Building Trusted AI at Scale Cities Startups & Digital Sovereignty – Keynote Vijay Shekar Sharma Paytm
20 Feb 2026 13:00h - 14:00h
Building Trusted AI at Scale Cities Startups & Digital Sovereignty – Keynote Vijay Shekar Sharma Paytm
Summary
The speaker opened by celebrating India as the global hub for artificial intelligence talent, noting that virtually every leading AI professional is now based in the country [2-4]. He attributed this concentration to the vision of the Prime Minister, who previously launched Startup India and is now driving an “AI India” agenda [7-9]. He highlighted widespread everyday use of AI assistants and co-pilots, describing them as increasingly addictive tools that illustrate the technology’s reach [11-15].
Drawing on his background in financial services, he argued that AI can enhance credit assessment, enabling broader financial inclusion for previously underserved populations [32-36]. He suggested that just as smartphones expanded access to payments nationwide, AI will allow financial institutions to serve the “last person” and generate wealth across the country [23-26][33-36]. He extended this vision to agriculture, livestock and other sectors, claiming AI-driven solutions built in India could address both domestic and global challenges [36].
He emphasized that India must develop its own foundation models, not because they are inherently difficult, but to create sector-specific AI that solves problems for the Global South and beyond [36][43-45]. Using the analogy of engines versus vehicles, he said India will not only build the underlying models (“engines”) but also a variety of applications (“vehicles”) tailored to different use cases [44-48]. He predicted that India will become a “use-case capital” by producing many large language models and deploying them in areas such as call-center automation, healthcare support, and other industries [59].
He linked the country’s young demographic to a “technology dividend,” asserting that the youth’s capability will accelerate AI adoption and innovation [37-38]. While acknowledging concerns about AI-driven job displacement, he framed the transition as a shift toward AI-enabled abundance rather than loss, urging participants to ride the wave instead of being victimized [59]. He concluded by urging collective participation in the AI revolution, stating that India’s role as the AI “center of gravity” will reshape global perception of the nation [60][64-66]. The overall message was that coordinated effort and indigenous AI development will cement India’s leadership in the worldwide AI ecosystem [61-63].
Keypoints
– India as the global AI hub and a source of national pride – Sharma repeatedly celebrates that “all the AI people in the world are in one city and one country” and credits the Prime Minister’s vision for “Startup India” and now “AI India” as the driving force behind this concentration of talent [2-5][7-9][64-66].
– AI as a catalyst for financial inclusion and sectoral transformation – Drawing on his background in financial services, he argues that AI will enable better credit assessment, extend credit to the “last person,” and replicate this impact across agriculture, livestock and other sectors, turning local solutions into global ones [32-36].
– Building indigenous foundation models and specialized AI agents – He stresses that India must not only adopt existing large-language models but also create its own “engines” (foundation models) and tailor-made agents for specific industries, positioning the country as a “use-case capital” of the world [42-48].
– AI will generate abundance rather than merely displace jobs – Sharma acknowledges concerns about AI-driven job loss (e.g., call-center roles) but reframes the narrative toward “AI-led abundance,” urging stakeholders to ride the wave of new opportunities instead of fearing victimisation [59-60].
– A rallying call to join the AI revolution – The speech concludes with an explicit invitation for all Indians to “join the revolution,” emphasizing collective effort to reshape how India is perceived globally and to cement its leadership in AI [61-63].
Overall purpose/goal
The discussion is a motivational address aimed at galvanising Indian entrepreneurs, policymakers, and the broader public to embrace and accelerate home-grown AI development. Sharma seeks to highlight India’s strategic advantage, advocate for the creation of indigenous models and sector-specific solutions, and mobilise collective action to position India as the world’s AI leader.
Overall tone
The tone is consistently high-energy, patriotic and forward-looking. It begins with celebratory pride, moves into optimistic exposition of AI’s transformative potential, adopts a persuasive stance when urging the development of domestic models, briefly adopts a cautionary yet hopeful note regarding employment impacts, and ends with a rally-cry that reinforces the earlier enthusiasm. Throughout, the speaker maintains an upbeat and inspirational demeanor.
Speakers
– Speaker 1
– Role/Title: Event host or moderator who introduced the keynote speaker.
– Area of Expertise: (not specified)
– Vijay Shekhar Sharma
– Role/Title: Founder & CEO of Paytm; Keynote speaker at the AI event.
– Area of Expertise: Fintech, artificial intelligence, entrepreneurship.
Additional speakers:
– (None identified beyond the listed speakers)
The host welcomed Vijay Shekhar Sharma to the stage [1]. Sharma opened by declaring that every leading artificial-intelligence professional in the world is now based in a single Indian city, framing this concentration as a source of national pride and evidence that India has become the global “centre of gravity” for AI [2-5][64-66].
He credited this rapid aggregation of talent to the Prime Minister’s visionary policies, drawing a parallel between the earlier “Startup India” programme and the current “AI India” agenda, both of which he said have catalysed the country’s leadership in the sector [7-9]. According to Sharma, government support has turned India into a magnet for AI expertise, noting that “everybody who is somebody in AI is right now in this country” [6].
Sharma noted that personal agents or co-pilots are now commonplace, and that increasing use makes the technology increasingly addictive [11-15]. He stressed that AI’s future impact will go far beyond chat or image editing, extending into core industry processes [??-??].
To illustrate how new technology can spread from elite users to the masses, he recounted launching QR-code payments. He described a meeting with a government official who doubted public comprehension, and how a house-help in Aligarh could use Paytm by simply taking a photo of a QR-code [17-22][??-??]. He used this anecdote to show that once a technology is understood by a “common man,” it quickly achieves nationwide adoption, a pattern he expects AI to repeat [23].
Building on that momentum, Sharma declared that the next milestone is the integration of AI into every smartphone, allowing each device to harness AI capabilities [24-26]. He warned that the coming years will shift AI from an individual, experimental play (till 2025) to a business-wide capability (starting 2026) that can solve problems previously thought unsolvable [??-??][27-30].
Drawing on his background in financial services, he argued that AI can dramatically enhance credit assessment. By analysing vast data sets, AI can handle “corner cases,” determining where credit should or should not be extended, and thereby reach the “last person” to turn access to finance into a driver of wealth creation [32-36]. He likened this to the earlier smartphone-driven expansion of payments, suggesting that AI will enable financial institutions to serve previously unserved borrowers and promote inclusive growth [23-26][33-36].
He highlighted AI applications for agriculture, livestock, horticulture, and even machinery [36]. He recalled a recent discussion between Nandan sir and the Prime Minister on using AI to improve cattle-management, illustrating how the technology can be extended to livestock [??-??].
Central to his argument is the need for indigenous foundation models. While acknowledging that building large-language models is not “rocket science,” he insisted that India must develop its own “engines” and then layer specialised agents on top, rather than merely importing foreign models [42-45]. He expressed pride that his fellow entrepreneur Sarvam has built a foundation model in India, seeing this as evidence that the country has the capability to develop such models [??-??][43-45]. Using an automotive analogy, he likened foundation models to engines and sector-specific applications to vehicles, emphasizing that the value lies in the diverse “vehicles” built on the same “engine” [44-48].
He projected that India will become the world’s “use-case capital,” producing a multitude of sector-specific foundation models that power call-centre automation, remote health-monitoring for ageing populations in Europe, and other industry solutions [59-60][??-??]. This approach, he argued, will generate AI that works for particular segments rather than generic, one-size-fits-all models.
Addressing concerns about job displacement, Sharma reframed the narrative from “AI-led job reduction” to “AI-led abundance,” suggesting that call-centre roles may evolve into higher-value services such as health-monitoring, illustrating how AI can augment rather than replace human work [59-60][??-??].
He linked India’s demographic dividend to a “technology dividend,” asserting that the youthful population will accelerate AI adoption and innovation, multiplying the nation’s technological impact [37-38][??-??].
In his concluding remarks, Sharma called on all stakeholders to join the AI revolution, stressing that collective effort is essential for cementing India’s leadership in the global AI ecosystem [61-63]. He reiterated that the Prime Minister’s vision has already positioned India as the centre of AI gravity and urged the audience to help reshape how the world perceives the nation [60][64-66]. He ended with a repeated affirmation-“We are here, we are here, we are here”-underscoring India’s position as the AI centre of gravity [??-??].
Overall, the speech combined patriotic enthusiasm with a strategic roadmap: develop indigenous foundation models, apply AI across key sectors, leverage the youthful workforce, and transform potential disruption into widespread prosperity.
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Mr. Vijay Shekhar Sharma.
Wow. First of all, I do believe that everybody who is an Indian must be very proud that all the AI people in the world are in one city and one country. For that, we need to clap for this event’s host. And I think this is the power of India, my friend. I don’t have to say this. Everybody who is somebody in AI is right now in this country. Our Prime Minister has been able to bring the excitement of AI. Just like 10 years back, he was able to do it for Startup India. So from the Startup India to the AI India, once again for our Honorable Prime Minister this time, guys. I don’t have to tell you how the powerful capability of AI all of us have experienced.
Many of you must be using a personal agent in every other day. And if not agent, you must be using a co -pilot. You must be asking questions to him. And the beauty is that… But the more you use it, the more it becomes addictive. It is where the technology is. When we launched the QR code, I still remember, I went to the government and I had a discussion with them that this is a matter of demonetization, that this can be paid in this way. So the person with whom I was talking, he asked me, do you think the common man will understand what to do? So I said, sir, I went to Aligarh and my house help said, brother, we also do Paytm.
So I asked, how do you do it? He said, you have to take a photo of it from Paytm. And when I told him, I said, sir, when a common man understood how to do Paytm, then this publicity has now become confirmed in the world. And now today, in every nook and corner of the country, we can see the payments reaching and completing itself. And now this takes us to the next milestone, where every one of us who uses it. Every smartphone can now use power of AI. Now, I don’t have to tell this once again. The capabilities that we will harness over the period will not be just limited by the. chat or let’s say the photo you are making or editing something or picking up a message from WhatsApp, it will go towards the industry.
So till 2025, AI was more of an individual experiential play, if you will. You know, you were trying to find out use case and the problem answers that you fundamentally believe that it will be. But 2026 begins with a commitment and confidence that AI will bring the capability in the business and the work and the problem that we typically would not have assumed that would be solved. And let me say this. Typically, I come from financial service industry and I fundamentally believe access to credit creates the wealth. But access to credit requires a lot of insights and abilities to confirm whether this money will come back or not. Many rules and regulations are allowing us to expand the reach of credit.
But by the capability of AI, we will be able to take care of corner cases where it should not go or it should go. So people will become more financially inclusive than ever before. as you are knowing the smartphone gave access to the financial system to the every nook and corner of the country now this time financial institutions will serve those customers so from access to the rich ability of financial system will reach financial systems bring wealth to the country bring access bringing access to the credit to the last person brings wealth to the person there and that is what i believe ai will be able to do let’s say in financial system you could talk about agriculture you could talk about husbandry i remember the conversation between nandan sir and prime minister sir yesterday was happening about let’s say how could you use the power of ability of cattle to use in ai and then a mull case was talked about now imagine the same thing could be done even for machines even for plants even for agriculture the capability of ai that we want to use will make it possible for us to build it in india for the problem and solution that we build for india and this time we while we are solving the problems here we will not solve a local problem we will solve a global problem because the capability of indians have been proven that we can make world -class technology the technology that falls at an order of magnitude scale and abilities that are globally renowned and capable once again i’m going to say that that this is not about foundation model only important a foundation model is a horizontal capable model i don’t mind saying that we must must and for sure have a foundation model in india all because we have a capability and resources to do it and i’m very proud that my fellow entrepreneur sarvam has done the job and i do believe that is an acknowledgement that we can build it it’s not something rocket science it’s not something that we cannot build it but the point is not about just building a foundation model point is about building the models that solve for us solve for global south solve for global problems and those models and the requirement of those models to bring in everyday life can only happen in a country where the demographic difference between the two countries is very important and i think that is the key to evidence belongs to us young people, if I tell them to use it, with whom you will be able to do it, your capability will increase, they will experience it.
So the first time our demographic dividend will also become the demographic technology dividend, if you will. The capability of our young, capability and ability and intent of our young will aid to the propagation of AI unlike ever before. It is not about just using, let’s say, a messaging platform or a payment platform. It is about adding the capability in your everyday life. And that is rare and possible only in this country. Again, there is a question of, for me, that will you build LLM models or will you build agents on top of it? I’m sure all of us have understood that models are the foundation and the, let’s say, on the top of it an agent.
It’s like asking, will you build vehicles or will you build engines? It’s not like when Daimler Benz made an engine, India didn’t make it and no other country made it. We will also make our engines. Our engines will be small, big, different, different, what will be the use? Our engines will be small, big, different, different, what will be the use? Our engines will be small, big, different, different, different, what will be the use? Our engines will be small, big, different, different, what will be the use? Our engines will be small, big, different, different, what will be the use? Our engines will be small, big, different, different, what will be the use? Our engines will different, what will be the use?
Our engines will be small, big, different, different, what will be the use? Our engines will be small, big, different, different, what will be the use? Our engines will be small, big, different, different, what will be the use? Our engines will be small, big, different, what will be the use? Our engines will be small, big, different, different, what will be the use? Our engines will be and many more fold than ever before imagine so right now what has happened in the world is that someone has made an engine which is called ICE and you are saying that can you make an engine, yes we can make an engine because we know the nuances of it but what is more important than that is the use case of that engine using it to make a passenger vehicle, using it to make a bus using it to make a truck, using it to make a trailer that is the use case the world wants to see, India not only will be the use case capital of the world but India will also be the capital of number of LLMs that India will build India will build more number of LLMs for the section of usage and ability of usage than ever before the fight is not about just the foundation model, fight is about AI that works for a sector, works for a segment and solves the problem of an agent for example like call center, call center, call center is a talked about thing that we will let’s say what will happen to the jobs of call centers I don’t mind saying that call center as a literally job may or may not be challenged yes but the capability is immense if we can solve the call of someone else’s country why can’t we solve the healthcare problem of someone else’s country if imagine a European there is there is a old age in Europe and you need to solve for their health care tracking and conditioning and requirements so a call center can evolve to become a healthcare provider because they can track the local knowledge of that country in the newest of that country and remotely somebody can humanly look at it and confirm yes you should take that action and that capability can only happen in a country that is embracing the change and embracing the technology it is not a question of whether there will be AI led job reduction it is rather a question of there will be AI led abundance and are you on the riding the wave or are you getting victimized on the wave I remember 2010 when this country had feature force I remember the business model that I used to run was feature phone led value added services business ringtone ringback tone many of you might have been the customer and you remember that and I want to tell you one thing I was going for IPO in 2010 and the challenge was that what will happen to the future forward because the smartphone I had seen in US and I was uncomfortable that we should do an IPO at that point of time because I was like the business model is going to change and the power of capability of smartphone was not about that they will be PCOS CDA and that is the power of AI that you should look at it and that is the power of AI that you should look at it and that is the power of AI that you should look at it and that is the power of AI that you should look at it and that is the capability that Indians will look at it some of us will embrace it as a ability and capability that we can extend and deliver even further set of services capabilities that are not yet seen and reached within ourselves and some of us will feel that we are victim of the capability this machine gives and that is the change my friend always continuous in the world and I think the India and the land of Gita, which has told that change is the only constant in the world, will not only embrace it and lead it, but it will lead it from the front and show the world the ability and capabilities of AI that will show up.
So ladies and gentlemen, I’m very proud to be in the country where we today are talking and the center of universe of AI gravity is. And from here onwards, we will, instead of looking at AI as a challenger to any problem that we see or any opportunity that we today yield, but to a larger opportunity and larger capability that India will make and all Indian will make India proud. So with this, I again and again say the ability of India can only be underestimated when we all together join our hands and join in the revolution. So I would say this once again, join the revolution and change the way India is perceived in the world.
And today, our Honorable Prime Minister has shown that the center of gravity of AI is India. We are here. We are here. We are here. We are here. We are here. We are here. Thank you so much, guys.
“The host welcomed Vijay Shekhar Sharma to the stage.”
The knowledge base notes that the event host or moderator formally introduced Mr. Vijay Shekhar Sharma to the audience, confirming the welcome statement [S4].
“Personal agents or co‑pilots are now commonplace, marking a shift toward more autonomous AI agents.”
Discussion in the knowledge base highlights a transition from human-in-the-loop co-pilots to autonomous agents that deliver business value, providing context for the claim about agents becoming common [S47] and notes on agent reliability [S45].
“Sharma recounted launching QR‑code payments, describing how a house‑help in Aligarh could use Paytm by simply photographing a QR‑code, illustrating rapid mass adoption.”
The knowledge base explains that QR-code payment solutions work with a phone camera and USSD, requiring only static stickers, and that the launch led to billions of transactions and hundreds of millions of users, confirming the anecdote and its impact [S53] and [S54].
“India’s pattern of rapid technology adoption (e.g., UPI) shows that once a technology is understood by the “common man,” it quickly achieves nationwide use, a pattern Sharma expects AI to repeat.”
The knowledge base remarks that India has proven itself a phenomenal adopter of technology, citing UPI as an example that grew to become the world’s largest payment system, adding nuance to the claim about mass adoption patterns [S55].
“Government policies such as Startup India and AI India, including free GPUs and funding, have catalysed India’s AI leadership.”
The knowledge base records that the Indian government provides free GPUs to citizens and funds model development, reflecting strong policy support for AI initiatives, which aligns with Sharma’s attribution of leadership to government programmes [S41].
The transcript contains only a brief opening remark by Speaker 1 welcoming Vijay Shekhar Sharma and a lengthy address by Sharma covering India’s AI leadership, government programmes, financial inclusion, sector‑specific AI applications, and the need for indigenous models. No substantive thematic overlap or shared arguments are evident between the two speakers beyond the procedural acknowledgment of the speaker’s presence.
Minimal consensus – the only point of convergence is the procedural welcome, which has limited implications for the substantive topics under discussion.
The transcript shows virtually no substantive disagreement. Speaker 1’s role is limited to a ceremonial welcome, and Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s extensive remarks are unchallenged. The only point of interaction is a shared affirmation of India’s emerging AI prominence.
Minimal – the dialogue is essentially a one‑sided endorsement, implying strong consensus on the narrative of India as an AI hub and on the need for indigenous AI development.
The speech is structured around a series of high‑impact statements that progressively build a narrative: starting with a bold claim of India’s AI dominance, moving through relatable proof points of technology adoption, forecasting a strategic shift from individual to enterprise AI, and finally linking AI to societal challenges like financial inclusion and job creation. Each thought‑provoking comment acts as a pivot, either introducing a new thematic strand (e.g., AI for credit risk) or reframing existing concerns (e.g., AI‑led abundance vs job loss). Collectively, these comments steer the audience from admiration of past achievements toward a forward‑looking, purpose‑driven agenda, encouraging stakeholders to view AI not merely as a tool but as a catalyst for national and global transformation.
Disclaimer: This is not an official session record. DiploAI generates these resources from audiovisual recordings, and they are presented as-is, including potential errors. Due to logistical challenges, such as discrepancies in audio/video or transcripts, names may be misspelled. We strive for accuracy to the best of our ability.
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