About the session
India’s space programme is one of the strongest examples of how a nation can build reliable, safe, highly technical, and globally respected capability through long-term vision, disciplined execution, and deep institutional collaboration. As AI begins to shape economies, governance, security, and public services, India faces a similar strategic question: how do we build AI in India, for India, and within India’s realities of scale, diversity, and cost?
In this keynote, Prof. A. S. Kiran Kumar, former Chairman of ISRO, will draw from decades of experience in building mission-critical technology for India. He will reflect on the lessons from India’s space journey, including reliability under constraints, safety-first engineering, talent development, public purpose, and the ability to turn ambitious national goals into working systems.
The session will connect these lessons to India’s AI future, especially the challenges of building for a diverse, multilingual, and complex country, and the partnerships needed between government, universities, research institutions, startups, and industry.
