New Delhi, Feb 19 (IANS) CEOs of global tech companies attending the India AI Impact Summit 2026, on Thursday, emphasised the need for autonomy, infrastructure, and mass empowerment in the AI ecosystem.

On the sidelines of India AI Impact Summit 2026, keynote addresses by Arthur Mensch, CEO & Co-founder, Mistral AI; Jeet Adani, Director, Adani Digital Labs; Rajesh Subramaniam, CEO, FedEx and Vinod Khosla, Founder, Khosla Ventures, examined how artificial intelligence is reshaping sovereignty, global commerce, infrastructure, and access to essential services – with a strong emphasis on openness, ownership and large-scale societal impact.

Arthur Mensch, CEO & Co-founder, Mistral AI, made a compelling case for AI autonomy and open innovation.

Emphasising decentralisation and digital self-reliance, he stated, “AI should be a tool for empowerment, not for dominance. Countries and regions must own their AI destiny; it is not a privilege, but a necessity for preserving digital autonomy.”

Warning against excessive concentration of power, he added, “We do not want a world where three or four enormous companies own access to intelligence. The future must be built by the many, and for the many.”

Jeet Adani, Director, Adani Digital Labs, framed AI through the lens of national capability and strategic sovereignty.

Outlining energy, compute, and services sovereignty as three defining pillars, he remarked, “AI is written in code, but it runs on electricity. If a nation’s energy systems are fragile, its intelligence systems are fragile.”

Announcing major investments in green, sovereign AI infrastructure, he added, “The question is no longer whether India will participate in the AI century. The question is whether the AI century will carry India’s imprint, in its infrastructure, its intelligence, and its values.”

Rajesh Subramaniam, CEO, FedEx, positioned AI as foundational infrastructure for the next industrial era, particularly in global supply chains.

Reflecting on the company’s transformation, he said, “AI is no longer a trend – it is the next industrial system. Intelligence is not an asset; it is infrastructure.”

Highlighting the scale of opportunity, he added, “Over the next 50 years, our differentiation will come from orchestrating the intelligence that governs modern commerce, predicting disruption, optimising flows and building resilient supply chains.”

Vinod Khosla, Founder, Khosla Ventures, shifted the focus to immediate, large-scale applications capable of transforming lives.

Advocating AI tutors, AI doctors, and AI agronomy services accessible to every citizen, he said, “Unless AI benefits the bottom half of India’s population, we will not see its true impact.”

Underscoring feasibility, he added, “The future is here today. What once required hundreds of billions of dollars can now be delivered at scale, cheaply — multiplying access to education, healthcare, and expertise for every Indian.”

The session reflected a shared conviction that AI’s next phase must be defined not only by technological sophistication, but by ownership, accessibility, and equitable deployment.

From open-source autonomy and sovereign infrastructure to intelligent supply chains and universal digital services, the leaders emphasised that India stands at a decisive inflection point, with the opportunity to architect AI systems that are inclusive, resilient, and globally influential.

–IANS

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