India well-placed to apply AI to solve challenges, tap opportunities: Nilekani

Nilekani noted that over the last few years, the government has focussed on how to make transactions more efficient and effective, which has driven digitisation across the board. 

He added as a byproduct of this, huge data now across systems has been generated and that the time is right to apply AI across the board to India’s most challenging issues across areas like healthcare and education. 

On the business front, Indian companies are looking at using AI to solve problems in a big way across the world, and especially after the pandemic that has accelerated digital adoption, Nilekani said during a fireside chat ‘Making India a Global Leader of AI.’ 

“I think India is actually on the cusp of some major AI innovation... both on the business side as well as on the government and national side, we are well placed to really apply AI in a very unique way to India’s challenges as well as opportunities,” he added. 

The discussion was organised on the sidelines of the one-year anniversary of INDIAai. INDIAai (The National AI Portal of India) is a joint venture by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), National E-Governance Division (NEGD), and Nasscom that was set up to prepare the nation for an AI future.