New Delhi, February 19 – Noted businessman Mohandas Pai, while praising the ongoing India AI Impact Summit 2026, expressed confidence on Thursday that the deep tech and AI solutions will create unprecedented opportunities for the nation and mankind, while also cautioning about the optimal and humane use of advanced technology.
Speaking to IANS, the former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Infosys said that India is the third largest AI power in the world, and this AI Impact Summit will further strengthen India's aspirations in harnessing AI, although there is still a long way to go.
He added that AI will be a transformative force in reshaping the world, making the human race more productive.
"It will make learning and teaching faster, enhance healthcare, and also change the world in unforeseen ways," Pai said.
"This (India AI Impact Summit 2026) is for the good of humanity, provided it is used in an ethical and humane manner. This is what Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emphasized," he said.
He also stressed the need for developing data centers in the country, and building our own large learning models to ensure that India does not become subservient to Western powers, including the US and China, which have their own goals of emerging as AI service providers.
"We must not end up as only users of AI; we need to have our own dedicated data centers with the capability to use and leverage them according to our needs," Pai cautioned.
He added that the biggest fear associated with AI is its impact on children and their impressionable minds, as they are already exposed to digital media and technical appliances.
Sharing insights from recent findings, Pai said that a couple of studies have already pointed out at weakening cognitive ability in children, and this should raise alarm bells because it is bizarre to see the next generation as less intelligent than the previous one.
When asked about the Opposition's criticism and dubbing of the event as a "PR spectacle," Pai was unsparing in his rebuke.
He lashed out at the Congress for "demeaning" the nation by repeatedly pointing out its flaws rather than celebrating India's proud AI moment.
He reiterated the critics' charge that the massive AI Summit was mocked and derided either by foreign powers or by the Congress, and said that such antics will do no good to the Congress, either socially or electorally, as the young and aspirational class will never subscribe to such outlandish approaches.
"If they abuse the techies, abuse the entrepreneurs, abuse the nation, will the people like this and appreciate such behaviour?" Pai asked.