New Delhi, Feb 17 (IANS) Merely building AI infrastructure is not enough, and it must be used to transform people’s lives on a large scale, according to Debjani Ghosh, Distinguished Fellow at NITI Aayog, who stressed that the ‘AI Impact Summit 2026’ being held in the national capital is “India’s technology philosophy”.

Speaking to IANS here during the Summit, Ghosh stressed that everything we have built, including AI, is “inclusion first”.

“Everything, like you think about DPI, you think about all the digital public infrastructure (DPI) — it started from the grassroots and then scaled up. Everything that India builds starts from the grassroots to ensure that women at the bottom of society benefit first,” she noted.

Ghosh, also the Chief Architect of NITI Aayog’s Frontier Tech Hub, said she was proud that the Global South’s first global AI conference was being held in India.

She said India deliberately focused the summit on “impact”.

The summit’s three core principles are people, planet, and progress.

“India wants to convey the message to the world that merely building AI infrastructure is not enough; it must be used to transform people’s lives on a large scale,” Ghosh told IANS.

She further stated that India’s technological thinking has always been inclusive.

India is not only benefiting women but also encouraging women entrepreneurs and developers to come forward and create technology, Ghosh highlighted.

“I’m very proud that the first-ever global AI summit in the Global South is happening in India,” she added.

During a session at the summit, Sachi Chopra, Program Architect of NITI Aayog’s Frontier Tech Hub, said that a dedicated digital platform has been created, featuring over 200 AI impact stories.

This platform will help policymakers and states understand how an innovation was implemented, the challenges faced, and its impact.

Anna Roy, Mission Director and Program Director of NITI Aayog’s WEP (Women Entrepreneurship Platform), told IANS that the government has sought to strengthen India’s AI leadership on the global stage through this summit.

The government has integrated various initiatives into this summit, so that it is not just a summit but also a platform to position India globally in the field of AI, she noted.

–IANS

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