The NVIDIA AI Summit India unfolded at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai from October 23-25, marking a historic milestone in India’s tech and AI landscape. The event, led by Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, and Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Industries, showcased India’s readiness to harness artificial intelligence (AI) for economic and social transformation.
In the keynote address, Huang emphasized India’s pivotal role in the global AI ecosystem. Drawing on the Indian concept of “Vidya,” meaning knowledge, he described NVIDIA’s mission to empower the nation through AI as a “cornerstone” of its future. Huang highlighted the potential embedded in India’s skilled workforce, describing it as an “amazing natural resource” in IT and computer science expertise. He added that the evolution from computing to intelligence would fuel the next stage of global industry, with India poised to be at its forefront due to its data resources and population scale.
India’s path to AI sovereignty
As AI infrastructure accelerates across India, Huang predicted that “AI factories” would become the backbone of the nation’s development. He stressed the importance of India manufacturing its own AI rather than relying on imported solutions, explaining that data should not be exported in exchange for imported intelligence and emphasizing India’s need for domestic AI capabilities.
Huang outlined three sectors ripe for AI transformation: sovereign AI, where countries leverage their own data to drive innovation; agentic AI, which focuses on automating knowledge-intensive tasks; and physical AI, which applies AI-driven robotics and automation to industrial processes. With its unique blend of human capital, data, and infrastructure, Huang said that India is strategically positioned to lead in each of these fields.
NVIDIA and Reliance partnership
In a dynamic fireside chat, Ambani and Huang delved deeper into AI’s role in reshaping key industries, especially energy, telecommunications, and manufacturing. Ambani expressed enthusiasm for the partnership between Reliance and NVIDIA in building “AI factories” in India—massive AI-driven hubs that would revolutionize industrial operations through automation and data-driven insights.
Ambani remarked that AI would be pivotal to India’s ongoing economic growth, with applications across industry and public sector services. He pointed out that AI-enabled data processing was already improving governance, enhancing efficiency, and boosting service delivery. He explained that the partnership with NVIDIA would accelerate India’s progress, bringing advanced AI solutions to not only industry but also to public service and governance.
Upskilling India’s workforce for an AI-powered future
Huang emphasized NVIDIA’s commitment to India’s AI-driven future by equipping the workforce with necessary skills. He shared that the company is partnering with major IT firms like Infosys, TCS, Tech Mahindra, and Wipro to train close to half a million developers, positioning India as a leader in the AI revolution. With its immense talent pool and emerging tech ecosystem, Huang asserted that India has the potential to set new standards globally across sectors like healthcare, finance, energy, and manufacturing.
Global aspirations backed by local potential
Both leaders concluded the summit with a shared vision: to leverage India’s vast talent, tech ecosystem, and data resources to foster AI advancements not only for India but for the world. They underscored that in the coming years, India’s journey from a computing powerhouse to an “intelligence industry” leader could become a model for nations striving to harness AI for transformative growth.
The NVIDIA AI Summit India 2024 encapsulated the excitement, ambition, and readiness of India to embrace the AI era, with NVIDIA and Reliance at the forefront of this monumental shift. As AI factories rise and the workforce gains new skills, India stands ready to lead the global AI revolution, shaping a future that resonates with knowledge, innovation, and technological prowess.
NVIDIA AI Summit 2024: Jensen Huang and Mukesh Ambani share vision for AI-led growth in India
