Nandan Nilekani advocates for India to focus on deploying AI in local languages and practical sectors, leveraging its digital infrastructure to become the world’s leading use case for real-world AI applications, generating millions of jobs through startups and innovation.
Nandan Nilekani said India should stop trying to win the global race to build ever-larger artificial intelligence models and instead position itself as the world’s leading market for practical AI applications. Speaking through Business Today, the Infosys co-founder argued that the value in AI will eventually move away from infrastructure such as chips, data centres and model scale, and towards the application layer, where India can use its size and digital reach to stand out.
Nilekani said India’s advantage lies in building AI that can operate in Indian languages, by voice and in the multilingual way people actually communicate. He argued that this is essential if AI is to reach more than 1.4 billion people. He also pointed to India’s Digital Public Infrastructure, including Aadhaar and UPI, as a ready-made base for deploying AI in areas such as agriculture, healthcare and education, rather than focusing solely on frontier model development.
The broader pitch is one Nilekani has made before. The Financial Express reported that he wants India to become the world’s “use case capital” by concentrating on real-world AI deployments. The Economic Times has also reported on his People+AI initiative and the “Adbhut India” vision, which emphasise frugal innovation and practical solutions built on India’s digital foundation.
Nilekani also linked AI to job creation, saying startups will be the main engine of employment in the AI era. Business Today reported that India’s startup count has risen sharply over the past decade and could keep growing rapidly if regulation is simplified. He said the future may not belong to a few giant employers but to millions of smaller businesses, each using AI tools, digital credit and easier market access to scale. He also called for portable social security, digital credentials and policies that help workers move between salaried jobs, gig work and entrepreneurship.
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