New Delhi: India will take centre stage in the global Artificial Intelligence conversation on Monday as it hosts the India AI Impact Summit 2026, a five-day gathering that brings together world leaders, technology executives, policymakers and innovators at a moment when nations are racing to shape their AI strategies.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the India AI Impact Expo 2026 on Monday at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, according to his office. The summit and expo will run from February 16 to February 20 and are expected to draw sustained international attention, given the scale of participation and the breadth of issues on the agenda.
Artificial Intelligence, often described as the most disruptive technology since electricity, has moved rapidly from research labs into daily life. Its applications are now reshaping healthcare delivery, agriculture, education, financial markets and corporate decision-making, while also transforming the nature of work. Against this backdrop, the summit signals India’s ambition to be more than a passive adopter of AI technologies and instead play a role in shaping global norms, standards and opportunities.
“The key message we want to send is that whatever happens with AI needs to be human-centric and inclusive,” IT Secretary S Krishnan said ahead of the event. “There needs to be democratic access to AI resources, and it needs to be done in a way where people are at the centre of this process.”
At the invitation of Prime Minister Modi, several heads of state are scheduled to attend, including French President Emmanuel Macron and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Ministerial delegations from more than 45 countries will be present, along with the United Nations Secretary General and senior officials from multiple international organisations, underscoring the high-level engagement around the AI agenda.
Prime Minister Modi will address the summit, tour the expo and hold interactions with chief executives. The event will also be closely watched because of the presence of some of the most influential figures in global technology. The summit has a blockbuster lineup of CEOs headlined by Sundar Pichai (CEO of Google), Sam Altman (CEO of OpenAI), Demis Hassabis (CEO of DeepMind Technologies), Dario Amodei (Anthropic CEO), Brad Smith (Microsoft president) and many others. The collective presence of these influential tech voices under one roof elevates the summit proceedings to a centre of gravity for global tech deliberations.
Audiences will keep a close eye on frontier AI labs (OpenAI, Anthropic) and leading players (Microsoft, Google) for cues and company-related updates and announcements.
The India AI Impact Expo is expected to attract over 2.5 lakh visitors, including international delegates. It will feature 13 country pavilions representing Australia, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Serbia, Estonia, Tajikistan and Africa. More than 300 curated exhibition pavilions and live demonstrations will be organised across three thematic pillars: people, planet and progress.
Over 600 high-potential startups will showcase AI solutions that are already deployed in real-world settings, many of them designed for population-scale use. Organisers say the expo aims to foster new partnerships and create business opportunities across the global AI ecosystem.
The summit programme is extensive. More than 500 sessions are scheduled, with over 3,250 speakers and panellists. In total, over 700 sessions across five days will examine AI safety, governance, ethical use, data protection and India’s approach to sovereign AI, including the development of indigenous foundation models for strategic sectors. Seven thematic working groups, co-chaired by representatives from the Global North and Global South, are expected to present concrete deliverables such as proposals for AI Commons, trusted AI tools, shared compute infrastructure and sector-specific compendiums of AI use cases.
Unlike earlier global meetings in the United Kingdom, South Korea and France that focused heavily on frontier risks and safety guardrails, India is broadening the discussion to highlight developmental impact and practical applications that can drive economic growth, social inclusion and sustainability. The summit is also the first global AI gathering to be hosted in the Global South, aligning with India’s long-standing advocacy for the interests of developing economies in digital policy forums.
Workforce readiness will be another central theme. With more than 65 per cent of its population under the age of 35, India has one of the youngest workforces globally. Policymakers and industry leaders are expected to discuss reskilling initiatives, AI-focused training programmes and the implications of automation for the country’s vast IT services sector, especially at a time when technology stocks have shown volatility amid concerns over AI-led disruption.
Recent amendments to India’s IT rules, including guidance on AI-generated content and labelling, are also likely to feature prominently, as will discussions on tackling deepfakes and misinformation. Krishnan said India’s approach remains innovation-first, with the option to regulate swiftly if needed. “If we need to legislate and regulate, we can do it quickly and do it in a way that does not impact innovation,” he said.
In the lead-up to the summit, 12 Indian AI startups selected under the Foundation Model Pillar presented their work at a roundtable chaired by Prime Minister Modi. Their projects span Indian language models, multilingual large language models, speech and video generation, healthcare diagnostics, engineering simulations and advanced analytics.
As governments, companies, researchers and citizens tune in from around the world, the deliberations at Bharat Mandapam are expected to influence how Artificial Intelligence is built, governed and deployed in the years ahead. The outcomes, whether in the form of a joint declaration or frameworks for shared research and compute infrastructure, will be closely watched for signals on the future direction of global AI governance.