India’s AI Mission: The Talk of Davos 2025

As we celebrate the 76th Republic Day, AIM reflects on India’s incredible progress and the boundless opportunities ahead. This year, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the topic of AI as well as India took centre stage. While one shaped the global economic narrative, the other defined the future.

With ‘Collaboration in an Intelligent Age’ as the theme, AI dominated conversations on the promenade, while India showcased a bold new approach and unified its presence under one roof.?

Not just leading the AI revolution, India is building what comes next!

At Davos 2025, India’s AI ambitions commanded attention as leaders emphasised the country’s push to become a global AI powerhouse. From workforce skilling to economic policy, AI is being positioned as a core driver of India’s next phase of growth.?

IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw laid out the scale of the challenge and opportunity.

“In AI, we have set targets that at least 1 million people should be ready with AI tools and AI skills,” he said, noting that India currently generates “about 1.5 million formal jobs a month.”

With global AI adoption accelerating, one question stands out: Can India lead the AI revolution? Before diving in, let’s look at the winners of the Padma Awards 2025 – where AI also stole the show. Check out the winners here.

AI Skilling: A Race Against Time

With 20-24 million young Indians entering the workforce annually, AI-driven skilling is critical. Skill development minister Jayant Chaudhary acknowledged the gap.

“We train 2.5 to 3 million in long-term programs, but it’s still not enough,” Chaudhary said.

India is pushing for tech-driven workforce training, using both government and private sector efforts. AI-led upskilling is being prioritised as corporations sponsor GenAI training programs. The challenge, however, is making these programs accessible and effective at scale.

Former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan warned that adaptability is key:

“The most effective way of ensuring that people have jobs is to make them have adaptable human capital...In a world where we don't know what the technology will be, that seems the safest thing to do."

The focus is shifting toward AI literacy across industries, which ensures that workers aren’t just consumers of AI but active contributors to its development.

Before we dive into where India stands in the global AI race, let’s look at some of the top stories of the week:

• Why Wingify’s $200 Million Exit is Different: Delhi-based SaaS startup Wingify was recently acquired by Everstone for $200 million (?1,600 crore), injecting foreign capital into India. But unlike many founders who move overseas post-exit, Paras Chopra is staying put. “This deal brought forex into India, and I contributed tax to the country. No reason for bitterness,” he said. Read the full story here.
• Tech companies are redefining workplace culture by integrating family into professional milestones, and Tredence is leading the way with ‘Anubhav’ – a unique onboarding ceremony that welcomes not just employees but their families as well. With AI and data poised to become a $100 billion industry, Tredence’s 15% quarterly growth signals a promising future for new graduates, reinforcing that workplace success is a shared journey. Read the full story here.
• Despite the global AI race intensifying with projects like the US’ $500 billion Stargate and China’s DeepSeek, Indian IT firms remain focused on AI as a service rather than foundational models. While companies like TCS, Infosys, and Wipro develop agentic AI and small language models, their efforts are client-driven and not aimed at creating transformative AI like ChatGPT or Gemini. But why? Read to find out.

India vs The World: Where Do We Stand?

The global AI race is intensifying. The US, China, and Europe are investing heavily in AI R&D, regulatory frameworks, and computing infrastructure. India, while making strides, still faces hurdles in hardware, foundational AI research, and high-performance computing access.

Vaishnaw, however, remains optimistic.

“When people look at India from the outside, they see Sundar Pichai or Satya Nadella. But India’s success in AI needs to scale beyond individuals; we need to build systems that empower millions.”

Startups are playing a crucial role, with India emerging as the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem. Investors like Peak XV’s Mohit Bhatnagar highlighted the country’s rapid evolution:

“In 2011, we had one company valued at over $2 billion. Today, we have about 110.”

However, challenges remain. AI startups struggle with funding, compute resources, and regulatory clarity. While India excels in software talent, the absence of homegrown AI chip manufacturing and deep-tech investment could slow its progress.

While leaders and policymakers globally debate India’s AI game plan, we got straight to the point—literally. In this episode of ‘What’s the Point?’, we unpack what AI for Bharat really means. Is AI ready for India’s linguistic chaos? Should every Indian have a personal AI agent? And why does Class 8 CBSE’s AI syllabus feel tougher than most pro courses??

Catch the full conversation here.

[AIM Event Update] Finally, DES 2025 is here! Two days of expert talks, hands-on workshops, and real-world insights on building smarter data systems. Whether you’re looking to level up your skills or connect with industry leaders, this is the place to be. Secure your spot now!

Also, Have You Registered for bp’s Digital Tech Summit in Pune Yet?

Don’t miss this chance to learn from industry leaders and connect with peers at bp’s Digital Tech Summit! Discover how bp is shaping the future of energy with cutting-edge digital innovations, driving growth, and unlocking efficiencies for India and beyond. Spots are limited, register now!

What’s Next? India’s AI Moment Is Now

AI is not just about automation; it’s about amplification. Amplifying skills, industries, and global influence. The challenge? Ensuring that India doesn’t just adopt AI but shapes its future.

As Vaishnaw put it:

“The compounding factor of India is something no one else in the world can match. And that too, with stability.”

The next decade will decide whether India becomes a true AI leader or just a talent exporter to global tech giants. With the right investments, policies, and ecosystem, India has the potential to lead the AI era – not just participate in it.

In other news,?

• DeepSeek’s AI chatbot recently dethroned ChatGPT as the top app on the US iOS App Store. This is due to its open-source R1 reasoning model, which outperforms OpenAI’s O1 series at a fraction of the cost. This signals a major shift in the AI landscape.
• Google invested over $1 billion in Anthropic, boosting the AI startup’s valuation to $60 billion as it prepares to launch Claude 3.5 Opus.?
• Meta looks to invest $65 billion in AI infrastructure, building a 2GW+ data centre in Manhattan and deploying 1.3 million GPUs by year-end.?
• AWS plans to invest ?60,000 crore to expand data centres in Telangana, alongside investing $8.3 billion in Maharashtra’s cloud infrastructure by 2030.?
• Reliance plans to build the world’s largest 3GW data centre in Jamnagar, with an investment of up to $30 billion to boost India’s AI infrastructure.?
• HCLTech opened a new 3,20,000 sq ft technology centre in Hyderabad, creating 5,000 jobs and expanding its AI, cloud, and digital transformation capabilities.?
• Infosys expanded its Pocharam campus on Hyderabad’s outskirts, investing ?750 crore in new IT towers and creating 17,000 jobs over the next three years.
• Delhi-based AI landscape automation startup Attentive.ai raised $12 million in Series A funding, led by Tenacity Ventures to expand its AI solutions to the US landscaping and construction sectors.??