Experts at the TIS-H Clinical AI Summit 2026 highlighted the critical need for real-world evaluation of AI solutions in healthcare. They stressed that promising results from development or pilot programmes do not guarantee effective and safe deployment in hospitals, emphasising clinical relevance, validation, and integration into existing workflows.
A report by Bain & Company and HealthQuad identifies remote patient monitoring, OT/ICU optimisation, and chronic disease management as key opportunities for Artificial Intelligence in Indian healthcare. The report highlights a shift from experimental AI to real-world applications, driven by government initiatives, increasing EMR adoption, and a robust startup ecosystem. AI's autonomous capabilities are rapidly advancing while costs decrease, creating significant growth potential for providers and startups.
Prof Ajit Kumar Chaturvedi, Vice-Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University, highlighted Artificial Intelligence's transformative potential in healthcare, emphasising its role in augmenting doctors' capabilities and enhancing efficiency. Speaking at PGIMER's Foundation Day, he stressed the need for India to develop AI solutions tailored to its unique healthcare realities, moving beyond being a mere consumer of Western-trained systems. PGIMER Director Vivek Lal also detailed the institute's expansion and commitment to affordable healthcare.
Pragya Misra, OpenAI's head of public policy and strategy for India, stated that the next phase of AI will concentrate on driving measurable outcomes rather than mere experiments. She highlighted examples like Cars24 using AI for customer retention and a healthcare company building its CRM with OpenAI's Codex, demonstrating AI's tangible business impact and cost-saving potential. OpenAI aims for artificial general intelligence (AGI) to benefit all humanity by making AI accessible and addressing enterprise concerns like data residency.
IT services firm Tech Mahindra has announced a collaboration with AI coding platform SpaceXSI to help global enterprises modernise legacy applications, accelerate software delivery, and improve developer productivity through AI-assisted engineering across the software lifecycle. The partnership aims to embed AI intelligence across the software development lifecycle for better business outcomes, focusing on sectors like technology, telecommunications, and banking.
While AI can help automate routine, repetitive tasks, jobs that require high emotional intelligence, communication skills, creativity and the ability to work in unpredictable situations are likely to withstand the rise of AI, says Kumar Rajagopalan, vice president (strategic initiatives) and country head (India), at Dexian, a global provider of IT consulting, digital transformation and workforce solutions.
Experts at AI Manthan 2.0 in Kanpur stressed the need for Artificial Intelligence to be customised for India's specific requirements in education, healthcare, agriculture, and governance. Discussions highlighted the development of local language models, AI solutions for farmers like crop loss assessment and a single-window platform, and AI's role in healthcare for diagnosis and reducing doctors' workload, all while ensuring data privacy through federated learning.
Indian IT stocks have experienced their most significant weekly surge in 18 years, with the Nifty IT index climbing 11.72 per cent, as a global sell-off in AI-linked equities redirected investor attention towards India's IT services sector. This shift aligns with a JP Morgan report identifying India as a 'natural AI hedge' due to its large, liquid market and strong domestic institutional investor base.
The National Medical Commission is emphasising the importance of preparing doctors and healthcare systems for the responsible and effective use of artificial intelligence, highlighting the need for ethical and equitable AI adoption in healthcare.
Union Health Minister J P Nadda has emphasised the need for sound regulation, ethical oversight, and equity in the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to healthcare, speaking at the World Health Assembly in Geneva.
Customer experience firm Fusion CX is significantly investing in AI-enabled services and data infrastructure, aiming to increase its share in total turnover to 25% within 12-18 months. The company, which reported a turnover of Rs 1,818.13 crore in FY26, is preparing for an IPO of Rs 800-1,000 crore in October, driven by organic growth, acquisitions, and its AI strategy.
Industry experts advocate for India to develop its own artificial intelligence (AI) safety framework, distinct from US or EU models, to address unique challenges like deepfakes and cyberattacks. They call for a comprehensive commitment involving all stakeholders and a hybrid regulatory approach combining voluntary and binding measures, as the Indian government also considers new AI regulations.
Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel addressed AI Manthan 2.0, advocating for the comprehensive integration of Artificial Intelligence across all university subjects rather than as a standalone course. She urged universities to develop clear, time-bound AI roadmaps covering education, research, healthcare, and agriculture, emphasising indigenous AI development, employment creation, and the importance of "Safe and Trusted AI." The event also saw the formation of an AI Policy Advisory Group and an AI Implementation Group to drive these initiatives.
Homegrown software company Zoho has launched Zia Chat, a unified AI interface designed to streamline business operations across various functions. Alongside this, Zoho announced its entry into vertical SaaS with seven industry-specific applications for sectors like retail, automotive, healthcare, and education, reinforcing its position as a 'Swadeshi' alternative to global tech giants.
A new report by Philips indicates that Artificial Intelligence is significantly enhancing healthcare in India, with 71% of professionals reporting increased patient capacity and 85% believing it improves patient outcomes. AI is also seen as a tool to improve access to quality healthcare in rural areas, with patients also embracing its benefits for more meaningful interactions with doctors.
Zoho has launched Zia Chat, a unified AI interface designed to streamline business operations across various functions by providing a single conversational platform for information, lead generation, and data analysis. Concurrently, the company has expanded into vertical SaaS with seven new industry-specific applications for sectors like retail, automotive, healthcare, and education, reinforcing its position as a homegrown alternative to global tech giants.
India's leading IT companies are anticipated to report subdued revenue growth and largely stable margins for the July-September quarter, as clients maintain tight discretionary budgets, with analysts closely watching the conversion of strong bookings into revenue and the impact of AI on traditional services.
Students are learning to combine technology with agriculture, healthcare, biotechnology, architecture and fashion, explains Mandeep Singh, assistant professor and deputy dean, Lovely Professional University.
Zoho cofounder Sridhar Vembu dismisses exaggerated fears about AI's catastrophic potential and global development pauses. He advocates for India to adopt an independent AI strategy, fostering partnerships while avoiding entanglement in US-China tech rivalry. Vembu stresses extensive investment in foundational R&D across sectors, distinguishing it from costly frontier AI model development. He also highlights concerns about AI's impact on human judgment, skill erosion, and job disruption, particularly in software engineering, while remaining optimistic about new economic opportunities.
Zoho co-founder Sridhar Vembu argues that predictions of AI's catastrophic outcomes are overstated and a global pause in AI development is improbable. He urges India to adopt an independent AI strategy, focusing on extensive foundational R&D across sectors, while remaining wary of market monopolisation attempts by major tech players. Vembu also highlights concerns about AI's impact on human judgment, skill development, and job markets, particularly for junior professionals.
A new IDC report reveals that artificial intelligence is prompting organisations worldwide to retrieve and utilise previously archived, "cold-tier" data for AI training, significantly increasing its perceived value and leading to longer data retention periods and a burgeoning market for datasets.
Competition Commission of India (CCI) chairperson Ravneet Kaur has warned that the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) could intensify anti-competitive practices in digital markets, including self-preferencing, discriminatory pricing, and market manipulation. She highlighted the CCI's ongoing study into AI's impact on competition and stressed the regulator's role in fostering growth while preventing abuse of dominance.
The CEO of the National Health Authority, Sunil Kumar Barnwal, highlighted BRICS nations' shared aspiration for connected, patient-centric, and resilient healthcare systems through digital health infrastructure and responsible AI. Discussions at the 16th BRICS Health Ministers' meeting focused on overcoming challenges like limited interoperability and workforce constraints, with countries like Brazil and Indonesia sharing successful digital health initiatives.
'Companies are getting selective about what they pay a premium for.'
Hexaware Technologies has announced Vivek Jetley as its CEO-Designate, succeeding Srikrishna Ramakarthikeyan. Jetley will take over on October 28, 2026, with a mandate to accelerate growth and scale the company's AI-led services globally, leveraging his extensive experience in AI and enterprise transformation.
The Karnataka government is collaborating with ElevenLabs to explore pilot projects using voice AI across various sectors including skilling, investment promotion, healthcare, culture, and citizen services. This initiative aims to leverage advanced AI to enhance accessibility and efficiency of government services, with a strong focus on responsible AI use and safeguards against misinformation.
Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar met with AI major Anthropic to discuss a long-term partnership aimed at accelerating AI adoption across governance, education, healthcare, research, and the state's startup ecosystem. The collaboration focuses on deploying AI solutions responsibly, ensuring data privacy, and developing AI-focused skilling programmes and an AI University.
In the next 36 months nearly 25 to 40 per cent of jobs will be under threat from AI and job losses are inevitable.
Union Health Minister J P Nadda has launched the Unified Health Interface (UHI), an interoperable digital network under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM). UHI aims to connect patients and healthcare providers across various digital platforms, addressing fragmentation in India's digital health ecosystem and improving access to verified services, especially in rural areas.
A World Bank report highlights how Artificial Intelligence-powered weather forecasts have enabled small farmers in Telangana, India, to save up to USD 560 by adapting their farming practices to specific risks. The report, "The Promise of Artificial Intelligence," advocates for developing countries to rapidly adopt small, low-cost AI tools to enhance productivity, improve government services, and avoid missing out on the AI revolution.
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is beginning to alter hiring patterns in South Asia, with multinational companies (MNCs) and firms integrated into global value chains (GVCs) reducing recruitment more sharply than domestic firms, signalling the technology's early impact on the region's export-oriented services sector, according to the World Bank's World Development Report 2026.
The World Bank's "World Development Report 2026" urges developing countries to adopt low-cost AI tools to accelerate progress in healthcare, education, and judicial services. The report highlights AI's potential to boost productivity and improve public services, while noting that jobs in high-income countries are more at risk from automation than those in developing nations.
Global technology giant Google has announced the selection of 20 Indian AI startups for its 2026 Google for Startups Accelerator programme, marking the 10th anniversary of its accelerator initiatives.
Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar announced the establishment of India's first government-driven Artificial Intelligence University and an AI Hub in Bengaluru. This initiative aims to position Karnataka as a global leader in responsible AI innovation, fostering talent, research, and collaboration. The state seeks to become an AI-native state, leveraging AI to improve governance and daily life across various sectors.
'Applying AI to change the lives of Indians and at population scale -- just like we did with DPI [digital public infrastructure] -- is really where it's going to go.'
A Goldman Sachs report indicates that up to 12% of India's non-agricultural workforce is at risk of substitution by generative AI, while 42-48% could be complemented. The report highlights uneven impacts across sectors and job types, with IT-enabled services facing higher risk and physical tasks remaining less affected. Gen-AI is projected to boost India's labour productivity growth over the next decade.
Indian IT companies are experiencing a growing trend towards outcome-based pricing models, moving away from traditional time and material or fixed-price contracts, as artificial intelligence reshapes client engagement and deal structures.
Over 2,000 pulmonologists and healthcare professionals from India and abroad will gather in Jaipur for NAPCON 2026 to discuss the increasing burden of pulmonary diseases and the critical impact of air pollution on lung health. The conference, organised by the National College of Chest Physicians, India, and the Indian Chest Society, will feature discussions on diagnosis, management, and prevention of conditions like COPD and asthma, alongside advances in interventional pulmonology.
Bengaluru-based Remidio Innovative Solutions has secured a patent from the Japan Patent Office for its deep learning system that automates retinal image capture. This new patent enhances their existing intellectual property in Japan, strengthening their integrated AI platform and making retinal screening more accessible and cost-effective.
Atomic Energy Commission chairman Ajit Kumar Mohanty stated that India is on the verge of a significant technological transformation, driven by advancements in AI, quantum technologies, and other fields. Speaking at BIT Mesra's convocation, he emphasised the need for strong indigenous capabilities, skilled professionals, and interdisciplinary collaboration to achieve a developed India. Other speakers, including BIT Mesra's Chancellor and Vice Chancellor, echoed the importance of continuous learning and contributing to national progress.
