India AI Impact Summit 2026: Global Tech Leaders Convene in New Delhi

The India AI Impact Summit 2026 officially commenced on February 16 at the Bharat Mandapam. Organized under the IndiaAI Mission by the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), this five-day global forum (running through February 20) focuses on the practical application of Artificial Intelligence, emphasizing innovation, infrastructure, and social impact.

Here are the key developments, corrected figures, and announcements from the summit.

The Scale of the Event: Pavilions and Startups

Running parallel to the summit is the India AI Impact Expo, a massive showcase of real-world AI solutions ranging from healthcare diagnostics to risk management.

Exhibitor Breakdown: The expo features 300+ curated pavilions representing established companies and national delegations from 13 countries (including France, Germany, Japan, and Russia).

Startup Ecosystem: Alongside the pavilions, over 600 Indian startups are demonstrating scalable AI models that have successfully graduated from pilot stages.

Themes: The Seven 'Chakras' of AI

The event’s agenda, comprising over 500 sessions, is structured around seven core pillars—referred to as "chakras"—that guide the discussions on sovereign protocols and localized architectures:

• Human Capital
• Inclusion for Social Empowerment
• Safe & Trusted AI
• Science
• Resilience, Innovation, & Efficiency
• Democratizing AI Resources
• AI for Economic Development & Social Good

AI Adoption and Skill Penetration

A major focus of the summit is India's leadership in AI readiness.

Global Leadership: Citing data such as the Stanford Global AI Vibrancy Tool (GVI), speakers highlighted that India currently holds the highest level of AI skill penetration and hiring rates globally.

Workforce Statistics: Data presented by Microsoft at the summit revealed that 92% of knowledge workers in India use AI, with 77% utilizing it daily.

Business Integration: Further data indicated that approximately 59% of businesses have deployed AI agents to automate workflows.

Infrastructure & Regulation

To support this rapid adoption, the government highlighted initiatives to provide startups with affordable access to GPUs and cloud computing.

Regulatory Sandboxes: Joseph Joshi, CTO of IFSCA, advocated for the implementation of "regulatory sandboxes." These controlled testing environments with strict guardrails allow fintech and tech companies to experiment with AI innovations while balancing risks.

Major Corporate Announcements

The summit also served as a launchpad for significant industry news:

Anthropic: The US-based AI safety firm announced the opening of a new office in Bengaluru. The company revealed its annual revenue run-rate in India has doubled in the last four months, driven by its new "Claude Code" agent. New partnerships were announced with Air India and Cognizant.

Microsoft: Microsoft India President Puneet Chandok projected a 1,000-fold growth in the AI market over the next three years, stating that AI will "unbundle" tasks rather than destroy jobs.

Qure.ai: The Indian health-tech firm showcased data showing its AI tools have reduced medical diagnostic turnaround times by 50%, impacting over 40 million patients globally.