP Act provide guardrails for privacy, accountability, and responsible deployment at scale.

Commenting on sectors which will see economy-wide AI impact in the next two to three years, Kalra said, “Over the next few years, AI impact in India will be significant in IT services, financial institutions, agriculture, and healthcare”.

Citing a report by BCGX and FICCI, he also said AI adoption in Indian MSMEs can generate over USD 500 billion in economic value.

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'India key to global AI growth', say tech leaders ahead of mega summit

by Hansraj Agrawal | Feb 15, 2026 | Technology

With just a day to go for the mega AI-India Impact summit 2026, there is a huge buzz in the tech corridors as the who’s-who of the tech world gear up for this big event.

The summit puts India front and centre as a key player in Artificial Intelligence. It showcases India’s role in global AI governance and demonstrates how India is prioritizing on deployment of AI and its measurable impact on citizens. The summit brings together global leaders, policymakers, technology companies, innovators, and experts to showcase and deliberate on the transformative potential of AI for inclusive growth, governance, and sustainable development.

Jay Chaudhry, CEO, Chairman & Founder, Zscaler, says that to let AI make an impact, a foundation of zero trust security is needed, and India has the vision to lead this.

“Excited to join global industry and government leaders at the India AI Impact Summit in Delhi. India is where both my personal story and the Zscaler story began. Our engineering teams here built the Zscaler cloud security platform that processes over 500 billion transactions per day. That data is the fuel that makes AI meaningful and powerful. But you cannot capitalize on AI using legacy firewall-based security. It just doesn’t work. To let AI truly impact the world, you need a foundation of zero trust security. India has the talent and the vision to lead this shift, not just follow it. India’s future growth depends upon secure AI adoption. And we are committed to helping turn ideas into impact at this one-of-a-kind global summit,” Chaudhary said in a video posted by the Indian Embassy in the United States.

Prith Banerjee, SVP of Innovation at Synopsys, says that India is not just an AI market but has emerged as a force multiplier.

“The AI Impact Summit is extremely important as India is the world’s most populous country. India is not just a market for AI but a force multiplier for global AI growth and has the capability to solve some of the world’s most pressing problems, from healthcare to mobility. In my talk on AI machine learning for electronic design automation and engineering simulation for chips to systems, I’ll discuss how automotive, aerospace, energy, healthcare, and high-tech are fundamentally transforming the intelligent systems that are silicon-designed, software-enabled, and AI-driven. And how Synopsys is helping India build these intelligent systems from chips to systems,” he said.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a central pillar of India’s development journey. It is strengthening governance, improving public service delivery, and enabling solutions that can reach citizens at scale. Mati Staniszewski, Co-Founder, ElevenLabs says that for India, AI is a tool to ensure seamless interaction with technology.

“As the world moves toward using AI as a tool for inclusive growth and empowerment, we are entering an era where voice becomes the primary interface for technology, freeing us from keyboards and screens. For a diverse nation like India, this means a future of seamless interaction with technology across all regions, languages and demographics. In areas such as education and healthcare, human-sounding voice allows us to communicate, learn and receive guidance without losing trust or nuance. At ElevenLabs, by giving voice to technology, we narrow the gap between ideation and production, ensuring opportunity is accessible and affordable to all,” he said

Pari Natarajan, CEO and Co-Founder, Zinnov says that India is today shaping AI that is practical, scalable and human-centric.

“AI is not just a technology shift–it is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reimagine inclusive growth at a planetary scale, and India is already playing a defining role. Our Global Capability Centres and IT services firms have evolved into innovation engines, startups are building AI-native businesses grounded in deep domain expertise, and academia is strengthening the research and talent pipeline. Powered by millions who understand real-world enterprise and government workflows, India is shaping AI that is practical, scalable, and human-centric. If India leads AI, it will be open, affordable, and inclusive–ensuring progress reaches not just a few, but all 8 billion people,” he said.

India’s approach focuses on practical deployment across sectors so that AI improves everyday life and public services. By prioritising applications that are easy to use and widely accessible, India is ensuring that AI delivers inclusive and measurable public impact.

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