Science AI & Innovation_ India–Japan Collaboration Showcase

20 Feb 2026 18:00h - 19:00h

Science AI & Innovation_ India–Japan Collaboration Showcase

Session at a glanceSummary, keypoints, and speakers overview

Summary

The panel explored how “AI for Good” can democratize access to health and social services by simplifying and speeding up delivery mechanisms [1-3]. Kritika Sangani explained that Indus Action partners with governments to embed technology, policy redesign, and capacity-building into existing social-protection systems rather than creating parallel structures [14-19], aiming to cut the current ten-step entitlement process down to a single-touch interaction [24-26]. Using the Right-to-Education Act, Indus Action built an open-source digital public good that replaced a manual lottery with a digital one, scaling applications from 196 admissions to over 900,000 children across 18 states [70-82][84-89]; to improve targeting of the most vulnerable, the organization is piloting a multilingual WhatsApp chatbot that automates initial applications and supports frontline workers, thereby leveraging AI for discovery and outreach [91-98]. Himanshu from Atli Innovation Mission described the creation of State Innovation Missions to bridge regional disparities, citing examples such as a hackathon to map iron-contaminated water using AI and a dashboard to connect bamboo producers with global markets [122-164][165-176], and also noted broader AI-enabled public-service use cases including traffic-flow optimization, satellite-based lake monitoring, and sensor-driven leak detection in water pipelines [209-224]. Rajesh Babu illustrated AI’s potential in healthcare by developing an AI-driven briefing tool for pharma sales reps and an organ-matching system that evaluates numerous biological parameters to improve transplant outcomes [258-271][300-305]; he argued that AI agents can act as personal assistants for clinicians and patients, streamlining information flow and reducing waiting times for specialist care [280-295]. When asked about the risk of AI widening digital divides, participants emphasized that AI can be embedded with equity algorithms-such as gender-balanced lottery allocations-and that human-in-the-loop designs ensure frontline workers retain control [380-388][393-398]; Himanshu added that widespread smartphone penetration and multilingual language models help flatten urban-rural and linguistic gaps, though mentorship and venture capital still lag in less-developed states [400-417]. The discussion concluded that AI, when integrated as a digital public good and coupled with proactive equity safeguards, can accelerate social impact across education, health, and livelihoods while mitigating exclusionary effects [109-116][423-424].


Keypoints


Major discussion points


AI as a tool to democratise access to social protection and welfare - Kritika explains that “AI for good… is about enabling equitable access for vulnerable citizens to social protection” and describes how the Right-to-Education (RTE) digital public good reduced a 10-step process to a “single-touch” digital lottery, now being used in 18 states [23-26][70-82]. She also notes the use of a multilingual WhatsApp chatbot to target the most vulnerable families [95-98][91-93].


Government-led innovation missions to scale AI and reduce regional disparities - Himanshu outlines the role of the Atli Innovation Mission (AIM) as a “federal body that manages innovation for the country” and its focus on “setting up a State Innovation Mission” to bring AI to under-served eastern and northeastern states, including hackathons on water-quality data and bamboo-market dashboards [35-42][122-131][140-148][155-162].


Private-sector/start-up perspective on AI’s impact and sector focus - Kavikrut and later participants stress that AI is “the strongest tool that startups have ever had access to” and argue that founders should channel it into high-impact sectors such as healthcare and education rather than chase VC money [55-64][61-64][358-367][377-382].


Concrete AI applications across domains - Examples shared include:


• A multilingual chatbot for RTE admissions [95-98];


• An AI-driven “morning presidential briefing” for pharma sales reps that pulls past CRM conversations [261-267];


• AI-assisted organ-matching using multi-parameter biological data [300-307];


• AI-enabled water-pipeline leak detection and satellite-imagery monitoring [215-224].


Ensuring equity and avoiding a digital divide - Kritika proposes embedding equity algorithms (e.g., gender-balanced lottery, SES targeting) and keeping “human-in-the-loop” workers like Anganwadi staff [380-388]; Himanshu adds that AI can bridge language gaps across India’s 22 scheduled languages but warns that mentorship and VC access must also be spread evenly [400-410]; Rajesh argues AI is a “flattening” force that can reduce digital inequality [393-398].


Overall purpose / goal of the discussion


The panel was convened to explore how artificial intelligence can be harnessed for “good”-specifically, to democratise access to public services, accelerate social-impact innovation, and create scalable, equitable solutions for India’s vulnerable populations. Participants shared experiences from government, non-profit, and private-sector perspectives, highlighted concrete use-cases, and debated how to operationalise AI responsibly at scale.


Overall tone and its evolution


Opening (0-5 min): Optimistic and collaborative, with participants expressing enthusiasm about AI’s potential to increase access and speed [1-4][27-30].


Middle (5-20 min): Becomes more informative and technical, detailing specific programmes, regional disparities, and concrete AI pilots [35-42][70-82][122-148].


Later (20-35 min): Shifts to a reflective and cautionary tone, acknowledging challenges such as digital/linguistic divides, the need for equity safeguards, and the risk of “race to the bottom” [380-388][400-410].


Closing (35-45 min): Returns to a hopeful, call-to-action stance, emphasizing collective responsibility to build AI for good and summarising key take-aways [418-424].


Overall, the conversation moves from enthusiastic vision-casting to grounded examples, then to critical reflection, and finally to a unifying, forward-looking conclusion.


Speakers

Kavikrut – Moderator/Host, associated with T-Hub (startup incubator/accelerator) [S12]


Kritika Sangani – Chief of Staff at Indus Action; development sector professional, former Teach for India fellow; focuses on social protection and AI for Good [S1]


Himanshu AIM – Representative of Atli Innovation Mission (federal body under NITIO, public-policy think-tank of the Government of India); leads programs such as “Setting Up a State Innovation Mission” [S5]


Rajesh Babu – Speaker on AI applications in pharma/healthcare (AI-enabled personal agents for medical reps, organ-matching AI); role/title not specified in external sources


Audience Member – Unnamed audience participant who asked a question about medical breakthroughs and awareness; no role/title provided


Audience Member 2 – Unnamed audience participant who asked about sectors needing more startups; no role/title provided


Yashi Audience Member 3 – Unnamed audience participant who asked about preventing AI-driven digital divides; no role/title provided


Additional speakers:


None identified beyond the list above.


Full session reportComprehensive analysis and detailed insights

The panel opened with moderator Kavikrut stating that artificial intelligence (AI) is set to “create access” and “democratise access to healthcare” by lowering both price and availability barriers [1-2]. He reinforced this optimism by highlighting access and speed as the twin themes of AI for Good [27-29] and warned that AI could trigger either a “race to the top” or a “race to the bottom”, insisting that the former can only be achieved by focusing on impact [63-64]. After the audience question, Kavikrut later urged founders to channel their talent into high-impact domains such as healthcare and education [377-382].


Kritika Sangani (Indus Action) situated her work within this vision. The organisation positions the government as the “protagonist” and itself as an “enabler”, embedding technology, policy redesign and capacity-building into existing social-protection systems rather than creating parallel structures [14-19]. Working with about 18 state governments and national ministries such as Labour, Social Justice and Employment, Indus Action seeks to make welfare delivery “equitable” for vulnerable citizens [20-23]. For Indus Action, AI for Good means collapsing the current ten-step entitlement process into a single-touch interaction [24-26].


A concrete illustration of this ambition is the Right-to-Education (RTE) digital public good. The programme draws on Section 12.1c of the RTE Act, which reserves 25 % of seats in private unaided schools for children from economically weaker sections [72-75]. Initial on-ground campaigns in Delhi generated 19 000 applications in 2013-14, yet only 196 students received admission calls, exposing a severe bottleneck [79-80]. In response, Indus Action co-developed the “RTE MIS”, an open-source, modular digital lottery that replaces the physical draw and reduces the transaction to a single digital step [81-82]. This solution has since been adopted, in various forms, across 18 states [82] and has enabled roughly 900 000 children to enrol in schools, up from a few 10 000 a decade earlier [84-89].


To further improve reach, Indus Action is piloting a multilingual WhatsApp chatbot that serves as the first interface for parents applying under RTE [95-98]. The bot not only automates the initial application but also supports frontline workers by lightening their workload and by using AI-driven targeting to identify the most vulnerable families [91-93][332-334]. Kritika emphasised that the same data ecosystems can be “flipped” so that the state discovers eligible citizens, rather than requiring citizens to discover schemes themselves [330-334]. An equity algorithm embedded in the lottery ensures gender-balanced allocations and representation of children with special needs or from socio-economically weaker groups [350-355][380-384].


Himanshu (Atal Innovation Mission, AIM) broadened the perspective to the national level. AIM, housed under the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog) and created in 2016 as a “brainchild of the Prime Minister”, coordinates innovation across ministries, from schools to high-tech startups [35-42][37-40]. A key current priority is the establishment of State Innovation Missions to bridge the stark technology gap between the more advanced western and southern states and the lagging eastern, northern and northeastern regions [124-130]. The first such mission is slated to launch in an unnamed northeastern state, aiming to create a peer-to-peer learning network that will allow less-resourced states to benefit from successful models elsewhere [140-148][233-235].


Within these state-level pilots, concrete AI-enabled projects were showcased. One hackathon will use AI to map iron-contaminated water at sub-district granularity, providing data for low-cost diagnostic kits [155-162]. Another initiative builds a dashboard to connect bamboo producers in a high-quality-producing state with global markets, addressing price-discovery challenges [165-174]. Additional public-service use cases mentioned include AI-optimised traffic-light cameras to reduce fuel consumption [211-213], satellite-imagery monitoring of drying lakes [215-218], and sensor-driven leak detection in water pipelines [220-224]. These examples illustrate how frontier technologies can be layered onto existing government data to generate scalable, locally relevant solutions.


Returning to the startup ecosystem, Kavikrut described AI as a “super-charged tool” for startups, the most powerful capability they have ever had access to [55-62]. He noted that AI is also reshaping the gig-economy, citing platforms such as Swiggy and Zomato that use AI for demand-supply matching [55-62]. Kavikrut also referenced a joint Swissnext-India startup project that is building an AI-driven test to predict cancer risk from DNA data, currently in validation [340-345].


Rajesh Babu illustrated how AI can augment professional workflows and clinical outcomes. He first cited an earlier, less successful attempt using Amazon Alexa Lex and Polly-the “Agilesium” prototype for a pharma-rep briefing tool-that was shelved due to poor language handling [260-266]. His team later built an AI-driven “morning presidential briefing” that aggregates a pharma sales rep’s calendar, CRM history and recent doctor interactions into a concise voice memo, dramatically improving information availability at the point of care [261-267]. More ambitiously, a collaboration with the Scripps Institute is developing an AI model that evaluates dozens of biological and physiological parameters to identify the optimal liver-transplant donor-recipient match, a task that traditional algorithms cannot handle [300-307]. Rajesh argued that, because smartphones are ubiquitous, AI will flatten rather than deepen digital divides, acting as a universal equaliser [393-398].


While there was broad agreement that AI can democratise access, the panel diverged on how to safeguard equity. Kritika stressed the need for proactive equity algorithms (gender balance, socio-economic targeting) and for keeping frontline workers “in the loop” so that human judgement complements automated decisions [380-388]. Himanshu added that India’s linguistic diversity-22 scheduled languages and myriad dialects-constitutes a separate divide that must be addressed through multilingual AI models [403-410]. By contrast, Rajesh suggested that the sheer penetration of smartphones already ensures equal access, implying that additional safeguards might be unnecessary [393-398].


Infrastructure was identified as a critical enabler of these ambitions. Kavikrut noted that India’s average 5G mobile data consumption of 22 GB per month provides a robust backbone for nationwide AI deployment [206-208]. Coupled with near-universal smartphone ownership, this connectivity supports both the United Entitlements Interface (UEI) vision-a UPI-like single portal where citizens can check eligibility and claim any constitutional right in one step [112-116]-and the multilingual chatbot and other frontline tools.


In the closing remarks, the panel reaffirmed that AI for Good must be built as a digital public good, embedded within existing systems, and equipped with equity-by-design safeguards [109-116][380-384]. Consensus emerged around three pillars: (1) simplifying entitlement delivery through single-touch AI interfaces, (2) leveraging state-level innovation missions and robust connectivity to level regional disparities, and (3) ensuring inclusive outcomes via equity algorithms and human-in-the-loop designs. Remaining challenges include scaling awareness of welfare schemes among the rural poor, finalising the governance model for the UEI, and establishing clear pathways for converting grassroots innovations into viable startups [326-334][378-382][393-398]. The discussion concluded with a collective call to “build AI for good” and to prevent a “race to the bottom” by prioritising impact, equity and collaboration [418-424].


Session transcriptComplete transcript of the session
Kavikrut

Yes, you would think it will create access, it will democratize access to healthcare. Yes. Both in terms of price, in terms of availability. Yes. That’s great. Kritika, over to you. Tell us about yourself, the organization, and your take on AI for Good.

Kritika Sangani

Sure. Thanks. Thanks, Kavi. Really happy to be here and privileged to share the stage with each of you. I’m Kritika Sangani, and I work as Chief of Staff at Indus Action. I’ve been in the development sector for about 10 years, started in the corporate sector. Serving investment banks in another lifetime. I’m also a Teach for India fellow. So I joined Teach for India and decided to not look back and continue with this sector. And, in fact, have spent, have been associated with Indus Action for almost 10 years now. Indus Action, as Kavi also alluded to, we work with governments on making social protection accessible to vulnerable citizens. The end goal is that we ensure that. welfare is delivered to them during critical life moments for the household such that they are able to actually tide over moments of crisis and make the most of moments of opportunities like education or healthcare to ensure that they’re trying to codify pathways out of poverty for themselves and their families.

The government is the protagonist in our work because, of course, they are the biggest implementers of social protection. We are the enablers. We come in with tech solutions, policy redesign solutions, capacity building solutions as a team. Our model is to embed these solutions within existing systems instead of creating parallel systems, and that is what we are about. We work with about 18 state governments, actively working with national ministries like Labor and Ministry of Social Justice and Employment. We work with the Department of Health and Human Services, And yeah, very excited to be here. I think when I listened, I heard about the prompt, Kavi, as what AI for good, what does it mean to us really?

It actually is about enabling equitable access for vulnerable citizens to social protection. Right now, they take about 10 steps, 10 burdensome steps to access a single entitlement. How do we bring that down to a single touch process? That is what AI for good stands for us.

Kavikrut

Great. I heard access. You’re talking about simplicity and speed. I’m really curious to find out more themes as we keep talking. Thank you, Kritika. Himanshuji, over to you.

Himanshu AIM

Yeah. Thanks. Thanks, Kavi. And thanks to, I think, the government of India for managing such a humongous event. I know as a matter of fact because we’ve been part of the planning team, almost a year’s preparation has gone into it. So kudos to everybody who’s sort of pitching in their own respective roles. So I’m Imanshu. I come from an organization called Atli Innovation Mission, which is the federal body that manages innovation for the country. We are housed under NITIO, which is the public policy think tank of the government of India. Atli Innovation Mission was the brainchild of the current Prime Minister, Honorable Narendra Modi ji. 2016, when we felt as a country that you need a body for innovation that cuts across all ministries, all life cycles.

So essentially it works from school to startups. And as a startup, even the high -tech startups like space. So we’re going to celebrate 10 years next week. The new title that we have sort of decided for ourselves is School to Space. Right. covering almost everything. I’ll not drain by talking too much about the programs that we do. Maybe we’ll talk it in a bit. I think for me and for the organization as a whole, because you’re also housed within a government institution, so social good means that whatever AI is trying to enable, is it having some impact at the grassroots level? Whether we work with incubators like T -Hub or startups directly or the state government so I also lead a program called Setting Up a State Innovation Mission, for example, where the idea itself is that how do we move beyond the current level of innovation that is happening?

How do we bring every part of the ecosystem together and put a layer of AI? Not only AI, I would say all frontier technologies. For example, when you talk to mature states in the southern and the western part, there’s this huge conversation on quantum. There’s huge conversation around even AI for health, for example. There are conversations where Can we enable AI to improve the public service delivery, for example, right? Where what we say we are not building unicorns, but we are building or we are saying not unicorn in terms of valuation, but in terms of social capital, right? Where we say that can it start impacting a billion lives, right? Yeah. So I’ll pause here.

Kavikrut

No, this is great, Himanshuji. Thank you. We heard access. We heard simplicity and speed. You talked about scale and infrastructure because that’s the mandate with which organizations like AIM come from. I’ll talk about one bit on what we see at T -Hub. We have understood this very clearly that as T -Hub, as organizations, even like AIM, the goal is not for startups to be verticals or horizontals. Startups, MSMEs, nonprofits, I think we’re all here as vehicles to implement all this. Of economic growth. If you talk to startups, they don’t talk about policy. they don’t talk about infrastructure, they’re talking about building when they’re talking about building they just want to solve problems, they want to create value and I think AI has become a supercharged tool for startups to do that so the point I was trying to bring out at least from our experience with startups is that at least in the last 15 years, we see it all as a wave but it is probably the strongest tool that startups have ever had access to and a lot of social impact startups, even if you look at the Swiggy’s of the world and Zomato’s and if you take a step back and if you look at what they’re talking about on social media in the last let’s say a few months, both positively and negatively, you will see the major uproar is about gig economy and I was reading an article on The Economist which said that we are one of the only countries or economies in the world where the gig economy has become a true form of employment right so people are talking about minimum wages they are talking about you know labor treatment they are talking about human rights talking about all of that now who would have thought that a food delivery company right food delivery multiple food delivery and grocery delivery companies will actually create an organized labor market in our country so that’s the lens that we take for startups I will hand it back to you I have a question for some of you based on what you said but I will also drop in one theme here now when I said AI for good I think it obviously means AI for good impact you know for economic growth but it also means AI for good which is the other way to you know interpret the English of saying that it’s here to stay it’s here forever and it is our job to now figuring out what to do with it right and I’ll quote I think Nandan Nilkeniji yesterday said something about you know either it is a race to the top or race to the bottom with AI.

And I think the only way to go to the top is to focus on impact. So, Kritika, I want to pick this up with you. We know that intersection, when you talked about equitable rights, you talked about social protection, you talked about welfare and access to welfare and reducing 10 steps. Tell us a little bit of the work that you’ve done in RTE. I don’t think the audience is aware. Talk about admissions. And then tell us, where do you see the biggest opportunity for reducing those steps in that example with AI?

Kritika Sangani

Absolutely. Thanks, Kavi, for setting that up. So, intersection started with the Right to Education Act. There is a specific clause under it. It’s called Section 12 .1c. Most of you would have watched this movie called Hindi Medium or English Medium, both versions. So, it essentially mandates that 25 % seats in private, unedited schools be reserved for children from economically weaker sections and disadvantaged groups. Now, we picked this sliver of a large constitutional mandate, which is Section 12 .1c, and with a fundamental belief in the power of choice for parents from vulnerable sections of the society to put their children in a school of their choice and not whether it’s public or private. And with that spirit, which is also part of the letter and spirit of Section 12 .1c, we started working on this particular right.

So we started our work in Delhi. I think we started with running on -ground awareness campaigns. And very early we realized that we were able to mobilize about 19 ,000 applications in 2013 -2014 in Delhi, of which only 196 students got a call for admissions. And this is a constitutional right. This is their right to get into the school. that was a huge eye opener for us and we realized that only by working with citizens and parents we are not going to be able to solve this problem because I think the government system also needs streamlining and support and they were really trying to also there was willingness to execute but the government is also really constrained for resources tech capacity and so on so we went there and fortunately the government showed willingness to actually experiment with a full online approach Rajasthan government had already done it so some of the peer effect also worked in our favor and that’s when we introduced what we call the RTE MIS that was our first solution it’s now evolved into an education digital public good it’s an open source modular product that we’ve launched for any government to adopt but what that did was what parents were going through was they had to it was it was this particular act it actually works on a lottery mechanism for selection So the draw of lots the school has to do, and the parent has to go to 10 schools that they have applied to, to actually see which child has, if the child has been selected in A, B, C, or D.

We cut that entire physical transaction and we got a digital lottery integrated, which is actually our secret sauce. Yeah. And that particular module has now was now adopted in some shape or form across 18 states that we’ve sort of worked with.

Kavikrut

How many applications in total and children in schools now?

Kritika Sangani

Children in schools now are about 900 ,000, 9 ,000, 9 ,000 children from one 96, 10 years ago, 10 years ago. And states, we actually when we started, we made an exit from our first state. Which is Delhi and then Uttarakhand. Uttarakhand adopted our end to end system. We took about seven to 10 years. Now we’ve shortened that entire cycle to three

Kavikrut

And tell me, Kritika, to prevent, what is AI giving you as a tool to simplify and scale what you just described?

Kritika Sangani

I think what we’ve actually now moved it to the next level by saying we are now focusing on who are these children who are applying to this right? Are they the most vulnerable? So it’s the challenge of discovery that we are using AI to for improved targeting for the state.

Kavikrut

And how are you using targeting, AI in targeting?

Kritika Sangani

So AI in targeting, what we are currently experimenting with is we have a WhatsApp chatbot. It’s a multilingual chatbot, which serves as a first interface for the students or the parents to apply to. And also using frontline, building frontline worker capacity. What that does is it actually reduces the load of the overburdened frontline worker with respect to reaching out to these students as well. and also being able to target the most vulnerable with respect to just having that multilingual advantage, having a physical touch point if I’m confused to actually reach out to somebody to navigate the system and then apply to the…

Kavikrut

So the path from 196 to 9 lakhs was about 10 years, but I’m understanding that from 900 ,000 to 9 million will be much shorter. It wouldn’t be 10 years.

Kritika Sangani

Absolutely. So there are 20 lakh seats available under this particular right.

Kavikrut

Every year?

Kritika Sangani

Every year.

Kavikrut

Annually 20 lakh children?

Kritika Sangani

Annually there are 20 lakh children. Currently there is about 60 % coverage. When we started it was at the 30 % mark. So we definitely…

Kavikrut

So AI will scale that. And I think you didn’t talk about this, but I know from our other conversations that while AI will help you drive this deeper and scale, what you’re also doing is horizontally the DPG, the Digital Public Good they have built in education, the stack that they have built is now being universally applied to other entitlements or constitutional rights. So we heard the example of education. Absolutely. The dream, I know it’s called project name is UEI. They want to build a UPI like so instead of United Payments Interface, Intersection wants to build a United Entitlements Interface. Think of a DigiLocker meets a DigiYatra, meets the constitution. You log in, you check your own eligibility and you can tap into a constitutional right and apply for it and actually get access to something that is already rightfully yours.

Absolutely. This is phenomenal. Thank you so much for that, Kritika. Himanshuji will take a step back. I love depth, especially when people who are in action talk about it. Tell me where are you seeing, pick a specific example and where are you seeing AI truly unfold the real impact of what the work that you guys do. I have the same question for Rajesh Babuji after this.

Himanshu AIM

Okay. I’ll probably step maybe two steps even further back, right? When the cabinet approved our extension in 2024, one of the programs that was really high on priority was setting up a state innovation mission, right? We did a couple of workshops and we realized that there’s a huge disparity between the western and the southern parts at one end of the spectrum and the northeast, eastern and northern part of the country, right? So Telangana, Andhra, Karnataka, Maharashtra are already talking in a level which is more towards the evolved countries as a whole, right? Let’s not say that these are parts of India in terms of technology enablement and even understanding of how this can be leveraged by a startup.

And when you take a diametrically opposite view to even the startups in northeast and even eastern part of the country, right? They are really, really not even at the basic level, right? Even in the eastern part of the country, right? Even in the eastern part of the country, right? Even in the eastern part of the country, right? Even in the eastern part of the country, right? Even in the eastern part of the country, right? Even in the eastern part of the country, right? Even in the eastern part of the country, right? Even in the eastern part of the country, right? Even in the eastern part of the country, right? Even in the eastern part of the country, right?

Even in the eastern part of the country, right? new to all of these states. So one of the first few state innovation missions that we plan to set up is in the northeast, right? And the eastern part of the country. The first launch will be next week. I don’t want to take the thunder away. I know what’s coming up. We’re talking to them about it. You’re launching a state innovation mission next week. I won’t name the state. Yes, correct. And some of the conversation that we’re having with the state, right? And it’s a very progressive, evolved state. Not too much in terms of manpower or resources because of the simple reason that all the good people migrate to Hyderabad and Bangalore of the country and don’t remain in that state, right?

But those who have remained back, right? They’re actually building something really incredible for the state itself, right? They’re trying to solve some grassroot problems. I’ll talk something that is more relevant. And this is a conversation that happened about two months back when almost everything was set and the idea was how do we sort of launch a hackathon which is a ministry -backed hackathon. Now the state of, the state, let me not name the state, the water in the state has high content of iron, right? The idea was can we convert this into a hackathon and say that leverage AI, right, to first identify the content of water in different parts of even the district. So it’s not talking at the state level, going one level below district and even one level below district to a sub -district level.

Identify what is the different level of iron or different types of iron and then build a hackathon where a startup can leverage this data that has got collected, right? And build solutions two ways. One, a low cost diagnostic, right? Can we build a 100 rupee kit that can sort of diagnose this water, right? And second, maybe build a low cost solution to solve this particular problem. Other conversation that started happening. Now the state has a lot of bamboo, right? In fact, any of you. You would have been to the newer terminal at Bangalore airport. If you see all those beautiful bamboo things happening, it’s come from the state, right? The quality of bamboo is better than China and Vietnam, but they only get about one -tenth or one -twentieth the price, right?

One, because they don’t have access to market. Two, they are not able to even identify what bamboo will sell where at what price, right? Can we link it to the global market, identify who needs what? So they are trying to create a dashboard for it, right? And that thought came because when they realized that people have appreciated the bamboo that has gone into the terminal 2 of Bangalore airport, there could be a lot of use cases, right? Third element, and this was fascinating, right? And this is something which is sort of not something to be proud of in government. We have a lot of data, right? Everybody knows we have a lot of data in the government, right?

You are just trying to build a small funnel, right? That what’s the total? What’s the total number of innovations? who convert to a startup and create the jobs, right? Now, from startup to job is a slightly easier sort of, maybe multiplied by 10, 15, or even you have the data for these 100, 200 startups that are there in this district -registered DPIT startup. The first thought that came to my mind while I was talking to the secretary there, he said, let’s look at innovations that are happening in the state. Now, imagine the state has 120, 130 startups, but has 1 ,100 documented innovations which are grassroot innovations, right? And these are validated innovations because the overall innovation is 3 ,000, which is better than a lot of states when we took it in terms of per capita than even Karnataka and Maharashtra.

I come from a consulting background. The first thing I did was just divide it by the population, right? Look at a per capita thing. It’s twice the number for Maharashtra, right? And they are trying to solve problems which are very basic. For example, they are saying that, hey, if we mix this plant and this plant, that can lower your… blood sugar. I don’t know. Some of them may be patentable. Some of them may not be patentable. But the idea is that even if 10 % is good enough, right? So 10 % of that 1000 is about 100. It is just double the number of startups. Yeah. Where the innovation is already existing. Right? Somebody has to commercialize that innovation. Right? Right.

And this number sits on the National Innovation Foundation dashboard. Right? Which is, which was, and the state government had no clue about it. Yeah. That, oh, these many innovations. And then

Kavikrut

And a lot of this you can now supercharge with AI. Yes. Which was slower before. And now we have multiple, let me just say, infrastructure layers, right? You have everything from 5G smartphone usage to the largest user base for chat GPT to, you know, I don’t know if you know. This number, but 22GB is the average usage of 5G internet. mobile data in India, 22 GB per month.

Himanshu AIM

Correct. And the other thing that we are talking to this, how can we enable AI to improve the public service delivery when I was talking about that, right? And there are some broad use cases, right? Simple cameras on the traffic lights which monitors what is the flow of traffic at each hour or each minute, right? And LinkIt can be sort of automate that to reduce the consumption of the petrol, diesel, whatever it is, right? And then show some savings and fairly earn carbon credits. One very simple use case. Can we utilize, for example, satellite imagery to identify how lakes are drying up, right? Or what is the water? Just basic imagery. Everything is available. It’s not that we have to create newer thing.

And this is available with the government, right? One of the startups that we have funded at Artle Innovation Mission is a startup that has created small sensors that are embedded in the pipeline that tell you where, and measuring the flow of water at each level, maybe at every 10, 20, 30 feet, that where exactly is the leakage. So that people don’t have to go to that pipe and then see, oh, where is it going, let me just fix it up. You directly go to that. The next level that the startup is building is, can we also look at where the leakage is happening for the multiple times and look at what is the material, right? Is there some more stress at that particular point of the pipeline to ensure that next time that you’re building or repairing it, the leakage doesn’t come from this particular part of the pipeline.

Kavikrut

No, this is great, Himanshuji. What I’m hearing from you is that, first of all, I can feel your sense of energy and excitement for the region. Upcoming state innovation mission launch as well as the beautiful vest you’re wearing today. This is not. This is not the state that. Yeah, we’re not giving any hints. And I was just going to say that what you’re saying is in like the pipe. example that you talked about is that there are existing innovations, there are existing latent energy that startups have, there are real problems that can be solved and AI is helping, you know, as an example, tie all of this together. It’s not just supercharging or fueling this, but it’s the glue that’s bringing all this together.

And the best part is that in truest sense, this is democratization because AI will enable that Assam and Manipur or Meghalaya or Sikkim are at the same level as maybe Karnataka because if you have that AI level on a data, right, and you want to take any data back decision for public good, right, it doesn’t stop Sikkim to take that decision which Karnataka can take today.

Himanshu AIM

And the other very important thing that we are trying to build within this state innovation mission is to create a peer -to -peer learning network, right. There could be something fascinating that Sikkim can offer in terms of organic vegetation or agriculture which can be picked up from the other agrarian states. Yeah.

Kavikrut

Yeah. This is great. I’ll, we’ll go over to Rajiv. Rajiv Babuji and then we’ll break for questions. You know, we’ve heard the building in public perspective from a non -profit as well as a federal organization. I want to see the private slash corporate, you know, and the work you guys do in the foundation perspective, Rajababuji. You already spoke about, you know, access. You spoke about availability in healthcare. Pick an example that you’re already building towards and tell us what are you most excited about, about how the products and services that you are building will truly unlock value for social good and economic growth.

Rajesh Babu

Always. Yes. So I’ll first touch upon one point. See, there is a lot of concern and fear about AI coming and taking away the jobs, right? I think that’s partially true, but in the big picture, it is not true. See, what’s going to happen every time technology comes, for example, when humanity started, as a civilization we started, there was only one industry, which was agriculture. Yeah Pre -industrialization Exactly And then after that When industrialization happened More opened up It could have been seen Then with the power it came It saw very disruptive From horse power to steam power That could have been seen very disruptive To many people who Livelihood was depending on horse power Or bull power or whatever power it was Same way from steam When it moved to electricity It could have been very disruptive People whose business was all in steam Coal and all that stuff They would have thought Oh this is not necessarily a good thing It’s going to put all of us And even yesterday somebody was referring In early late 1800 They said we’ll close the patent office Because everything needs to be Innovated has been already innovated There is not much to do But then here we are Almost 130 -140 years later Of making the patent And we are still in the process Of making the patent And we are still in the process And we are still in the process Of making the patent And we are still in the process new things are unfolding.

So I think, you know, like in the, you know, many in the forum leaders spoke, A is like another energy, right, like electrification. It’s going to do a big transformative change, and there is not a thing it won’t touch. It will touch everything. And it’s going to make everything intelligent. And when everything becomes intelligent, largely, very good things will happen. Very good things, very positive things. It’s going to enhance the livelihood or quality of life for many people, and it’s going to create a lot more opportunities. With that being said, in the industry we are focused in, right, for example, I will tell one example which we tried, Agilesium. One of the things we wanted to do is that, so we work with pharma company, biotech company.

One of the problems we were trying to solve I will just give few problems Which we were trying to solve Was not unsolvable At that time because of the technology As recent as 4 -5 years

Kavikrut

Tell us more about this example

Rajesh Babu

For example in 2018 We invested in a project Our customers were Pharma companies It was reps So the reps basically are going And meeting the doctors They are supposed to know which doctor They are meeting What was the last time the conversation They had with the rep And doctor said I wanted to know About this medicine What kind of adverse impact it could have For the patients Side effects it may have if I give it to the patients Some technical details the doctor would have requested So they have to go back And maybe talk about it Give those details and all that stuff But between two appointments Sometimes it’s three months to six months So they don’t remember what happened So what we wanted is Last time conversation recorded Of course they have it in paper or sales force And all that stuff They may put it But then you are going today from the previous meeting You don’t remember that You are not accessible You are in the car driving and all that stuff So what we wanted to do is We wanted to do an AI Where in the phone app it’s implemented And you Previous day Based on it will look at your calendar It will look at who are all the doctors you are visiting And then it will go to the CRM What was the conversation Last two three conversations happened with the doctor You take that And what homework you did on that It will take all that Then it will take as a voice memo Morning 7am when you are going to meet the doctors You play that voice memo It says hey today you are meeting so and so doctors This is what was the conversation last three This is what you are supposed to tell It’s

Kavikrut

almost like a morning presidential briefing Exactly,

Rajesh Babu

morning presidential briefing And I got this idea based from that only Amazing then at that time The technology available for me Was Lex Lex is a Offering tool AWS had released from Alexa So Alexa, whatever they used to do Build Alexa They gave that tool as Alexa And then there was another technology called Poly, which also from AWS Technology So we took these two technologies For our customers from the AWS platform We were trying to build it It sucked At that time The experience was really bad Because They could not understand the keywords The medical keyword It would not understand People’s accent it would not understand And reading structured and unstructured data Because you have to read the unstructured data Structured data and all that stuff And you have to do it And you have to do it It was not so great Plunky now, so we have to shelve that project.

We invested almost a million and a half, two million dollars at that time, multiple customers of ours. And the experience when we took it to the rep, it was not so great. They did not If it’s not easy and usable, nobody adapts. It would not understand the question. Can you tell, repeat it again, repeat it again, three times, they would throw the phone. Right? It was like that. And when it got it also, it did not understand. It was bad. Because of the accent, various things, medicine, technical. Now, that has been implemented a year back with the AI super seamless.

Kavikrut

And where do you see the impact of adoption of this technology?

Rajesh Babu

Across the board, everywhere. Because everywhere if you think about it now, right, it can take every individual, every one of our individual, let’s say our calendar we can take. We can create a personal agent for it. and it will look at the task, it will look at our email, it will look at our calendar and it will tell this is what you are supposed to do. I

Kavikrut

think a lot of people have begun to use that. Yes,

Rajesh Babu

and then now not only self, an organization can create an agent for each and every buddy. Instead of manager going and telling each and every person, hey, you are supposed to complete this, we can have their personal agent who is their agent buddy can tell them, which is a little bit private and more comfortable to hear. And

Kavikrut

I think in healthcare and the service that you are in, a continuous flow of information, high quality information, makes a huge difference in availability of the work that you do. Exactly,

Rajesh Babu

this is simple as accessibility information like you said. And scale. But then I will take another complex situation where we are working with another research institute in San Diego. Yeah. Where… every individual, every one of our individual, let’s say our calendar we can take, we can create a personal agent for us. And it will look at the task, it will look at our email, it will look at our calendar, and it will tell, this is what you are supposed to do. I think a lot of people have begun to use that.

Kavikrut

Yes.

Rajesh Babu

And then, now, not only self, an organization can create an agent for each and everybody. Instead of manager going and telling each and every person, hey, you are supposed to complete this, we can have their personal agent, who is their agent buddy, can tell them, which is a little bit private and more comfortable to hear.

Kavikrut

And I think in healthcare and the service that you are in, a continuous flow of information, high quality information, makes a huge difference in availability of the work that you do.

Rajesh Babu

Exactly.

Kavikrut

Which is access to medicine. This is simple as accessibility, information like you said. And scale.

Rajesh Babu

But then, I will take another complex situation where we are working with another research institute in San Diego.

Kavikrut

Yeah.

Rajesh Babu

Where basically, this is in the liver transplant. Where the patient basically is waiting there Who is in the waiting list For a longer time The donor comes in, they would be matched Now what we are doing is That is not the way Because you know in the liver transplant Any organ transplant Absorption of that organ is very difficult Because it is seen as a foreign body

Kavikrut

Yes, the foreign body

Rajesh Babu

And the body will Try to reject it Making it accept is a very very big problem So then You need to look at the biologics Of both the patients You see who is most conducive From a biological point of view To receive this organ So there are parameters, biological parameters And physiological parameters that now you can do a match And there are too many parameters to do In a simple Old algorithm It is very difficult Now what we do, and then there is multiple research papers

Kavikrut

How far along are you on this matching For organs

Rajesh Babu

Now we are helping Institute One of the top institute in San Diego Scripps And lot of Nobel laureates from medical are there And we are helping One of the researchers actually from India It’s published so I can quote His name is Sunil Kurian He has published and he has implemented this with this and with the AI Now he has told based on the patients, donor and the patient The AI can tell who is the best recipient for this match And their livelihood, the organ, after that they will have a better living condition It can predict based on various parameters which is not very easy to do So from a simple use case as a

Kavikrut

No it’s a phenomenal To very deep science You went from morning presidential briefings to almost Tinder for organs in one shot No this is great I want to ensure Rajeshji we have enough time for questions We have a small audience here I wish we could take live questions online too But we don’t have that facility yet But any questions here, small audience Any questions that we have Very happy to take them You can point it to a certain panelist if you like Yes please we will pass the microphones right behind you please tell us your name and you can point a question to any of us thank you very much

Audience Member

I have two questions one is for Rajesh ji and one is for Kritika ji so Rajesh ji what medical breakthrough do you believe will come up in the market in next 3 -4 years after this integration of medical science and AI is my question crystal ball question on healthcare what is the breakthrough on the healthcare medical side that you see it’s a crystal ball question that might happen in AI that you are excited about second question for Kritika your initiative is very impressive what I want to know is the average poor person somewhere in the rural area is he aware of your initiatives or if not then in what time frame do you believe that you will be able to reach that awareness question

Kavikrut

I will add a flavor to Raj’s question of saying can that awareness be unlocked for further media We will first start with Rajababuji Please go ahead

Rajesh Babu

Thank you, very good question, appreciated See, I think definitely Lots Lots, right, it is going to be very Transformative, it is going to be Both in the healthcare side First the healthcare, right, I think the Primary healthcare Lot of it will move to AI, right, I think Through our AI Basically doctors will Start creating the doctor agent And first your Questions, your personal doctor agent will Address it, basic, and then Based on that, your personal doctor agent Your doctor’s agent Will now next contact the doctor If there is a need

Kavikrut

I have a feeling that the doctor’s agent will talk to your patient’s agent

Rajesh Babu

Yes, yes

Kavikrut

Before it comes to the two humans

Rajesh Babu

Exactly

Kavikrut

So what is the breakthrough for you in that

Rajesh Babu

See, that Basically the access, no waiting Especially, you know, in the western countries, the waiting, some of these specialists is unbelievable, we would not have heard in India, they wait for six months to one year.

Kavikrut

Right, that’s the waiting time for surgeries too.

Rajesh Babu

Yes, so I think that will definitely transform and then also you said like, talked about one of the things, sir talked about the bamboo situation, why not a global healthcare? Like why can’t there be a marketplace immediately, they can reach and there is a doctor, of course already that is happening but that can happen in a much much greater level because these agents of AI could be sitting at hospital level, doctor level, patient level, as a patient, I may not be AI savvy to reach various things but my AI agent avatar which I have created, if we can create in some easy way that would reach it and definitely address it.

Kavikrut

No, I think you brought up a very important point and we will go to Kritika right after is that, what you have said is that in highly skilled professions, where human capacity is at a very significant scarcity that capacity can be unlocked to a further level simply because agentic will come in. No that’s great I hope Yuvrajji the first question is answered I just add on to what you are saying right I think we were doing a joint program with Swissnext which is the Swiss arm of the embassy of Switzerland here and this was like a exchange kind of a program right and one of the Indian startups that actually spent a week in Switzerland what they are trying to create is look at all the profile of cancer patients right and start mapping that to the DNA and start predicting what is the probability right so they have created a test it seems still at a validation state what is the probability of you getting cancer looking at all the data patterns that they have in the database right and they feel that this will sort of enable a much faster cure for cancer because you’ll be able to predict it much better.

Yeah. Krithika, over to you. I’ll expand Ugra’s question again. I’ll recap. I think he’s asked something very interesting and important is can in a country of a billion plus people despite the availability of technology awareness of important, interesting impactful things continues to be a challenge. Given your experience at Indus Action, do you feel there is an awareness problem based on the work you’ve done with now 9 lakh students and can that awareness challenge be leapfrogged using AI? Over to you.

Kritika Sangani

Absolutely. Absolutely. No, this is a really relevant question and something that we are very actively working on. So what we’re saying is we want to flip this question. Whoever the citizen is, citizen discover. That the citizen has to discover the scheme. Can we use AI? And tech to flip this and say can the state discover the citizen? and building in those layers of AI ML into existing data which is exhaustive and it is with the state. To say that what if I layer your VBG Ramji or erstwhile M .G. Narega data with PDS repository with say aspirational district data and say in this district almost 95 % citizens are eligible for this particular entitlement. And this currently happens for demographic longitudinal research.

Correct. Absolutely. It is not used for actual access. Absolutely. And actually there is an organization. So Educate Girls has a model wherein they have been able to use ML to be able to identify and pinpoint to say these are the districts which need an intervention. These are the districts where we have the most number of out of school girls. So awareness will flip to actual targeted outreach. That is exactly what we are now trying to attempt with the state. The problems of validation, verification of citizens, are they eligible, not. Can we use? Yes. Can we use AI? Yes. ML, tech to be able to flip this and say, let tech enable the stage to discover the fascinating.

And that will also reduce the 10 steps in one, in one single shot.

Kavikrut

What an answer. Love this. I think we can take one more question. We have a few minutes left. We have to, we’ll take to keep your question short and pointed to, you know, uh, whoever you want to ask, please go ahead.

Audience Member 2

Thank you for a valuable session. Uh, I just wanted to ask that, uh, there are a lot of startups in India, but in which sector you think there should be more startups, but, uh, but aren’t currently.

Kavikrut

Great question. Great question. Do you want to answer it? You and I can pick this up. You go first and I’ll follow which sector lose largely defined, loosely defined. Do you think there’s a huge volume opportunity for founders?

Himanshu AIM

Okay. Uh, I think that it is a two level. One is if I define sector by, uh, what we traditionally call a sector, let’s say ed tech or a health tech, uh, or the second would be. Is it like a frontier AI, non AI kind of a thing, right? Uh, So, if you look at the current sectors, right, what most startups are doing, that’s my personal belief, not the organizational belief, right? What most startups are doing is they’re trying to, or they were trying to chase venture capital money. So, if I felt that EdTech is hot today, let me go EdTech. Today, that same thing is for deep tech, right? Just enable some element of AI or some element of deep tech and say, I am a deep tech startup, right?

The point is not that. So, I think one, founders should look at some problem to solve. I’m not saying a social problem. Some problem, some gap that they feel. With the current ecosystem or the current startups are not fulfilling. Or create your own niche. That’s one. Second, what some of our programs also do, and I did talk briefly about it, is the social kind of a thing, right? Do we create solutions that can sort of enable or solve for problems in India? Because a lot of problems that we solve for in India or in Indian context. Are replicable to the global south. Because similar per capita GDP, similar environment, similar diversity, similar price point.

Kavikrut

you want to know that is great very very interesting perspective it’s a fantastic question i’ll just answer it with one simple perspective foundership is a long journey even if you look at the current ipos they were all been building for 10 -15 years ai will not shorten that journey but will make impact faster i believe so i think given the world that we are in right now and this massive phenomenal super tool that we are getting i think founders should build things that take time because that can be accelerated now these are essential problems if i have to pick sectors i would say healthcare and education and not because we have them here but i think even if 10 percent of the talent that’s currently in fintech or is currently in consumer tech i think if they move to healthcare it could be engineers founders investors it will fundamentally change this you know what this country can do and needs and it’s the same for education i don’t want to say unemployment but we have a massive massive young talent pool the largest in the world if we can change you know as founders and as startups we can build more tools for education i think we will unlock a superpower you know for our country so i think that’s where founders should go thank you one last question you had one to ask us

Yashi Audience Member 3

hello i’m yashi i wanted to ask one question anybody from the panelists can answer my question is how can we ensure that ai systems deployed for public welfare do not deepen digital divides especially for rural and marginalized communities

Kavikrut

what an amazing question ai can deepen divides i will use the i’ll take the generosity to not just say digital it could be economic social uh you know cultural there are many divides that exist in the country how can it ensure uh kritika do you want to take a shot at it given that you’re in the welfare space i’ll ask maybe all of us can give a quick one line 10 second rapid fire answer on what can we do ahead proactively for the reducing a potential digital divide thanks to ai

Kritika Sangani

yeah i think uh two perspectives uh One is in our solutioning, when we, and I’m going to take a live example, when we actually embed, say, a lottery algorithm within a state, what we tend to do is we also have this equity algorithm to say that the gender ratios are going to be balanced. It’s going to be the girl and the boy are going to have a 50 -50 application rate there, right? Or to say that this is going to be the percentage of, you know, children with special needs or children from, say, socioeconomically weaker backgrounds or like SESD, OBC. So one is, like, how do we proactively embed these algorithms to be able to address what you’ve just suggested, which is also a problem that we actively work on.

I think other is I definitely feel. I feel that we cannot discard the human in the loop. I feel like AI has to make. their jobs easier, give them my Anganwadi worker or my Asha worker. They need to have access just the way Rajbabuji was referring. They have information which is so simple and so easy to disseminate that they don’t have to spend hours and hours parsing through these complex eligibility criteria for welfare schemes and so on. Those are the two perspectives that I have.

Kavikrut

Fantastic. You are basically saying build a pro -social equity bias into AI.

Kritika Sangani

Absolutely.

Kavikrut

Rajbabuji, do you have a quick rapid fire answer to this?

Rajesh Babu

Thank you. I want to also answer the previous question because that was a very good question. I will quickly touch on that and come to this. See, I think like Kavi told, don’t chase the VC money. I mean, it should be always see the monetization should follow the value. What you should be focusing is Are you creating a value And what is happening is Many are chasing the monetization And missing the value Are you making a difference If you are making a difference And wherever it is, whatever small it is Like he said, health tech Especially a lot of potential is there We need to be making disruption there So focus on that But there are others also On digital divide and social equity On the digital divide I think AI with the phones already Everybody has a phone now Almost everybody is going to have a smart phone If not, already they have it Once they have a smart phone, they have AI So AI is not going to divide If anything, it’s flattening everybody out For example, the people with computer engineering They were on the pedestal Programmers Now it has brought innovation Not only for a programming person It has brought down to everything If anything, AI is the biggest equality It is not a divider

Kavikrut

Fantastic Himanshuji, any view on that? What can we do proactively?

Himanshu AIM

Yeah, I think I think sort of agree to what everybody has talked about. I think with AI and the smartphone and we are one of the largest consumers of Internet. Right. It has sort of democratized the divide between rural urban. I think there’s one more divide which we generally don’t talk about is a language divide. Right. There are 22 scheduled languages. No other country in the world has 22 scheduled languages. Right. And this is just scheduled languages. In a state like UP, it looks like Hindi, but you travel from the western part of the eastern part, the dialect changes. Right. So that’s another divide that probably is being sort of democratized by AI, for example. And everybody’s building solutions around it.

Right. All the LLM models that are being developed, both by the government and even some of these larger companies that want to look at our data. Right. So in the future, I think one thing that we need to be very, very cognizant about is which we I started with. Right. The divide between the western. And the southern states at one end of the. spectrum, eastern and the northern states at the other end of the spectrum, right? The challenge is that a lot of mentorship, VC money, all that has not reached it. So they are still trying to build those native solutions, which is not bad, right? But for them to really equalize with some of the other states, that’s where AI is going to enable.

And some of the state governments are building and all of us are playing our own little role in that.

Kavikrut

This is great. You brought it all together Himanshree. We’ll wrap this panel now. Now, I think AI is here for good and it’s our duty to build AI for good. And what an interesting conversation. The divide is a matter of what we do. And it’s great to have all your perspective. Thank you everyone for joining us and for this conversation. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. This is the photo of the marathon. That’s why they take it at the start. You can check it out there. Please, thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Related ResourcesKnowledge base sources related to the discussion topics (37)
Factual NotesClaims verified against the Diplo knowledge base (3)
Confirmedhigh

“Moderator Kavikrut stated that artificial intelligence (AI) will democratise access to healthcare by lowering both price and availability barriers.”

The knowledge base notes that AI is helping to democratise access to healthcare through early disease detection and wider availability of high-quality diagnostics [S16] and that leaders highlight AI’s role in making healthcare more accessible globally [S101].

Confirmedhigh

“Kavikrut warned that AI could trigger either a “race to the top” or a “race to the bottom”, emphasizing the need to focus on impact to achieve the former.”

Sources discuss the concept of a “race to the bottom” in AI regulation and warn that it is progressing faster than a race to the top, underscoring the urgency to steer AI diffusion responsibly [S106] and note the dangers of a regulatory race to the bottom [S94].

Confirmedmedium

“Kavikrut urged startup founders to channel their talent into high‑impact domains such as healthcare and education rather than chasing venture‑capital trends.”

The moderator explicitly encouraged founders to focus on high-impact sectors like health and education in his remarks [S1].

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Democratizing AI: Open foundations and shared resources for global impact — ## International Collaboration Examples ## Practical Applications and Real-World Impact **Climate and Agriculture**: A…
S34
Ensuring Safe AI_ Monitoring Agents to Bridge the Global Assurance Gap — Owen Larter from Google DeepMind provided an industry perspective on the technical requirements for robust AI assurance,…
S35
Education, Inclusion, Literacy: Musts for Positive AI Future | IGF 2023 Launch / Award Event #27 — Finally, the analysis highlights the need for academics to propose alternatives to address biases in the digital medium….
S36
AI Governance: Ensuring equity and accountability in the digital economy (UNCTAD) — Inclusivity is another key aspect of AI governance. It is crucial to have more inclusive conversations and ensure the pa…
S37
Open Forum #64 Local AI Policy Pathways for Sustainable Digital Economies — Achieving inclusive AI requires addressing inequalities across three fundamental areas: access to computing infrastructu…
S38
Powering AI _ Global Leaders Session _ AI Impact Summit India Part 2 — The disagreement level is moderate but significant for policy implications. While there’s consensus on the core challeng…
S39
AI Governance: Ensuring equity and accountability in the digital economy (UNCTAD) — Furthermore, the concentration of data collection and usage among a few global entities has led to a data divide. Many d…
S40
Artificial intelligence (AI) – UN Security Council — Another significant risk is the potential for bias in AI algorithms, which can reflect existing prejudices and stereotyp…
S41
Pre 3: Exploring Frontier technologies for harnessing digital public good and advancing Digital Inclusion — AI systems reflect the quality and inclusiveness of their underlying data and decision-making processes. Currently, both…
S42
WS #110 AI Innovation Responsible Development Ethical Imperatives — Gong addresses the need for inclusive development policies that ensure technology access for developing nations and prev…
S43
Day 0 Event #251 Large Models and Small Player Leveraging AI in Small States and Startups — This set the moral and strategic foundation for the entire session, establishing that the conversation wasn’t just about…
S44
Building Inclusive Societies with AI — Leveraging the Startup Ecosystem for Social Impact Romal emphasizes the need for deeper industry‑government collaborati…
S45
IndoGerman AI Collaboration Driving Economic Development and Soc — Another example in our strategic agenda in the future of AI is that we set up an AI innovation lab at Hessian AI, co -fu…
S46
AI for Social Empowerment_ Driving Change and Inclusion — He asks how governments and institutions can govern AI responsibly to minimise labour market disruption and ensure a smo…
S47
Trade regulations in the digital environment: Is there a gender component? (UNCTAD) — In conclusion, the analysis reinforces the potential of digitalisation and emerging technologies, such as artificial int…
S48
Building fair markets in the algorithmic age (The Dialogue) — However, without proper governance, algorithms can have harmful effects. It is crucial to have the appropriate oversight…
S49
AI: The Great Equaliser? — Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to revolutionise various aspects of global society. It can democratise he…
S50
AI/Gen AI for the Global Goals — Priscilla Boa-Gue argues for the creation of supportive policy environments to foster AI startups. This includes develop…
S51
Driving Indias AI Future Growth Innovation and Impact — But there was also a lot of fear around AI about trust factors, about privacy, data, sovereignty, multiple issues about …
S52
Building Trusted AI at Scale Cities Startups & Digital Sovereignty – Keynote Hemant Taneja General Catalyst — “Whether it’s… scaling of the energy infrastructure so we can deploy AI, all those capabilities to present enormous op…
S53
Science AI & Innovation_ India–Japan Collaboration Showcase — Kritika highlights that current welfare schemes require many cumbersome steps and proposes reducing the process to a sin…
S54
AI for Democracy_ Reimagining Governance in the Age of Intelligence — Authorities and independent media will lag behind while malicious actors remain behind. one step ahead. Accountability w…
S55
Open Forum #70 the Future of DPI Unpacking the Open Source AI Model — This comment exposed a critical gap in the open source AI narrative – that true democratization requires not just access…
S56
Open Forum #64 Local AI Policy Pathways for Sustainable Digital Economies — This observation is particularly insightful because it reveals how current AI development exploits commons-based resourc…
S57
Powering AI _ Global Leaders Session _ AI Impact Summit India Part 2 — The disagreement level is moderate but significant for policy implications. While there’s consensus on the core challeng…
S58
Global AI Policy Framework: International Cooperation and Historical Perspectives — Werner highlighted that connectivity challenges extend beyond infrastructure availability – many regions have technical …
S59
AI as critical infrastructure for continuity in public services — Many participants are unfamiliar with existing AI standards, creating both awareness and capacity challenges. Articulati…
S60
Regional Leaders Discuss AI-Ready Digital Infrastructure — And in there, you can see, for example, that some of the lower income economies can seem quite open in that space. But i…
S61
Press Conference: Closing the AI Access Gap — Data strategies are another critical aspect in the AI era. Countries need robust data strategies that include sharing fr…
S62
Leveraging AI to Support Gender Inclusivity | IGF 2023 WS #235 — Another important point emphasized in the analysis is the significance of involving users and technical experts in the p…
S63
Education, Inclusion, Literacy: Musts for Positive AI Future | IGF 2023 Launch / Award Event #27 — It is also highlighted that biases and discrimination in AI algorithms pose a significant challenge. The analysis acknow…
S64
Science AI & Innovation_ India–Japan Collaboration Showcase — Kritika Sangani discussed Indus Action’s work in making social protection accessible to vulnerable citizens, particularl…
S65
Welfare for All Ensuring Equitable AI in the Worlds Democracies — Building confidence and security in the use of ICTs | Artificial intelligence
S66
Extreme poverty and human rights * — 88 European Commission, ‘Human capital: digital inclusion and skills’, 2019. 47. The United Kingdom provides an examp…
S67
AI Innovation in India — -Deepak Bagla- Role: Mission Director; Title: Atal Innovation Mission Atal Innovation Mission’s Decade of Impact Thank…
S68
Cooperation for a Green Digital Future | IGF 2023 — Yawri Carr:Today I want to share with you the transformative role that artificial intelligence can play in shaping a sus…
S69
Securing access to financing to digital startups and fast growing small businesses in developing countries ( MFUG Innovation Partners) — Depending on the stage of the startup, VC may not be the best answer He believes that the private sector, particularly …
S70
Shaping Investment: Spurring Investment in Cyber Sector Start-Ups — Capital investment in cybersecurity startups is necessary for their growth and expansion. However, investment capital is…
S73
Open Forum #27 Make Your AI Greener a Workshop on Sustainable AI Solutions — Marco Zennaro provided concrete examples of TinyML applications that address real-world challenges across diverse sector…
S74
Ensuring Safe AI_ Monitoring Agents to Bridge the Global Assurance Gap — Owen Larter from Google DeepMind provided an industry perspective on the technical requirements for robust AI assurance,…
S75
Panel Discussion Data Sovereignty India AI Impact Summit — The panelists shared concrete examples of sovereignty implementation. Gupta’s Bhashini migration demonstrated how critic…
S76
Workshop 1: AI & non-discrimination in digital spaces: from prevention to redress — Menno Ettema: Great. It always takes a moment before the screen comes up. Yes, to open the eyes, we want to launch a lit…
S77
AI Governance: Ensuring equity and accountability in the digital economy (UNCTAD) — Inclusivity is another key aspect of AI governance. It is crucial to have more inclusive conversations and ensure the pa…
S78
Artificial intelligence (AI) – UN Security Council — Another significant risk is the potential for bias in AI algorithms, which can reflect existing prejudices and stereotyp…
S79
WS #236 Ensuring Human Rights and Inclusion: An Algorithmic Strategy — Ananda Gautam: that build capacity of developers and design makers to understand the risks of algorithms, bias, and a…
S80
LinkedIN and UN Women India project: bridging the digital divide for equal opportunities — In February 2023, UN Women India met with Dan Shapero, Global COO of LinkedIn, in Mumbaito address the significance of d…
S81
Building the AI-Ready Future From Infrastructure to Skills — The tone was consistently optimistic and collaborative throughout, with speakers expressing excitement about AI’s potent…
S82
Discussion Report: AI Implementation and Global Accessibility — The tone was consistently optimistic and collaborative throughout the conversation. Both speakers maintained a construct…
S83
Elevating AI skills for all — The tone is consistently optimistic, enthusiastic, and collaborative throughout. The speaker maintains an upbeat, missio…
S84
AI for equality: Bridging the innovation gap — The conversation maintained a consistently optimistic yet realistic tone throughout. Both speakers demonstrated enthusia…
S85
AI Policy Summit Opening Remarks: Discussion Report — The tone is consistently optimistic and collaborative throughout both speeches. Both speakers maintain an encouraging, f…
S86
Safe and responsible AI — – The start of the transformation of education according to the prepared proposal and the Education Policy Strategy aft…
S87
Evolving AI, evolving governance: from principles to action | IGF 2023 WS #196 — Auidence:I think maybe it’s easier if we all ask the question then any panel member can just catch on it. In four minute…
S88
1 Introduction — Source: Complex analysis of barriers of applied and oriented research, experimental development and innovation in the Cz…
S89
The AI Pareto Paradox: More computing power – diminishing AI impact?  — Capturing tacit and hidden institutional knowledge that isn’t in any manual or policy papers Meticulous data annotation…
S90
Main Topic 3 –  Identification of AI generated content — Aldan Creo:Great. Hello. How are you, everyone? Well, it’s a pleasure to be able to have this session. I hope we’ll make…
S91
Digital democracy and future realities | IGF 2023 WS #476 — Rachel Judistari:Well, it’s kind of very interesting questions, but there are some risks that can be affecting public in…
S92
Multistakeholder digital governance beyond 2025 — The discussion maintained a constructive and collaborative tone throughout, with speakers sharing both challenges and su…
S93
Strengthening Corporate Accountability on Inclusive, Trustworthy, and Rights-based Approach to Ethical Digital Transformation — The discussion maintained a professional, collaborative tone throughout, with speakers demonstrating expertise while ack…
S94
Overcoming the fragmentation of the digital governance: what role for the Global Digital Compact and e-trade rules? (South Centre) — The concept of a “race to the bottom” in regulations is viewed as dangerous. Currently, there is a lack of regulations i…
S95
From summer disillusionment to autumn clarity: Ten lessons for AI — As we refocus on existing risks, some accountability is due:how and why did respected voices get carried away with AGI p…
S96
Upskilling for the AI era: Education’s next revolution — The tone is consistently optimistic, motivational, and action-oriented throughout. The speaker maintains an enthusiastic…
S97
Safeguarding Children with Responsible AI — The discussion maintained a tone of “measured optimism” throughout. It began with urgency and concern (particularly in B…
S98
AI for Good Technology That Empowers People — The tone was consistently optimistic and collaborative throughout, with speakers demonstrating genuine enthusiasm for so…
S99
AI for Safer Workplaces & Smarter Industries Transforming Risk into Real-Time Intelligence — The discussion maintained an optimistic and collaborative tone throughout, with speakers consistently emphasizing human …
S100
DC-CIV & DC-NN: From Internet Openness to AI Openness — Sandrine Elmi Hersi: Thank you. First of all, let me thank the organizers of this session for this important conversa…
S101
Technology in the World / Davos 2025 — – Marc Benioff- Mark Rutte Ruth Porat highlights how AI is currently enhancing healthcare by enabling early disease det…
S102
Democratizing AI Building Trustworthy Systems for Everyone — -Justin Carsten- Moderator/Host of the panel discussion The session was moderated by Justin Carsten, who opened by noti…
S103
Panel Discussion AI & Cybersecurity _ India AI Impact Summit — The moderator opens, transitions, and closes the session, guaranteeing that speakers are introduced, the discussion proc…
S104
Part 5: Rethinking legal governance in the metaverse — AI is rapidly becoming entrenched in sectors such as healthcare, finance, and media, making it difficult to reverse or m…
S105
Shaping AI to ensure Respect for Human Rights and Democracy | IGF 2023 Day 0 Event #51 — Merve Hickok:First of all, thank you so much for the invitation, Chair Schneider. Good to see you virtually. And I appre…
S106
Fireside Conversation: 01 — And the race to the bottom is faster than the race to the top. So I think all of us who have a stake in AI being useful …
S107
Keynote-Bejul Somaia — The playing field is meaningly more level than it has ever been. Now this mind shift is not trivial. Scarcity thinking i…
S108
https://dig.watch/event/india-ai-impact-summit-2026/scaling-enterprise-grade-responsible-ai-across-the-global-south — I would start off with processing capacity. That’s the underpinning for building these systems in -house and running inf…
S109
https://dig.watch/event/india-ai-impact-summit-2026/keynote-jeet-adani — She rises to stabilize, she rises to anchor a world searching for balance and she rises to build systems that are inclus…
S110
https://dig.watch/event/india-ai-impact-summit-2026/building-population-scale-digital-public-infrastructure-for-ai — Well, it’s difficult to choose only one thing, I guess. Maybe this perspective from management, you’re always looking fo…
S111
Not Losing Sight of Soft Power — Paetongtarn Shinawatra: Yes. So I noticed that I think all Thai people realise that we have a very rich culture and we…
S112
Trust in Tech: Navigating Emerging Technologies and Human Rights in a Connected World — 3. **Collaborative Approach**: The speaker advocates for a collaborative model involving private sector entities, civil …
S113
The Role of Government and Innovators in Citizen-Centric AI — This comment cuts to the heart of digital transformation failures – the tendency to digitize existing processes rather t…
S114
Adoption of the agenda and organization of work — Canada’s efforts align with several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly championing peace, justice, and s…
S115
All hands on deck to connect the next billions | IGF 2023 WS #198 — Improving “cyber hygiene” skills is also important, which involves educating individuals on safe and secure internet pra…
S116
The Power of the Commons: Digital Public Goods for a More Secure, Inclusive and Resilient World — Eileen Donahoe: Great. First, let me congratulate the organizers here. This is a really remarkable event and it’s a ver…
S117
DC-OER The Transformative Role of OER in Digital Inclusion | IGF 2023 — Advocacy exists for public or stakeholder ownership of open education resources. The argument is that open education res…
S118
Introduction — As societies invest in these goods, a wealth of knowledge, best practices and experience is being gathered….
Speakers Analysis
Detailed breakdown of each speaker’s arguments and positions
K
Kavikrut
5 arguments175 words per minute2461 words840 seconds
Argument 1
AI can democratize access to healthcare and social services, turning AI into a race to the top rather than a race to the bottom (Kavikrut)
EXPLANATION
Kavikrut argues that AI should be leveraged to broaden access to essential services, positioning it as a catalyst for positive societal outcomes rather than a source of inequality. He frames the debate as a choice between a race to the top, focused on impact, versus a race to the bottom.
EVIDENCE
He opened the discussion by stating that AI will create and democratize access to healthcare and services, noting that it should improve price and availability [1-2]. Later he quoted Nandan Nilekani’s comment about AI being a race to the top or bottom and emphasized that focusing on impact is the way to go to the top [63-64].
MAJOR DISCUSSION POINT
Democratizing access
AGREED WITH
Kritika Sangani, Rajesh Babu, Himanshu AIM
Argument 2
Massive 5G and mobile data usage in India provides the infrastructure needed for AI to be deployed uniformly across regions (Kavikrut)
EXPLANATION
Kavikrut highlights India’s high mobile data consumption and 5G penetration as a foundational layer that can support nationwide AI deployment, ensuring that even remote areas can benefit from AI‑driven services.
EVIDENCE
He cited statistics that the average 5G mobile data usage in India is 22 GB per month, underscoring the scale of connectivity that can underpin AI applications [206-208].
EXTERNAL EVIDENCE (KNOWLEDGE BASE)
India’s robust digital and connectivity infrastructure, which underpins nationwide AI deployment, is noted in [S19].
MAJOR DISCUSSION POINT
Infrastructure readiness
AGREED WITH
Himanshu AIM, Rajesh Babu
Argument 3
The vision of a “United Entitlements Interface” (UEI) – a single portal akin to UPI for all constitutional rights – would streamline eligibility checks and applications (Kavikrut)
EXPLANATION
Kavikrut describes a proposed unified digital platform that would let citizens check eligibility and claim any constitutional entitlement through one interface, mirroring the simplicity of the UPI payment system.
EVIDENCE
He explained that the UEI would combine features of DigiLocker and DigiYatra, allowing users to log in, verify eligibility, and apply for rights in a single step [112-116].
EXTERNAL EVIDENCE (KNOWLEDGE BASE)
The analogy to UPI for public services and the push for a single-touch entitlement experience are described in [S20] and [S1].
MAJOR DISCUSSION POINT
Unified entitlement portal
AGREED WITH
Kritika Sangani
Argument 4
AI is the most powerful tool startups have ever had, enabling rapid problem‑solving and scaling across sectors (Kavikrut)
EXPLANATION
Kavikrut asserts that AI acts as a super‑charged engine for startups, allowing them to address problems faster and at larger scale than any previous technology.
EVIDENCE
He noted that over the past 15 years AI has become the strongest tool for startups, citing examples from the gig-economy and food-delivery platforms that have reshaped labor markets [55-62].
EXTERNAL EVIDENCE (KNOWLEDGE BASE)
The rapid innovation capacity of Indian startups is emphasized in [S21], and criteria for true AI-focused startups are outlined in [S22].
MAJOR DISCUSSION POINT
AI as startup catalyst
AGREED WITH
Himanshu AIM, Rajesh Babu
Argument 5
Founders should prioritize sectors with high social impact—especially healthcare and education—to unlock national super‑powers (Kavikrut, Audience Member 2)
EXPLANATION
Kavikrut (and echoed by an audience member) urges entrepreneurs to focus on healthcare and education, arguing that channeling talent into these sectors can generate massive social and economic benefits for the country.
EVIDENCE
He argued that even a 10 % shift of talent from fintech to healthcare or education would fundamentally change the nation’s capabilities, emphasizing the size of India’s young talent pool [377-382].
EXTERNAL EVIDENCE (KNOWLEDGE BASE)
Calls for founders to focus on health and education for high impact appear in [S1] and are reinforced by the broader startup-nation narrative in [S21].
MAJOR DISCUSSION POINT
Sector focus for founders
K
Kritika Sangani
7 arguments154 words per minute1552 words602 seconds
Argument 1
AI reduces the number of steps required to claim entitlements, turning a 10‑step process into a single‑touch experience (Kritika Sangani)
EXPLANATION
Kritika explains that current entitlement processes involve around ten cumbersome steps, and AI can compress this into a single interaction, dramatically simplifying citizen access.
EVIDENCE
She described the existing ten-step burden for citizens to obtain a single entitlement and posed the question of reducing it to a single-touch process [24-26].
EXTERNAL EVIDENCE (KNOWLEDGE BASE)
The reduction of a ten-step entitlement process to a single-touch workflow is discussed in [S1] and further illustrated in [S23].
MAJOR DISCUSSION POINT
Simplifying entitlement steps
AGREED WITH
Kavikrut
Argument 2
Embedding equity‑focused algorithms (e.g., gender balance, socio‑economic targeting) ensures AI solutions promote inclusive outcomes (Kritika Sangani)
EXPLANATION
Kritika stresses that AI systems should be designed with built‑in equity parameters—such as gender parity and socio‑economic representation—to guarantee fair outcomes for vulnerable groups.
EVIDENCE
She detailed how their digital lottery includes an equity algorithm that balances gender ratios and ensures representation of children with special needs or from weaker socio-economic backgrounds [380-384].
EXTERNAL EVIDENCE (KNOWLEDGE BASE)
Equity-by-design algorithmic approaches and bias mitigation strategies are covered in [S24] and [S26].
MAJOR DISCUSSION POINT
Equity‑by‑design in AI
AGREED WITH
Himanshu AIM
Argument 3
The Right‑to‑Education (RTE) digital lottery replaces physical visits with an online, algorithm‑driven selection, dramatically cutting transaction time (Kritika Sangani)
EXPLANATION
Kritika outlines the development of an RTE Management Information System that digitizes the lottery‑based school seat allocation, removing the need for parents to physically visit multiple schools.
EVIDENCE
She explained that the RTE MIS digitizes the lottery mechanism, integrating it into a digital platform that has been adopted in 18 states, cutting down a multi-step physical process to an online draw [81-82].
EXTERNAL EVIDENCE (KNOWLEDGE BASE)
The RTE digital lottery platform and its impact on school admissions are detailed in [S1] and [S2].
MAJOR DISCUSSION POINT
Digitalizing school admissions
Argument 4
A multilingual WhatsApp chatbot serves as the first interface for parents, improving targeting of the most vulnerable and easing frontline worker load (Kritika Sangani)
EXPLANATION
Kritika describes a multilingual chatbot on WhatsApp that acts as the initial point of contact for parents, helping to identify the most vulnerable applicants and reducing the burden on frontline workers.
EVIDENCE
She noted that the chatbot is multilingual, serves as the first interface for students or parents to apply, and also builds frontline worker capacity, thereby reducing their workload while improving targeting [95-98].
EXTERNAL EVIDENCE (KNOWLEDGE BASE)
The multilingual WhatsApp chatbot serving as the initial citizen interface is described in [S1].
MAJOR DISCUSSION POINT
Chatbot for vulnerable outreach
Argument 5
Proactively embed equity checks (gender, socio‑economic status) into AI algorithms to avoid bias and ensure balanced outcomes (Kritika Sangani)
EXPLANATION
Kritika reiterates that AI solutions must contain proactive equity safeguards—such as gender balance and socio‑economic targeting—to prevent systemic bias and guarantee inclusive results.
EVIDENCE
She again highlighted the equity algorithm that ensures a 50-50 gender application rate and representation of children from weaker socio-economic backgrounds within the digital lottery system [380-384].
EXTERNAL EVIDENCE (KNOWLEDGE BASE)
Proactive equity safeguards and bias mitigation in AI systems are discussed in [S24] and [S26].
MAJOR DISCUSSION POINT
Bias mitigation in AI
Argument 6
Keep humans “in the loop”—frontline workers must retain access to AI‑enhanced information to serve marginalized communities effectively (Kritika Sangani)
EXPLANATION
Kritika argues that while AI can automate many processes, human frontline workers (e.g., Anganwadi or ASHA workers) must remain integral, using AI tools to simplify their tasks rather than replace them.
EVIDENCE
She emphasized that AI should make frontline workers’ jobs easier by providing simple, accessible information, ensuring they do not spend excessive time parsing complex eligibility criteria [385-388].
EXTERNAL EVIDENCE (KNOWLEDGE BASE)
Human-in-the-loop principles and the importance of user involvement in AI design are highlighted in [S24] and [S26].
MAJOR DISCUSSION POINT
Human‑in‑the‑loop principle
Argument 7
AI can enable the state to discover eligible citizens by layering multiple data sources, flipping the discovery process from citizen‑led to state‑led.
EXPLANATION
She proposes using AI and machine learning to combine government databases (e.g., VBG, PDS, district‑level data) so that the state can proactively identify individuals who qualify for entitlements, reducing the need for citizens to search for schemes.
EVIDENCE
In response to an audience question, she explains that AI can layer VBG, PDS, and aspirational district data to identify districts where 95 % of citizens are eligible for a particular entitlement, turning the discovery process around [326-334].
EXTERNAL EVIDENCE (KNOWLEDGE BASE)
Machine-learning-driven district targeting for welfare outreach (Educate Girls) is exemplified in [S2], and state-led digital public infrastructure concepts are discussed in [S20].
MAJOR DISCUSSION POINT
AI‑driven proactive welfare outreach
R
Rajesh Babu
6 arguments184 words per minute2059 words670 seconds
Argument 1
AI‑powered personal agents can give pharma reps instant briefing and help patients navigate care, improving availability and speed of health services (Rajesh Babu)
EXPLANATION
Rajesh describes an AI‑driven personal assistant that aggregates past interactions with doctors and delivers a concise briefing to pharma representatives before each visit, enhancing the speed and relevance of information delivery.
EVIDENCE
He explained that the AI app scans the rep’s calendar, pulls recent CRM conversations, and generates a voice memo summarizing key points for the upcoming doctor visit, acting like a “morning presidential briefing” [261-267].
MAJOR DISCUSSION POINT
AI briefing agents for pharma reps
AGREED WITH
Kavikrut, Himanshu AIM
Argument 2
AI‑driven “morning briefing” agents synthesize past doctor‑rep interactions, giving sales reps actionable insights at the point of care (Rajesh Babu)
EXPLANATION
Rajesh expands on the same concept, emphasizing that the AI system creates a daily briefing that equips sales reps with the latest conversation history and recommended talking points, thereby improving care coordination.
EVIDENCE
He detailed how the system pulls data from calendars and CRM, creates a voice memo, and delivers it to reps each morning, ensuring they are prepared with up-to-date information [261-267].
MAJOR DISCUSSION POINT
Daily AI briefing for health sales
Argument 3
Advanced AI models can match liver‑transplant donors and recipients by analyzing complex biological parameters, improving transplant outcomes (Rajesh Babu)
EXPLANATION
Rajesh outlines a collaboration with a research institute where AI evaluates numerous biological and physiological parameters to identify optimal donor‑recipient matches, a task too complex for traditional algorithms.
EVIDENCE
He described how AI processes multiple donor and patient parameters to predict the best match, citing work with Scripps Institute and an Indian researcher, leading to better post-transplant outcomes [300-306].
MAJOR DISCUSSION POINT
AI for organ transplant matching
Argument 4
AI, delivered via ubiquitous smartphones, can flatten rather than widen digital gaps, offering equal access to advanced tools (Rajesh Babu)
EXPLANATION
Rajesh argues that because smartphones are widespread, AI delivered through them can level the playing field, providing equal access to sophisticated technologies across socio‑economic groups.
EVIDENCE
He stated that AI, accessed through smartphones, is not a divider but rather a great equalizer, noting that everyone now has a phone and thus AI can reach all [393-398].
EXTERNAL EVIDENCE (KNOWLEDGE BASE)
India’s robust digital and mobile infrastructure that enables smartphone-based AI access is noted in [S19].
MAJOR DISCUSSION POINT
Smartphone‑based AI equity
AGREED WITH
Kavikrut, Kritika Sangani, Himanshu AIM
DISAGREED WITH
Kritika Sangani, Himanshu AIM
Argument 5
AI‑driven personal agents can automate task reminders and coordination for employees, boosting organisational efficiency.
EXPLANATION
He describes a system where an AI agent scans a user’s calendar and email, summarises recent interactions, and delivers a concise voice briefing each morning, effectively acting as a personal assistant for work tasks.
EVIDENCE
He explains that the AI app looks at the calendar, pulls recent CRM conversations, and generates a voice memo briefing the rep on upcoming doctor visits, likening it to a “morning presidential briefing” [261-267][280-292].
MAJOR DISCUSSION POINT
AI personal assistants for workplace productivity
Argument 6
AI agents can reduce long waiting times for specialist consultations and surgeries by streamlining referrals and information flow.
EXPLANATION
He argues that AI‑enabled doctor and patient agents can handle routine queries and triage, allowing human doctors to focus on complex cases and thereby shortening wait periods that currently stretch months.
EVIDENCE
He notes that in western countries patients wait six months to a year for specialists, and that AI agents could eliminate such delays by handling preliminary interactions and coordinating care [315-316].
MAJOR DISCUSSION POINT
AI for accelerating access to specialist healthcare
H
Himanshu AIM
9 arguments188 words per minute2364 words751 seconds
Argument 1
State Innovation Missions use AI to bring frontier technologies to underserved regions, aiming for equitable impact across the country (Himanshu AIM)
EXPLANATION
Himanshu explains that the Atli Innovation Mission establishes State Innovation Missions that embed AI and other frontier technologies into local ecosystems, especially in regions that have lagged behind in digital adoption.
EVIDENCE
He described the mission’s goal to move beyond current innovation levels, bring AI and frontier tech to all parts of the ecosystem, and cited examples such as water-quality hackathons and bamboo market dashboards [122-124][155-174].
EXTERNAL EVIDENCE (KNOWLEDGE BASE)
The goal of extending frontier AI technologies to all regions aligns with the strong digital foundation described in [S19] and the policy-framework emphasis in [S18].
MAJOR DISCUSSION POINT
AI‑enabled state missions
AGREED WITH
Rajesh Babu, Kavikrut
Argument 2
AI‑driven data dashboards for water quality and bamboo market access illustrate how sector‑specific AI tools can scale local solutions (Himanshu AIM)
EXPLANATION
He presents two concrete use‑cases where AI‑powered dashboards help states address specific challenges: detecting iron content in water and creating a market linkage platform for bamboo producers.
EVIDENCE
He recounted a hackathon to use AI for mapping iron levels in water across districts and a dashboard that connects bamboo producers with global markets, showing how data can be turned into actionable solutions [155-164][165-174].
MAJOR DISCUSSION POINT
Sector‑specific AI dashboards
Argument 3
State Innovation Missions address the technology gap between advanced southern/western states and lagging eastern/northern states, fostering peer‑to‑peer learning (Himanshu AIM)
EXPLANATION
Himanshu highlights regional disparities in tech capacity and explains that the missions aim to bridge this gap by facilitating knowledge exchange and mentorship between more advanced and less‑advanced states.
EVIDENCE
He noted the stark contrast between states like Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra and the northeastern/eastern states, and described plans to launch a mission in the northeast to promote peer-to-peer learning [122-130][140-148].
MAJOR DISCUSSION POINT
Bridging regional tech gaps
Argument 4
Language diversity (22 scheduled languages and numerous dialects) is a critical divide; AI language models are essential to bridge it (Himanshu AIM)
EXPLANATION
He points out India’s linguistic complexity and argues that multilingual AI models are crucial for ensuring that AI benefits reach all language communities, especially in rural areas.
EVIDENCE
He mentioned that India has 22 scheduled languages and many dialects, and that AI models being developed by government and private players can help democratize access across these linguistic groups [403-410].
MAJOR DISCUSSION POINT
AI for language inclusion
Argument 5
Startups should focus on solving real problems rather than chasing VC money; AI can accelerate long‑term value creation (Himanshu AIM)
EXPLANATION
Himanshu advises founders to prioritize genuine societal problems over short‑term venture capital attraction, noting that AI can speed up the creation of lasting value.
EVIDENCE
He argued that founders should look for real gaps, not just chase VC money, and that AI can help accelerate impact, referencing his belief that many startups chase trends rather than substantive problems [358-372].
EXTERNAL EVIDENCE (KNOWLEDGE BASE)
The recommendation for problem-first startup focus is articulated in [S1] and reinforced by the startup-nation perspective in [S21].
MAJOR DISCUSSION POINT
Problem‑first startup mindset
AGREED WITH
Kavikrut, Rajesh Babu
Argument 6
AI‑enabled traffic cameras can monitor vehicle flow in real time, optimise signal timings and reduce fuel consumption, generating carbon‑credit savings.
EXPLANATION
He proposes installing simple AI‑powered cameras at traffic lights to analyse traffic patterns and automatically adjust signals, leading to more efficient traffic management and environmental benefits.
EVIDENCE
He describes using cameras on traffic lights to monitor flow each minute and linking them to AI that can automate adjustments, thereby reducing petrol and diesel consumption and earning carbon credits [211-213].
MAJOR DISCUSSION POINT
AI for smart urban mobility and environmental savings
Argument 7
Satellite imagery combined with AI can be used to monitor lake levels and detect drying trends, supporting early environmental interventions.
EXPLANATION
He suggests leveraging readily available satellite data and AI analysis to identify water bodies that are shrinking, enabling timely policy or remedial actions.
EVIDENCE
He mentions using satellite imagery to identify how lakes are drying up, noting that the data is already available and does not require new collection efforts [215-217].
MAJOR DISCUSSION POINT
AI‑driven environmental monitoring
Argument 8
AI‑powered sensors embedded in water pipelines can pinpoint leak locations and suggest material improvements, reducing water loss and maintenance costs.
EXPLANATION
He outlines a solution where small AI‑enabled sensors continuously measure flow at intervals along pipelines, detecting anomalies that indicate leaks and informing better material choices for repairs.
EVIDENCE
He describes startups that have created sensors embedded in pipelines to detect flow at regular intervals, locate leaks, and later analyze material stress to prevent future failures [220-224].
MAJOR DISCUSSION POINT
AI for infrastructure resilience
Argument 9
Ubiquitous smartphones provide a platform for AI that can flatten the rural‑urban digital divide, giving all citizens access to advanced tools.
EXPLANATION
He argues that because smartphones are now widespread, AI delivered through mobile apps can reach even remote populations, turning technology into an equaliser rather than a divider.
EVIDENCE
He states that AI, delivered via smartphones, is not a divider because almost everyone now has a phone, allowing AI to reach all segments of society [401-403].
MAJOR DISCUSSION POINT
Smartphone‑based AI as an equaliser
A
Audience Member
2 arguments172 words per minute129 words44 seconds
Argument 1
Awareness of government welfare schemes remains low among rural poor; AI can be used to flip discovery from citizen‑led to state‑led to improve reach (Audience Member)
EXPLANATION
The audience member asks whether AI can help the state discover eligible citizens rather than relying on citizens to find schemes, suggesting a proactive AI‑driven outreach model.
EVIDENCE
The question highlighted the low awareness among rural poor and asked about using AI to reverse the discovery process [307-308]; Kritika responded by describing a flip-the-discovery approach using AI-layered data to let the state identify eligible citizens [326-334].
EXTERNAL EVIDENCE (KNOWLEDGE BASE)
AI-driven district-level targeting for welfare outreach (Educate Girls) is presented in [S2], and the concept of state-led digital public infrastructure is discussed in [S20].
MAJOR DISCUSSION POINT
AI‑driven outreach for welfare awareness
Argument 2
Future AI breakthroughs may include AI‑based cancer risk prediction tools that integrate genomic and clinical data (Audience Member)
EXPLANATION
An audience member speculates that AI could soon enable predictive cancer risk assessments by combining genetic and health data, potentially transforming early detection and treatment.
EVIDENCE
The audience member referenced a joint program with Swissnext where a startup is developing a test that maps cancer patient profiles to DNA data to predict cancer risk, noting it is still in validation [321-322].
EXTERNAL EVIDENCE (KNOWLEDGE BASE)
AI’s role in early disease detection, including cancer, is highlighted in [S16].
MAJOR DISCUSSION POINT
Predictive AI in oncology
A
Audience Member 2
1 argument174 words per minute38 words13 seconds
Argument 1
Founders should prioritize sectors with high social impact—especially healthcare and education—to unlock national super‑powers (Audience Member 2)
EXPLANATION
The audience member asks which sectors need more startup activity and suggests that focusing on healthcare and education could unleash significant social and economic benefits for India.
EVIDENCE
The question emphasized the need for more startups in sectors beyond current trends, and Kavikrut later echoed this sentiment, stating that shifting talent to healthcare and education would fundamentally change the country’s capabilities [351-355][377-382].
EXTERNAL EVIDENCE (KNOWLEDGE BASE)
Calls for sector focus on health and education appear in [S1] and are echoed in the broader startup narrative in [S21].
MAJOR DISCUSSION POINT
Sector prioritisation for impact
Y
Yashi Audience Member 3
1 argument142 words per minute40 words16 seconds
Argument 1
AI systems deployed for public welfare risk deepening digital divides unless safeguards are built in.
EXPLANATION
The audience member warns that without careful design, AI could exacerbate existing inequities for rural and marginalized communities, calling for proactive measures to prevent such outcomes.
EVIDENCE
She directly asks how to ensure AI does not deepen digital divides for rural and marginalized communities, highlighting the concern about potential negative impacts of AI deployment in public welfare [378].
EXTERNAL EVIDENCE (KNOWLEDGE BASE)
Risks of bias and the need for equity safeguards in AI systems are discussed in [S24] and [S26].
MAJOR DISCUSSION POINT
Preventing AI‑driven widening of digital inequities
Agreements
Agreement Points
AI is viewed as a democratizing force that can broaden access to healthcare, social services and other public entitlements, thereby reducing digital divides.
Speakers: Kavikrut, Kritika Sangani, Rajesh Babu, Himanshu AIM
AI can democratize access to healthcare and social services, turning AI into a race to the top rather than a race to the bottom (Kavikrut) AI reduces the number of steps required to claim entitlements, turning a 10‑step process into a single‑touch experience (Kritika Sangani) AI, delivered via ubiquitous smartphones, can flatten rather than widen digital gaps, offering equal access to advanced tools (Rajesh Babu) AI and the smartphone have democratized the divide between rural and urban, and multilingual AI models can bridge the language divide (Himanshu AIM)
All four speakers stress that AI should be leveraged to make essential services reachable for all citizens, cutting through cost, geographic and linguistic barriers. Kavikrut opens the panel by noting AI will create and democratise access to healthcare and services [1-2] and later cites the “race to the top” framing [63-64]. Kritika highlights the current ten-step entitlement burden and the potential to collapse it to a single interaction [24-26]. Rajesh argues that smartphone penetration makes AI an equaliser rather than a divider [393-398]. Himanshu adds that smartphones and multilingual AI models further level the playing field across language groups [401-410].
POLICY CONTEXT (KNOWLEDGE BASE)
This view mirrors UNCTAD’s description of AI as a ‘great equaliser’ for health services [S49] and the broader narrative that technology can reduce digital gaps [S48]; however, UNCTAD also warns that without inclusive data practices AI may exacerbate divides [S41].
AI solutions should embed equity safeguards (gender balance, socio‑economic targeting) and keep humans in the loop to avoid bias and ensure inclusive outcomes.
Speakers: Kritika Sangani, Himanshu AIM
Embedding equity‑focused algorithms (e.g., gender balance, socio‑economic targeting) ensures AI solutions promote inclusive outcomes (Kritika Sangani) Language diversity (22 scheduled languages and many dialects) is a critical divide; AI language models are essential to bridge it (Himanshu AIM)
Both speakers argue that AI must be designed with built-in equity measures. Kritika describes an equity algorithm that guarantees gender parity and representation of vulnerable groups in the RTE lottery system [380-384] and stresses keeping frontline workers in the loop [385-388]. Himanshu points out India’s linguistic fragmentation and the need for multilingual AI models to prevent exclusion of language minorities [403-410].
POLICY CONTEXT (KNOWLEDGE BASE)
The recommendation aligns with UNCTAD’s call to mitigate algorithmic bias through diverse training data [S40] and its emphasis on addressing the gender-digital divide in trade regulations [S47]; gender-inclusive AI policies were also highlighted at IGF 2023 [S62].
AI can dramatically simplify entitlement and service delivery processes, moving from multi‑step, physical interactions to single‑touch digital experiences.
Speakers: Kritika Sangani, Kavikrut
AI reduces the number of steps required to claim entitlements, turning a 10‑step process into a single‑touch experience (Kritika Sangani) The vision of a “United Entitlements Interface” (UEI) – a single portal akin to UPI for all constitutional rights – would streamline eligibility checks and applications (Kavikrut)
Kritika emphasizes the need to cut ten cumbersome steps to a single interaction for citizens [24-26] and illustrates this with the RTE digital lottery that replaces physical visits [81-82]. Kavikrut expands the idea to a national UEI platform that would let users check eligibility and claim any right in one step, mirroring UPI’s simplicity [112-116]. Both converge on the goal of a single-touch, AI-enabled service delivery model.
POLICY CONTEXT (KNOWLEDGE BASE)
The single-touch entitlement concept was advocated in the India-Japan collaboration on welfare simplification [S53] and fits within UNCTAD’s observation that AI can streamline public services when responsibly integrated [S59]; the risk of deepening divides without inclusive design is noted in frontier-technology reviews [S41].
AI is the most powerful catalyst for startups, enabling rapid problem‑solving, scaling and organisational efficiency.
Speakers: Kavikrut, Himanshu AIM, Rajesh Babu
AI is the most powerful tool startups have ever had, enabling rapid problem‑solving and scaling across sectors (Kavikrut) Startups should focus on solving real problems rather than chasing VC money; AI can accelerate long‑term value creation (Himanshu AIM) AI‑powered personal agents can give pharma reps instant briefing and help patients navigate care, improving availability and speed of health services (Rajesh Babu)
Kavikrut describes AI as a super-charged engine for startups over the past 15 years [55-62]. Himanshu advises a problem-first mindset, noting AI can speed up impact once real gaps are identified [358-372]. Rajesh showcases a concrete AI personal-assistant that aggregates CRM data to brief sales reps, illustrating organisational efficiency gains [261-267]. All three see AI as a transformative accelerator for startup performance.
POLICY CONTEXT (KNOWLEDGE BASE)
This claim is supported by the ‘Building Inclusive Societies with AI’ report urging industry-government collaboration for social impact startups [S44] and UNCTAD’s recommendation to create supportive policy environments for AI-driven enterprises [S50]; concrete examples include co-funded AI innovation labs for startups [S45].
Targeted state‑level AI initiatives and robust connectivity infrastructure are essential to bridge regional technology gaps.
Speakers: Himanshu AIM, Rajesh Babu, Kavikrut
State Innovation Missions use AI to bring frontier technologies to underserved regions, aiming for equitable impact across the country (Himanshu AIM) AI, delivered via ubiquitous smartphones, can flatten rather than widen digital gaps, giving all citizens access to advanced tools (Rajesh Babu) Massive 5G and mobile data usage in India provides the infrastructure needed for AI to be deployed uniformly across regions (Kavikrut)
Himanshu outlines State Innovation Missions that embed AI in lagging states to level the playing field [122-124][140-148] and highlights the stark east-west versus north-east disparity [124-130]. Rajesh reinforces that widespread smartphone ownership makes AI an equaliser [393-398]. Kavikrut adds that India’s high 5G data consumption (average 22 GB/month) supplies the necessary backbone for nationwide AI deployment [206-208]. Together they agree that both policy-driven missions and connectivity are key to regional equity.
POLICY CONTEXT (KNOWLEDGE BASE)
State-level AI programmes and connectivity are highlighted in the Global AI Policy Framework, which stresses regional infrastructure and local-language content as prerequisites for inclusion [S58] and in regional leader discussions on AI-ready digital infrastructure [S60]; state-funded AI labs exemplify this approach [S45].
Similar Viewpoints
Both see AI as a nation‑wide equalising tool that must be deliberately deployed through state‑level programmes to avoid a ‘race to the bottom’ and instead drive inclusive impact [1-2,63-64,122-124,140-148].
Speakers: Kavikrut, Himanshu AIM
AI can democratize access to healthcare and social services, turning AI into a race to the top rather than a race to the bottom (Kavikrut) State Innovation Missions use AI to bring frontier technologies to underserved regions, aiming for equitable impact across the country (Himanshu AIM)
Both portray AI as a productivity‑boosting assistant that can streamline professional workflows and accelerate service delivery, especially in health‑related domains [55-62,261-267].
Speakers: Kavikrut, Rajesh Babu
AI is the most powerful tool startups have ever had, enabling rapid problem‑solving and scaling across sectors (Kavikrut) AI‑powered personal agents can give pharma reps instant briefing and help patients navigate care, improving availability and speed of health services (Rajesh Babu)
Both stress that AI must be designed with built‑in equity mechanisms—whether gender/socio‑economic balancing or multilingual capability—to prevent exclusion of vulnerable groups [380-384,403-410].
Speakers: Kritika Sangani, Himanshu AIM
Embedding equity‑focused algorithms (e.g., gender balance, socio‑economic targeting) ensures AI solutions promote inclusive outcomes (Kritika Sangani) Language diversity (22 scheduled languages and numerous dialects) is a critical divide; AI language models are essential to bridge it (Himanshu AIM)
Unexpected Consensus
AI will *flatten* rather than deepen digital divides, despite common fears of technology‑driven exclusion.
Speakers: Rajesh Babu, Himanshu AIM, Kavikrut
AI, delivered via ubiquitous smartphones, can flatten rather than widen digital gaps, offering equal access to advanced tools (Rajesh Babu) AI and the smartphone have democratized the divide between rural and urban, and multilingual AI models can bridge the language divide (Himanshu AIM) Massive 5G and mobile data usage in India provides the infrastructure needed for AI to be deployed uniformly across regions (Kavikrut)
While many debates anticipate AI exacerbating inequality, these speakers jointly assert that existing connectivity (5G, smartphones) and multilingual AI will level the field across geography and language, turning AI into an equaliser rather than a divider [393-398][401-410][206-208].
POLICY CONTEXT (KNOWLEDGE BASE)
The optimism aligns with the view of technology as a democratising force [S48], yet UNCTAD warns that AI could deepen existing inequities without proper safeguards [S41]; open-source debates also note that access alone does not guarantee equity [S55].
Recognition that language diversity is a primary barrier and that AI language models are essential for inclusive AI deployment.
Speakers: Himanshu AIM, Kritika Sangani
Language diversity (22 scheduled languages and numerous dialects) is a critical divide; AI language models are essential to bridge it (Himanshu AIM) Embedding equity‑focused algorithms (e.g., gender balance, socio‑economic targeting) ensures AI solutions promote inclusive outcomes (Kritika Sangani)
The explicit linking of linguistic inclusion to AI design is not raised by most panelists; only Himanshu foregrounds it, and Kritika’s equity-by-design stance aligns with the broader inclusion principle, creating an unexpected joint emphasis on language as a dimension of equity [403-410][380-384].
POLICY CONTEXT (KNOWLEDGE BASE)
The importance of local-language content is underscored in the Global AI Policy Framework, which cites language gaps as a barrier to inclusion [S58]; open-source discussions similarly stress the need for localized datasets to achieve equitable AI [S55]; broader analyses emphasize inclusive data to avoid bias [S41].
Overall Assessment

The panel exhibits strong convergence on the view that AI should be harnessed as an inclusive, democratizing technology—simplifying entitlement processes, embedding equity safeguards, and scaling impact through startups and state‑level missions. Participants across government, civil‑society and private sectors align on the need for robust connectivity, multilingual capability and human‑in‑the‑loop designs.

High consensus: most speakers echo each other’s core messages, indicating a shared strategic direction for AI‑for‑good initiatives in India. This broad agreement suggests that future policy and programme design can build on a common foundation of equity‑by‑design, single‑touch service delivery, and infrastructure‑driven deployment.

Differences
Different Viewpoints
How to ensure AI does not deepen digital divides and promotes equity
Speakers: Rajesh Babu, Kritika Sangani, Himanshu AIM
AI, delivered via ubiquitous smartphones, can flatten rather than widen digital gaps, offering equal access to advanced tools (Rajesh Babu) Proactively embed equity checks (gender, socio‑economic status) into AI algorithms and keep humans in the loop to guarantee inclusive outcomes (Kritika Sangani) Language diversity is a critical divide; multilingual AI models are essential to democratise access across 22 scheduled languages and many dialects (Himanshu AIM)
Rajesh argues that AI is automatically an equaliser because smartphones are widespread [393-398]. Kritika counters that without explicit equity-by-design safeguards and human-in-the-loop support, AI could perpetuate bias, so she advocates embedding gender and socio-economic balancing algorithms and supporting frontline workers [380-388]. Himanshu adds that linguistic diversity creates a separate divide that must be addressed with multilingual models, highlighting a gap not covered by the other two positions [400-410]. The three speakers therefore disagree on the necessary safeguards and focus areas to prevent AI from widening existing inequities.
POLICY CONTEXT (KNOWLEDGE BASE)
Ensuring AI does not widen gaps is a recurring theme in UNCTAD’s frontier-technology report calling for equitable data and policy frameworks [S41] and in workshops on responsible AI development that stress inclusive policies [S42]; concerns about algorithmic harm are also raised in debates on democratising technology [S48] and open-source limitations [S55].
What strategic focus should startups adopt when leveraging AI for social impact
Speakers: Kavikrut, Himanshu AIM
Founders should prioritize sectors with high social impact-especially healthcare and education-to unlock national super-powers and drive massive change [377-382] Startups should adopt a problem-first mindset, solving genuine societal gaps rather than chasing VC money or specific sectors; AI is a tool to accelerate impact, not a directive for sector choice [358-372]
Kavikrut urges a sector-specific reallocation of talent toward healthcare and education as the most effective way to harness AI for national development [377-382]. Himanshu, however, cautions against prescribing sectors, emphasizing that founders must identify real problems first and use AI to accelerate solutions, regardless of the domain [358-372]. This reflects a disagreement on whether AI strategy should be guided by sectoral priorities or by problem-driven entrepreneurship.
POLICY CONTEXT (KNOWLEDGE BASE)
Strategic guidance for AI-driven social-impact startups is addressed in the ‘Building Inclusive Societies with AI’ brief urging deeper industry-government collaboration [S44] and UNCTAD’s call for policy incentives to nurture AI startups [S50]; practical models include co-funded AI labs supporting startup growth [S45].
Unexpected Differences
Assumption that AI alone will automatically equalise access versus the need for targeted equity mechanisms
Speakers: Rajesh Babu, Kritika Sangani
AI delivered via smartphones will not divide but flatten inequalities (Rajesh Babu) Equity‑by‑design algorithms and human‑in‑the‑loop are required to prevent bias and ensure balanced outcomes (Kritika Sangani)
Rajesh’s confident claim that AI is inherently an equaliser [393-398] was unexpected given Kritika’s emphasis on deliberate equity design and safeguards [380-388]. This reveals an unanticipated divergence: one view treats AI as a self-equalising technology, while the other sees it as a tool that must be carefully engineered to avoid reproducing existing disparities.
POLICY CONTEXT (KNOWLEDGE BASE)
The critique reflects UNCTAD’s warning that AI can exacerbate divides if equity mechanisms are absent [S41], the observation that technology’s democratising promise is not automatic [S48], and the open-source debate highlighting the need for protective measures beyond mere access [S55].
Overall Assessment

The panel largely agrees on AI’s transformative potential for democratising access to health, education and social services, and on the importance of digital infrastructure. The main points of contention revolve around how to safeguard equity—whether AI is automatically inclusive or requires explicit algorithmic and linguistic interventions—and the strategic direction for startups, i.e., sector‑specific focus versus problem‑first innovation.

Moderate. While there is consensus on the overarching goal of AI for good, the disagreements pertain to implementation pathways (equity design, language inclusion, sector prioritisation). These differences suggest that policy and program design will need to balance optimism about AI’s equalising power with concrete measures to address bias, language diversity, and sectoral strategy.

Partial Agreements
All speakers concur that AI has the potential to broaden access and simplify service delivery, and that robust digital infrastructure underpins this potential. However, they differ on implementation details such as equity safeguards, sector focus, and the balance between human involvement and automation [1-2][24-26][55-62][206-208][380-388][400-410].
Speakers: Kavikrut, Kritika Sangani, Himanshu AIM, Rajesh Babu
AI can democratise access to healthcare, education and social services, turning a multi‑step entitlement process into a single‑touch experience (Kavikrut, Kritika, Rajesh) Embedding AI within existing government systems and digital public goods can streamline service delivery (Kavikrut, Kritika) AI infrastructure (5G, high mobile data usage) provides the foundation for nationwide deployment (Kavikrut, Himanshu) AI can act as a super‑charged tool for startups and innovators to solve problems at scale (Kavikrut, Himanshu)
Takeaways
Key takeaways
AI can democratize access to healthcare and social protection by turning multi‑step entitlement processes into single‑touch experiences. Embedding AI within existing government systems (e.g., RTE digital lottery, multilingual WhatsApp chatbot) can dramatically reduce transaction time and improve targeting of the most vulnerable. State Innovation Missions are being used to bring frontier technologies, including AI, to under‑served regions, creating peer‑to‑peer learning networks and reducing regional disparities. Equity‑focused algorithms (gender balance, socio‑economic targeting) are essential to ensure AI solutions produce inclusive outcomes. The concept of a United Entitlements Interface (UEI) – a UPI‑like portal for all constitutional rights – is envisioned to streamline eligibility checks and applications across sectors. AI‑driven personal agents (e.g., briefing tools for pharma reps, doctor‑patient agents) can enhance information flow, reduce waiting times, and improve health outcomes. Infrastructure strengths such as widespread 5G, high mobile data usage, and ubiquitous smartphones provide a foundation for uniform AI deployment. Language diversity is a critical divide; multilingual AI models are needed to reach rural and linguistically diverse populations. Startups view AI as the most powerful tool for rapid problem‑solving; sectors with highest social impact identified are healthcare and education. AI should be deployed with a human‑in‑the‑loop approach to support frontline workers and avoid deepening digital divides.
Resolutions and action items
Indus Action will continue experimenting with AI‑enhanced targeting via a multilingual WhatsApp chatbot to reduce frontline worker load and improve outreach to vulnerable families. Atli Innovation Mission (AIM) will launch a State Innovation Mission in an unnamed northeastern/eastern state next week, focusing on AI‑enabled solutions for water‑quality monitoring and bamboo market access. AIM will establish a peer‑to‑peer learning network among states to share successful AI‑driven innovations. Indus Action plans to embed equity algorithms (gender, socio‑economic balance) into future AI solutions for entitlement delivery. The panel discussed advancing the United Entitlements Interface (UEI) concept as a single digital gateway for all constitutional rights. Rajesh Babu’s team has redeveloped the AI briefing agent for pharma reps and is collaborating with Scripps Institute on AI‑based liver‑transplant matching, moving toward deployment. All participants agreed to keep humans in the loop and to prioritize impact‑driven AI projects over purely VC‑driven ventures.
Unresolved issues
How to achieve rapid, nationwide awareness of welfare schemes among the rural poor; specific timelines and scaling strategies remain unclear. Details on the technical roadmap, data governance, and validation processes for the AI‑driven organ‑matching system were not fully addressed. The exact implementation plan, governance model, and funding mechanisms for the United Entitlements Interface (UEI) were not resolved. Strategies for ensuring sustained AI literacy and capacity building among frontline workers across diverse linguistic contexts need further elaboration. The panel did not reach a concrete plan for encouraging more startups to enter health‑tech and edu‑tech beyond general encouragement.
Suggested compromises
Combine AI automation with human oversight: embed equity checks in algorithms while retaining frontline workers to verify and assist vulnerable users. Prioritize impact over rapid VC funding: founders should focus on solving real social problems first, using AI to accelerate long‑term value creation. Use AI to augment, not replace, existing government processes: integrate AI tools within current entitlement systems rather than building parallel platforms. Address language divide by developing multilingual AI models alongside universal smartphone deployment, ensuring rural and dialect‑rich populations are included.
Thought Provoking Comments
Right now, they take about 10 steps, 10 burdensome steps to access a single entitlement. How do we bring that down to a single touch process? That is what AI for good stands for us.
Highlights the core friction in social protection delivery and frames AI as a tool for radical simplification, turning a bureaucratic nightmare into a user‑centric experience.
Set the agenda for the whole panel, prompting others to discuss how AI can compress complex processes. It led directly to the deep dive into the RTE digital lottery and later AI‑driven targeting, shifting the conversation from abstract benefits to concrete process redesign.
Speaker: Kritika Sangani
We have a huge disparity between the western and southern parts at one end of the spectrum and the northeast, eastern and northern part of the country… we are launching State Innovation Missions in those lagging regions.
Brings regional inequality to the forefront and positions AI as a leveling mechanism, not just a national‑wide tool.
Created a turning point where the discussion moved from generic AI benefits to concrete policy‑level interventions. It sparked follow‑up remarks about peer‑to‑peer learning networks and the need for localized data (e.g., water‑quality hackathon).
Speaker: Himanshu (AIM)
Either it is a race to the top or race to the bottom with AI. The only way to go to the top is to focus on impact.
Frames AI adoption as an ethical choice rather than a technological inevitability, urging participants to align AI projects with social impact.
Prompted panelists to justify their initiatives in terms of impact rather than hype. It led to Kritika’s focus on equity algorithms and Rajesh’s emphasis on value‑first product design.
Speaker: Kavikrut
We introduced what we call the RTE MIS – a digital lottery integrated into an open‑source modular product that cut the physical transaction of school admissions from 10 steps to a single digital draw.
Provides a concrete, scalable example of a Digital Public Good that transformed a massive bureaucratic process, illustrating how AI can be embedded in existing systems.
Shifted the conversation from theory to practice, inspiring Himanshu to discuss state‑level replication and prompting the audience to ask about scaling numbers (900,000 to 9 million).
Speaker: Kritika Sangani
We are experimenting with a multilingual WhatsApp chatbot that serves as the first interface for parents, reducing frontline worker load and improving targeting of the most vulnerable.
Shows how low‑cost, widely available technology (WhatsApp) can be combined with AI for outreach and precise targeting, bridging the digital divide.
Expanded the dialogue on AI tools beyond high‑end platforms, leading to questions about awareness, language inclusion, and prompting Himanshu’s language‑divide comment.
Speaker: Kritika Sangani
An AI‑powered personal agent that, each morning, scans a pharma rep’s calendar, CRM, and past conversations to deliver a concise briefing – essentially a ‘morning presidential briefing’ for field staff.
Illustrates a tangible productivity boost for a high‑stakes industry, turning AI into an everyday assistant rather than a futuristic concept.
Prompted the panel to consider AI’s role in augmenting human decision‑making across sectors, leading to further discussion on personal agents for doctors and patients.
Speaker: Rajesh Babu
Using AI to match liver‑transplant donors and recipients by analysing a multitude of biological and physiological parameters that traditional algorithms cannot handle.
Demonstrates AI’s capacity to solve ultra‑complex, life‑saving problems, moving the conversation into deep scientific territory.
Elevated the discussion from service delivery to cutting‑edge medical research, reinforcing the “AI for good” narrative and inspiring audience curiosity about future breakthroughs.
Speaker: Rajesh Babu
There are 22 scheduled languages in India; the language divide is a major barrier, and AI models are beginning to democratise access across dialects.
Identifies a uniquely Indian challenge—linguistic diversity—and positions AI as a solution, expanding the definition of digital inclusion.
Redirected the panel to consider not just geographic but also linguistic equity, influencing Kritika’s later remarks on equity algorithms and prompting rapid‑fire answers about preventing digital divides.
Speaker: Himanshu (AIM)
Can we flip the discovery process so that the state discovers the citizen, layering AI/ML on exhaustive government data to proactively identify eligible beneficiaries?
Reverses the traditional outreach model, proposing a proactive, data‑driven approach that could dramatically reduce the “10‑step” barrier.
Sparked a new line of thought about predictive eligibility, leading to audience questions on awareness and Himanshu’s discussion of peer‑to‑peer learning networks.
Speaker: Kritika Sangani
We are using AI to map iron content in water at sub‑district levels and turning that data into a hackathon challenge for low‑cost diagnostics and solutions.
Shows a creative, grassroots application of AI that links environmental data to entrepreneurship, illustrating how AI can catalyse local innovation ecosystems.
Provided a vivid, relatable example that broadened the conversation from national policy to community‑level impact, reinforcing the theme of AI as an equaliser across regions.
Speaker: Himanshu (AIM)
Overall Assessment

The discussion was steered by a series of concrete, ground‑level examples that transformed the abstract notion of ‘AI for Good’ into actionable pathways. Kritika’s focus on simplifying entitlement access and embedding AI in existing public systems introduced the central problem of bureaucratic friction. Himanshu’s emphasis on regional disparity and language barriers reframed AI as a tool for equity, prompting the panel to consider both geographic and linguistic divides. Kavikrut’s ethical framing (race to the top vs. bottom) and Rajesh’s vivid illustrations—from personal agents for pharma reps to AI‑driven organ matching—added depth and breadth, moving the conversation from policy to daily workflow to cutting‑edge science. Each of these pivotal comments sparked new sub‑topics, shifted perspectives, and deepened the analysis, ultimately shaping a dialogue that balanced visionary ambition with pragmatic, inclusive implementation.

Follow-up Questions
What medical breakthrough do you believe will emerge in the market in the next 3‑4 years as a result of integrating medical science and AI?
Identifying near‑term AI‑driven health innovations helps guide investment, research priorities and policy support for transformative healthcare solutions.
Speaker: Audience Member (question to Rajesh Babu)
Is the average poor person in a rural area aware of Indus Action’s initiatives, and if not, what timeframe is realistic for achieving widespread awareness?
Understanding awareness gaps and timelines is crucial for designing outreach strategies that ensure equitable access to social protection schemes.
Speaker: Audience Member (question to Kritika Sangani)
How can we ensure that AI systems deployed for public welfare do not deepen digital (or economic, social, cultural) divides, especially for rural and marginalized communities?
Proactive safeguards are needed to prevent AI from exacerbating existing inequities and to promote inclusive public‑service delivery.
Speaker: Yashi (Audience Member)
Research needed on AI‑enabled water‑quality monitoring at sub‑district level (e.g., detecting iron content) to inform hackathon‑driven solutions.
Granular, AI‑driven water quality data can empower local innovators to create low‑cost diagnostics and remediation tools, improving public health.
Speaker: Himanshu AIM
Research needed on AI‑driven market‑linkage platforms for bamboo producers to connect with global buyers and improve price discovery.
Leveraging AI for market intelligence could unlock higher incomes for small‑scale bamboo growers and reduce regional price disparities.
Speaker: Himanshu AIM
Study mechanisms to convert documented grassroots innovations into viable startups and jobs (innovation‑to‑startup pipeline).
Understanding how to commercialise the large pool of local innovations can boost entrepreneurship and regional economic development.
Speaker: Himanshu AIM
Improve AI models for discovering and targeting the most vulnerable children in entitlement schemes (e.g., RTE).
Better targeting increases the efficiency and equity of social‑protection delivery, reducing exclusion errors.
Speaker: Kritika Sangani
Develop a unified digital public good (United Entitlements Interface) that lets citizens discover, apply for, and receive multiple constitutional rights through a single platform.
A single‑window interface could dramatically simplify access to a range of entitlements, scaling impact across sectors.
Speaker: Kritika Sangani (referenced by Kavi)
Research AI algorithms for multi‑parameter organ‑transplant matching to improve compatibility and reduce waiting times.
Advanced AI‑based matching could save lives and make transplant systems more efficient and equitable.
Speaker: Rajesh Babu
Explore AI‑powered personal doctor agents that synthesize patient data, schedule interactions, and communicate with clinician agents before human contact.
Such agents could streamline primary‑care workflows, reduce waiting periods, and enhance continuity of care.
Speaker: Rajesh Babu
Investigate multilingual and dialect‑aware AI models to bridge India’s language divide in AI applications.
Addressing linguistic diversity is essential for inclusive AI adoption across all regions and populations.
Speaker: Himanshu AIM
Design and evaluate peer‑to‑peer learning networks among state innovation missions to accelerate AI adoption in less‑served regions.
Effective knowledge sharing can reduce regional disparities in AI capacity and foster collaborative problem‑solving.
Speaker: Himanshu AIM
Research methods for embedding equity‑focused algorithms (gender balance, socio‑economic status) into AI‑driven welfare platforms to prevent bias.
Proactive bias mitigation ensures AI systems promote fairness and do not reinforce existing social inequities.
Speaker: Kritika Sangani
Examine governance frameworks that steer AI development toward a ‘race to the top’ rather than a ‘race to the bottom’, focusing on impact metrics for AI for Good.
Policy and governance research can guide responsible AI deployment that maximises social benefit.
Speaker: Kavikrut (referencing Nandan Nilekani)

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