Key Points
- Industry leaders call for responsible AI built on privacy, transparency, accountability and ethical technology governance.
- Secure, scalable and energy-efficient digital infrastructure is critical to support India’s AI-led growth.
- Inclusive innovation and future-ready skills are essential to ensure technology benefits wider society.
The technology debate in India is moving beyond invention, speed and scale. On National Technology Day, industry leaders said the country’s next phase of digital growth will depend not only on how fast new technologies are adopted, but on how responsibly they are designed, governed and deployed across public and private systems.
This comes at a time when artificial intelligence, connected infrastructure, data centres, digital skilling and automation are reshaping almost every sector of the economy. From enterprise platforms and public safety systems to creative industries and consumer technology, executives said the central issue is no longer whether technology can deliver efficiency. The larger question is whether it can do so with trust, transparency, security and inclusion.
Vinod Babu Bollikonda, Managing Director and Group CEO, Blue Cloud Softech Solutions, said the focus must shift from merely advancing technology to using it responsibly. “With AI and digital systems shaping real-world outcomes, prioritising ethical use, efficiency and sustainability is no longer optional,” he said, adding that “data privacy, reducing bias in AI systems and building transparency” must become central to technology deployment.
His views reflect a wider concern in industry that AI cannot be treated only as a productivity tool. As AI systems begin to influence decisions in enterprise operations, public services, security systems, education and customer-facing platforms, the risks around opaque models, weak data governance and biased outputs are becoming more serious. Responsible AI, according to several industry voices, has to be built into the design of systems rather than added later as a compliance layer.
Venkatesan Vijayaraghavan, Chief Operating Officer, Virtusa Corporation, said the theme of responsible innovation places attention on how technology is “built, deployed and scaled across real-world environments”. He said responsible innovation requires “strong data foundations, secure architecture and clear governance” so that systems remain reliable and trusted at scale.
That point is particularly relevant for India, because digital systems are increasingly being deployed across banking, healthcare, manufacturing, public administration, education and citizen services. Large-scale adoption brings operational benefits, but it also increases dependency on the quality of underlying data, system architecture and governance. If the foundation is weak, automation can multiply errors rather than reduce them.
Digital infrastructure emerged as another major theme. AI adoption is often discussed in terms of models, applications and user-facing platforms, but industry leaders said the deeper challenge lies in the infrastructure needed to support them.
Dr Badri Gomatam, Group Chief Technology Officer, Sterlite Technologies, said AI and data centre infrastructure are becoming key enablers of digital transformation. He said the sector needs “low-latency, energy-efficient and scalable networks” that can support the growing demand for AI workloads across industries.
This makes infrastructure a core part of the technology debate. AI systems require high-speed connectivity, resilient networks, data centre capacity, efficient cabling, reliable compute and sustainable power usage. As enterprises and governments expand AI-led services, pressure on digital backbones will increase. Poor latency, network fragmentation, high energy demand and weak cyber resilience could limit the impact of even advanced applications.
Srinivas Shekar, CEO and Founder, Pantherun Technologies, said sectors such as logistics, manufacturing, mobility and urban infrastructure already depend on connected systems that must deliver “speed, uptime, interoperability and security at scale”.
He said rising data traffic and dependence on digital systems are putting more pressure on infrastructure, while challenges around “latency, fragmented networks and energy demand” will shape future deployment.
His argument points to a larger shift in how innovation is understood. In earlier phases of digitisation, the visible layer of technology, such as apps, portals and platforms, received most attention. The next phase will depend heavily on less visible but more critical layers: secure networks, interoperable systems, real-time data flows, reliable devices and energy-efficient infrastructure.
In sectors such as smart cities, transport, logistics, manufacturing and public safety, infrastructure is not merely a support function. It determines whether technology works in real operating conditions.
Public-facing AI systems bring another layer of complexity. Atul Rai, Co-founder and CEO, Staqu Technologies, said technology must serve a larger social purpose and that responsible innovation should focus on real impact.
He said AI video analytics has been used in public safety and governance-related settings to improve efficiency in complex environments. “Technology must serve a larger social purpose,” he said, adding that the focus should be on building AI that is “ethical and impactful for the larger good of society”.
Such deployments show both the opportunity and the risk of AI in public systems. Technologies such as video analytics can help institutions process large volumes of visual data, identify patterns and improve operational response. But when such systems are used in sensitive contexts, including policing or election-related processes, the need for accuracy, human oversight, audit trails and privacy safeguards becomes even more important. The legitimacy of AI in governance will depend not only on efficiency, but on accountability.
The technology shift is also changing the skills landscape. Sandip Weling, Whole-time Director and Chief Business Officer, Global Retail, Aptech Limited, said technology must be “impactful, accessible, responsible and industry relevant”. He said AI is transforming content creation, animation and storytelling, making it important to promote “originality, intellectual property rights” and awareness around security and copyright practices.
This is becoming a major issue for creative and technical education. AI tools are now capable of generating text, images, video, code and design assets, but they also raise questions about ownership, authenticity and misuse.
Students entering animation, gaming, media production, design, extended reality and digital content industries will need more than tool-based training. They will need to understand how AI affects copyright, creative workflows, data security and professional accountability.
Employment is another area where AI is creating both concern and opportunity. Gagan Arora, Founder and President, Vertex Group, said the question facing industry is whether AI will lead to “transformed jobs” or “disappearing ones”. He argued that AI is more likely to change roles than eliminate them outright. “The most quantifiable impact of AI so far is that of productivity improvement,” he said.
National Technology Day 2026
For India’s technology and business services sectors, this is a critical distinction. AI may automate repetitive work in coding, testing, customer support, data analysis and business process management, but it can also create demand for new roles in AI operations, governance, domain-specific automation, model oversight, process redesign and human-machine collaboration. The real challenge will be reskilling workers fast enough to match the pace of change.
Arora said the future will depend not merely on using AI, but on the ability to “operationalise AI across the entire business and customer lifecycle”. That means companies will need to move beyond experimentation and integrate AI into workflows in a way that remains scalable, consistent and human-centred.
Inclusion was another recurring theme across the responses. Sooraj Balakrishnan, Associate Director and Head of Marketing, Acer India, said responsible innovation requires technology that is “advanced, yet accessible and equitable”. He said the real impact of innovation should be measured “not just by what we create, but by how many lives we uplift”.
This is especially important in India, where digital access still varies across regions, income groups, languages and levels of digital literacy. Advanced technology can deepen divides if it remains expensive, difficult to use or poorly adapted to local needs. Inclusive innovation requires affordability, accessible design, language support, reliable connectivity and deployment models that work outside major urban centres.
The same principle applies to consumer technology. Saahil Kumar, General Manager, Sonova Consumer Hearing India, said advanced technology should not remain limited to a small section of users. He said the most powerful technology is not the kind that merely impresses, but the kind that “includes”.
Taken together, the industry views suggest that India’s technology sector is entering a more mature and demanding phase. The earlier phase of digital growth was led by connectivity, digitisation, platform adoption and large-scale service delivery. The next phase will be shaped by AI governance, secure architecture, responsible automation, sustainable infrastructure, future-ready skills and inclusive access.
For companies, this means innovation can no longer be presented only as a claim of speed or capability. It will have to be backed by reliability, transparency, cyber resilience, explainability and measurable public or business value.
For policymakers, the challenge will be to encourage innovation while setting clear guardrails around privacy, safety and accountability. For education providers, the priority will be to prepare students for a labour market where AI is embedded into creative, technical and operational work.
National Technology Day, therefore, is not only a celebration of India’s scientific and technological progress. It is also a reminder that technology must earn public trust once it leaves the laboratory, pilot project or corporate presentation. As AI and digital systems become part of everyday decisions, the test of innovation will not be sophistication alone. It will be whether these systems are secure enough for institutions, transparent enough for users, efficient enough for industry and inclusive enough for India’s scale.
Your Questions, Answered
What is the main theme of National Technology Day 2026 in India?
Industry leaders emphasised responsible technology development, arguing that trust, transparency, data privacy and inclusion must become the benchmarks for India's digital growth rather than scale and speed alone.
How large is India's creator economy?
India has approximately two million content creators who collectively influence more than $350 billion in annual consumer spending, according to industry estimates cited by Aptech Limited.
What are AVGC labs in Indian schools?
AVGC labs are government-supported facilities for animation, visual effects, gaming and comics education being introduced across Indian schools and institutions to build a future-ready creative talent pipeline.
What specific concerns did enterprise software leaders raise about AI?
Blue Cloud Softech Solutions highlighted three areas requiring improvement: data privacy protection, bias reduction in AI systems and transparency in how automated decisions are made.
