PM puts India-focused innovation, human oversight at core of AI drive

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held a roundtable with deeptech startups and underscored the govt's push to expand AI adoption with strong data governance, human oversight and India-focused innovation - particularly across healthcare, education and citizen services. The roundtable brought together founders and CEOs from 16 deeptech startups, including Adalat AI, BrainSightAI, Rubrik, SatSure, Credo AI, Eka Care, Glean, Innogle, Invideo, Miko, Origin, Rasen, Supernova and Sypha AI. It came amid the PM's hectic schedule Friday that included seven bilateral meetings, including with the leaders of Liechtenstein, Slovak Republic, Sri Lanka and Mauritius, apart from discussions with UN secretary general Antonio Guterres, Open AI CEO Sam Altman and Qualcomm boss Cristiano Amon. Emphasising that fairness, transparency and meaningful human oversight must remain non-negotiable in the design and deployment of AI, PM Modi echoed principles that align closely with Adalat AI's philosophy, said Arghya Bhattacharya, co-founder of the company, which is building India's end-to-end justice tech stack to reduce delays, streamline workflows, and improve access. Bipul Sinha, cofounder and CEO of US-based cybersecurity firm Rubrik, said the roundtable underscored Modi's vision for India's digital future and highlighted the potential to deploy AI at scale in sectors such as agritech, healthcare and education. "He has a granular view of the areas where AI can make a real impact and difference - from space tech to agriculture." "PM was very buoyant about India's deeptech ecosystem. He expressed excitement about both deep research AI firms and applied AI companies, and said he looks forward to seeing firms that 'build in India, build for India, and build from India for the world," Prateep Basu, founder and CEO of Bengaluru-based SatSure, told TOI. India's deeptech sector - spanning defence, robotics, humanoids, and emerging technologies - is at an inflection point and is projected to grow 2.5 times to $27-33 billion by 2030, driven by rapid advances in defence technology and robotics, according to Redseer Strategy Consultants. It estimated the deeptech market at $9-12 billion in 2024-25. The report identified defence deeptech as one of the strongest drivers of growth.