India AI Impact Summit 2026

16 February 2026

Session: 9.30 - 10.25 a.m

Room: 9, Bharat Mandapam

As Artificial Intelligence reshapes global economies, strengthening human capital is becoming central to national competitiveness. Higher education institutions, industry partners, and public agencies each play a pivotal role in building the workforce of the future-one that is equipped with AI aligned skills, digital readiness, and lifelong learning pathways. The session is designed to bring together government leaders, industry innovators, and academic institutions to shape a shared vision for India’s AI-enabled future.

This session will facilitate cross-sector dialogue on:

• Policy and regulatory pathways for safe, inclusive, and impactful AI adoption in education
• Industry–academia collaboration models to accelerate employability and innovation
• Institutional readiness for integrating AI powered teaching, learning, and assessment
• Skilling frameworks that prepare learners for a technology-driven labour market
• Capacity building, pilots, and partnerships to scale solutions nationwide

16 February 2026

Session: 10.30 a.m

Room: 9, Bharat Mandapam

AI is quickly becoming the silent force-multiplier shaping India’s national security strategy, tying together everything from battlefield awareness to real-time decision-making. Beyond defense, AI is strengthening cyber-resilience, improving intelligence assessments, and enabling smarter surveillance along sensitive borders.

At the center of this shift is the idea of Sovereign AI. This refers to India’s ability to build, manage, and control its own intelligence systems with minimal or no external dependence. By 2026, Sovereign AI has effectively become the “operating system” of national security, powering everything from autonomous drones to hypersonic navigation and critical internal-security frameworks.

As we move into 2026, the Ministry of Defence finds itself at a decisive turning point, marking this year as the “Year of Reforms” aimed at reshaping the armed forces into a more modern, technologically driven, and combat-ready force.

AI’s impact on internal security is also very practical, creating change waves from the ground up. Police forces are beginning to use predictive tools to anticipate crime hotspots, manage large gatherings more safely, and support counter-insurgency/counter-terrorism units with faster threat assessments. Beyond the tactical and operational, AI is also impacting strategic behavior within police forces in India. AI is being used to spot deepfakes before they spread, trace suspicious financial trails that fund extremism, and monitor domestic borders without depending on foreign surveillance platforms.

16 February 2026

Session: 1.30 p.m - 2.25 p.m

Room: 7, Bharat Mandapam

The session on Impact AI in Audit highlights key initiatives, emerging practices and strategic priorities for integrating AI in Public auditing. It presents insights on how AI can enhance audit planning execution, and reporting through advance data analytics and intelligent tools. The discussions emphasis multi stakeholder collaboration and promote dialogue on the responsible, ethical and context specific use of AI, underscoring its potential to strengthen transparency, efficiency and trust in public financial accountability systems.

17 February 2026

Session: 12.30 p.m - 1.25 p.m

Room: 4A, Bharat Mandapam

This session advances the conversation from democratizing AI access to enabling meaningful adoption at the last mile where inclusion, usability, and public trust define real impact. Focusing on Indian languages and voice first interaction, it explores how language AI and foundation models can function as shared national digital infrastructure, powering governance and cultural services at population scale. Emphasizing trust by design, the discussion highlights transparent, accountable, and humancentric AI, and focuses on how industry, government platforms, and public institutions can come together to responsibly scale inclusive AI first interaction, it explores how language AI and foundation models can function as shared national digital infrastructure, powering governance and cultural services at population scale. Emphasizing trust by design, the discussion highlights transparent, accountable, and human centric AI, and focuses on how industry, government platforms, and public institutions can come together to responsibly scale inclusive AI.

17 February 2026

Session: 3.30 p.m - 4.25 p.m

Room: 16, Bharat Mandapam

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) rapidly converges with next-generation technologies, its integration with quantum computing, quantum materials, and quantum systems is emerging as a critical driver of scientific breakthroughs and industrial competitiveness. AI is increasingly enabling quantum research by accelerating algorithm development, optimizing hardware design, improving error correction, and enhancing simulation and modelling capabilities.

Recognizing this convergence, both India and the United States have prioritized quantum and AI as strategic technologies through initiatives such as India’s National Quantum Mission and IndiaAI Mission, alongside significant U.S. public–private investments. Against this backdrop, the India AI Summit presents a timely platform to examine how AI is powering advances in quantum technologies and vice-a-versa and how deeper U.S.–India collaboration can accelerate innovation, commercialization, and global leadership in frontier technologies

19 February 2026

Session: 3.30 p.m - 5.00 p.m

Room: Exhibition Hall 4, Bharat Mandapam

The India–AI Impact Summit 2026 marks a defining global inflection point - transitioning from dialogue to demonstrable impact. Anchored in the principles of People, Planet, and Progress, it envisions a future where AI advances humanity, fosters inclusive growth, and safeguards our shared planet. It is a platform that focuses on showcasing implementation-ready use cases, institutional frameworks, and governance models that can support India’s long-term development objectives.

As part of the Summit 2026, ARF and KPMG in India are jointly organising a thematic conference titled: AI for Resilient and Sustainable Cities: Driving Innovation for Urban Futures. The Conference will explore practical AI applications in urban planning, infrastructure management, service delivery, and governance, with a focus on measurable outcomes.

20 February 2026

Session: 5.30 p.m - 6.30 p.m

Room: 9, Bharat Mandapam

The panel presents a cross-sector blueprint for scaling artificial intelligence by aligning technical capabilities, capital allocation, legal frameworks and infrastructure. Panelists examine how robust data engineering and production‑grade model pipelines may translate into investable business models, how investors assess technical promise relative to sustainable economics, and how legal and policy regimes for data and intellectual property can shape commercialisation pathways. The discussion brings together operator, investor, legal and infrastructure perspectives to highlight potential steps that help synchronise funding rounds, regulatory compliance and platform upgrades for durable AI scale‑up.