India AI summit highlights shift from pilots to scaled deployment

At the main summit of the India-AI Impact Summit 2026, a panel discussion titled ‘India Building AI Solutions for the World’ examined how the country can scale artificial intelligence from experimentation to globally deployable, enterprise-grade solutions. The conversation centred on large-scale adoption, governance, industry collaboration and the role of Indian start-ups in global value chains.

A key theme was the shift from pilot projects to mission-critical deployment. Speakers noted that across global manufacturing and mobility ecosystems, AI is now embedded in design, production, supply chains, predictive maintenance, quality control and sustainability monitoring. The discussion emphasised that competitive advantage no longer lies in merely adopting AI, but in deploying it reliably at scale across geographies and regulatory frameworks.

Panellists underlined the importance of data integrity, cybersecurity, safety standards and seamless integration between digital systems and physical infrastructure. As AI becomes central to operations, governance structures must evolve accordingly. Board-level oversight, long-term risk assessment and ethical accountability were identified as critical elements in ensuring sustainable deployment.

During the discussion, Priya Kapur, Non-Executive Director at Sona Comstar and Managing Director of Aureus Investment, observed that “what differentiates global leaders today is not the novelty of AI use, but the ability to deploy it reliably at scale across geographies, with strong governance and data safeguards.” She added that as AI becomes core to business operations, oversight must move to the board level to align deployment with long-term strategy and risk management.

Another major focus of the panel was the opportunity for Indian AI start-ups. Speakers highlighted the need for start-ups to build globally compliant, robust solutions and to collaborate early with large enterprises in order to integrate into multinational ecosystems. The discussion pointed to industry-led partnerships as essential for accelerating deployment and improving real-world applicability.

Examples from the manufacturing and mobility sectors illustrated how AI, robotics and advanced analytics are being integrated into operations. At Sona Comstar, for instance, AI-enabled computer vision systems are used for automated inspection, while predictive analytics supports process optimisation. The company is also incorporating advanced robotics and autonomous material-handling systems to improve precision, productivity and safety. In mobility technologies, AI-driven radar and sensing platforms are supporting advanced driver assistance and autonomous driving systems, alongside exploration of applications in autonomous mobile robots and next-generation robotics platforms.

The panel concluded that India has the opportunity to position itself as a global hub for scalable and reliable AI solutions. Achieving this, speakers agreed, will require coordinated efforts between start-ups, established industry players, academia, financial institutions and policymakers. As Kapur noted in her closing remarks, India must anchor AI innovation in real-world deployment and strong governance if it is to build solutions that can be trusted and adopted at global scale.