India-France Business Dialogue sets stage for AI Impact Summit in Delhi

London: An India-France Business Dialogue in London set the stage for the upcoming AI Impact Summit in New Delhi next week, the first international artificial intelligence gathering of its kind to be held in the Global South anchored on the principles of people, planet and progress.

The dialogue at the High Commission of India in London on Thursday symbolised a passing of the baton from France, as the host of the AI Action Summit in Paris last year.

It also highlighted the close cooperation in the tech sector between India and France, set against the wider context of the signing of the free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU) last month.

“We do need to understand how you make AI relevant to everybody, and that usage piece is what is going to anchor the AI summit in India," said Vikram Doraiswami, the Indian High Commissioner to the UK.

“The second big thing that we're looking at is inclusion, because AI will be meaningless if it isn't truly democratic in terms of access, countries and societies need to be able to ensure that we're not building two-tier societies or a multi-tier world based on how you can access AI and whether you're going to be left behind or taken forward," he said.

Dr Pushmeet Kohli, at the cutting edge of Google Deep Mind's scientific initiatives, delivered a keynote on the immense benefits to humanity that AI offers.

This was followed by a panel discussion on the topic of 'AI as a Growth Multiplier', moderated by Professor of AI at Southampton University Gopal Ramchurn and addressed by Dr Hema Prem Raina of Infosys and Atul Sodhi of French banking group Credit Agricole.

The Ambassador of France to the UK, Hélène Tréheux-Duchêne, reflected upon the Paris summit bringing together more than 100 countries and 40,000 stakeholders from across civil society, research, academia and business to explore AI for the benefit of all.

It followed on from the inaugural AI Safety Summit in the UK three years ago, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi set to host global leaders, policymakers, innovators and experts from across the world to deliberate on the way forward for transformational technology.

“There is a narrative about India and AI that needs updating. The world still thinks of us as a talent pool or a cost centre, but that chapter is over. Today, Indian companies are building AI models and solutions that compete globally and win," said Sreeraman MG, Co-founder of Fynd – a leading Indian AI commerce platform expanding operations in the UK market.

“India is not just participating in the AI race; it is shaping a model of AI that is inclusive, interoperable, and economically transformative. What truly differentiates India is the scale and complexity at which technology must operate.

“The AI products being stress-tested in India’s scale and diversity today are helping define what practical, scalable AI will look like worldwide tomorrow,” he said.

Earlier this week, the Indian Tech Society (UK) – a London-based professional community – organised a high-level Commonwealth Roundtable on Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and Digital Assets at the UK Parliament complex geared towards the Delhi summit.

Among the attendees included the UK’s Minister for AI and Online Safety in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), Kanishka Narayan, who will be representing Britain at the Indian summit next week.

The roundtable, also addressed by British Indian peer Lord Krish Raval, highlighted the strategic importance of the India-UK partnership in advancing responsible and climate-aligned AI deployment.

It concluded that the UK’s leadership in finance, regulation and climate governance combined with India’s scale, digital public infrastructure and innovation ecosystem made it a "powerful corridor for deploying climate-critical digital systems across developing economies".

Participants at the event, co-organised by data infrastructure firm Astralane, stressed that such collaboration could accelerate practical cooperation across the Commonwealth, aligning technology deployment with climate resilience, sustainable finance and inclusive economic development.