'The AI future will not automatically arrive in Bharat, our nation must build it,' says Gautam Adani

Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani said that India should build its own sovereign AI capabilities, or unchecked dependence on foreign technologies could cause serious economic and strategic risks for the country.

"Because growth without sovereignty creates dependence. And progress without control creates risk. While job creation is vital, a nation of 1.4 billion people cannot afford to place its jobs, data, culture, and collective intelligence at the mercy of foreign algorithms and foreign balance sheets," Gautam Adani said while addressing students, researchers and policymakers after inaugurating the Sharadchandra Pawar Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence at Vidya Pratishthan in Baramati, Pune district.

 Gautam Adani bats for India's own AI models

The AI centre, funded by the Adani Group, has been set up under Vidya Pratishthan, the educational institution governed by the Pawar family. Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and NCP-SCP Chief Sharad Pawar attended the inauguration.

The Adani Group also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Vidya Pratishthan to extend collaboration in artificial intelligence research, engineering and execution.

Setting the tone for his address, Gautam Adani reflected on the transformative nature of technology across history, saying, "While the seeds of yesterday were sown in the earth, the seeds of tomorrow will be sown in the algorithm."

He remarked that human progress has never been linear but has advanced in powerful leaps driven by technological revolutions.

"Human progress does not move in a straight line. It advances in leaps. Each leap propelled by a technology revolution that first unsettles society, and then rebuilds it at a far higher level of capability," he added.

Gautam Adani noted that India’s mobile revolution had created an unprecedented economic opportunity at the grassroots level.

Bharat's own experience offers clear evidence. The mobile revolution, much as many feared, did not destroy jobs. Instead, it multiplied them at a massive scale. When smartphones and low-cost data reach ordinary Bhartiyas, it releases an enormous surge of economic energy at the grassroots."

He cited data showing that between 1991 and 2024, India added over 230 million non-farm jobs, with the majority of these occurring after the expansion of digital infrastructure.

These opportunities, he said, did not arise from policy or capital alone, but when capability reached the common citizen.

"And therefore, I can confidently say that artificial intelligence will now represent the next and far more powerful leap," Gautam Adani said, adding, "Because if mobile gave Bharat greater access, AI will give Bharat greater capability."

Painting a picture of an AI-enabled future, Gautam Adani said artificial intelligence would embed capability, decision-making and productivity across every sector.

He said the Sharadchandra Pawar Centre of Excellence in AI arrives at a moment of immense national significance, as India positions itself at the forefront of the global AI revolution. "The AI future is not something that will automatically arrive in Bharat. It is something our nation must build."

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