London, February 13 An India-France Business Dialogue in London set the stage for the upcoming AI Impact Summit in New Delhi next week, the first international gathering of its kind focused on artificial intelligence, anchored on the principles of people, planet, and progress.
The dialogue at the Indian High Commission in London on Thursday symbolized a passing of the baton from France, which hosted the AI Action Summit in Paris last year.
It also highlighted the close cooperation in the tech sector between India and France, set against the wider context of the signing of the free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU) last month.
"We need to understand how you make AI relevant to everyone, and that aspect is what will anchor the AI summit in India," said Vikram Doraiswami, the Indian High Commissioner to the UK.
"The second important thing we are looking at is inclusion, because AI will be meaningless if it is not truly democratic in terms of access. Countries and societies need to be able to ensure that we are not building two-tiered societies or a multi-tiered world based on how you can access AI and whether you will be left behind or taken forward," he said.
Dr. Pushmeet Kohli, at the forefront of Google Deep Mind's scientific initiatives, delivered a keynote on the immense benefits that AI offers to humanity.
This was followed by a panel discussion on the topic of 'AI as a Growth Multiplier', moderated by Professor Gopal Ramchurn of Southampton University and addressing Dr. Hema Prem Raina of Infosys and Atul Sodhi of French banking group Credit Agricole.
The Ambassador of France to the UK, Hélène Tréheux-Duchêne, reflected on the Paris summit bringing together more than 100 countries and 40,000 stakeholders from across civil society, research, academia, and business to explore AI for the benefit of all.
This followed the inaugural AI Safety Summit in the UK three years ago, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi set to host global leaders, policymakers, innovators, and experts from around the world to deliberate on the way forward for transformative technology.
"There is a narrative about India and AI that needs updating. The world still thinks of us as a talent pool or a cost center, but that chapter is over. Today, Indian companies are building AI models and solutions that compete globally and win," said Sreeraman MG, Co-founder of Fynd – a leading Indian AI commerce platform expanding operations in the UK market.
"India is not just participating in the AI race; it is shaping a model of AI that is inclusive, interoperable, and economically transformative. What truly differentiates India is the scale and complexity at which technology must operate."
"The AI products being tested in India's scale and diversity today are helping to define what practical, scalable AI will look like worldwide tomorrow," he said.
Earlier this week, the Indian Tech Society (UK) – a London-based professional community – organized a high-level Commonwealth Roundtable on Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, and Digital Assets at the UK Parliament complex, geared towards the Delhi summit.
Among the attendees included the UK's Minister for AI and Online Safety in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), Kanishka Narayan, who will be representing Britain at the Indian summit next week.
The roundtable, also addressed by British Indian peer Lord Krish Raval, highlighted the strategic importance of the India-UK partnership in advancing responsible and climate-aligned AI deployment.
It concluded that the UK's leadership in finance, regulation, and climate governance, combined with India's scale, digital public infrastructure, and innovation ecosystem, made it a "powerful corridor for deploying climate-critical digital systems across developing economies."
Participants at the event, co-organized by data infrastructure firm Astralane, stressed that such collaboration could accelerate practical cooperation across the Commonwealth, aligning technology deployment with climate resilience, sustainable finance, and inclusive economic development.
