India AI Impact Summit: Unlocking AI Opportunities
BGA Technology Senior Director William Heidlage and the BGA India team, led by Managing Director Anuj Gupta, wrote an update to clients on opportunities at the India AI Impact Summit.
Context
- India will host the fourth global AI Impact Summit in New Delhi from February 19-20, 2026, convening policymakers, industry leaders and innovators from over 100 countries. Building on previous summits held in other countries, this edition shifts the focus from regulatory action to real-world impact. Participation gives businesses direct access to Indian and global artificial intelligence (AI) policymakers as well as opportunities to engage the Indian government on innovation hubs and public sector partnership pathways.
- India’s rapid AI adoption, supportive regulatory environment and vast talent pool position it as a dynamic hub for innovation and partnership. The government of India, planning to host 200-plus events, is actively encouraging public and private stakeholders to participate in pre-summit and main event activities, offering unique opportunities for engagement and thought leadership. Navigating relationships with government stakeholders, receiving issue-specific advocacy and initiating strategic partnerships with well-crafted narratives can ensure impactful participation and strong visibility at the summit and its associated events.
- India has one of the fastest rates of adoption of AI in the world. Its large, digitally savvy and youthful population makes it one of the most dynamic technology — and by extension AI — markets in the world. Through the government’s flagship AI programs IndiaAI Mission and INDIAai, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is aggressively increasing India’s compute capacity, building on public-private collaboration to develop foundational models, deploy infrastructure at scale and encourage inclusive innovation. While India is in the process of building its own foundational models, there is an opening for an established AI model to be adopted until indigenous models reach maturity.
Significance
- The government of India is encouraging both public and private AI stakeholders to host pre-summit events and has invited applications — for which MeitY will offer co-branding support — between August 11, 2025, and January 31, 2026. Notably, it is not necessary to host pre-summit events in India, with co-branded events already hosted in San Francisco, New York, Seattle, Barcelona and Geneva, among other cities.
- Hosting a pre-summit event allows businesses to actively shape the summit’s deliberations and outcomes while building thought leadership, strengthening rapport with the government and gaining high visibility. The pre-summit events can take the shape of fireside chats, panel discussions, closed-door roundtables, hackathons or workshops that align sector-specific issues with the broader summit themes and foundational principles.
- Beyond the pre-summit activities, there are also opportunities to participate at the main summit in panel events that are currently being planned. MeitY will host a CEOs’ plenary and dinner on February 19, 2026, providing a high-impact opportunity for businesses to exchange notes with senior members of government and industry. MeitY has also invited large corporations to host mega events on the sidelines of the summit from February 16-20. Applications for proposals can be submitted until November 30, 2025.
- The government of India will host an AI Expo and a research symposium on the sidelines of the summit. The expo will spotlight the latest AI solutions, uniting startups, industry leaders, policymakers and global innovators to showcase applications and build partnerships. The research symposium will convene leading researchers from the Global South and beyond to share frontier work on the impact of AI and to foster scientific collaboration.
Implications
- Participating in the summit gives businesses direct access to India’s AI policymakers and flagship IndiaAI initiatives, enabling early influence on standards and visibility into public-sector pilot opportunities. It offers concentrated market engagement through pitch sessions and sectoral showcases, creating strong pathways for partnerships and scaling. The summit also provides a gateway to shape global discourse on AI given the presence of world leaders and regulators from several countries.
- With the scale and volume of events being planned, it is necessary for businesses to craft bespoke engagement strategies that deliver on deepening relationships with the right stakeholders and policy influencers. BGA India has extensive experience in advising leading global technology companies in India on their government relations strategies, advocacy and public policy challenges.
- BGA is also helping companies with planning, organization and implementation of their engagement strategy in the lead-up to the summit. With its extensive on-ground presence in Delhi and Mumbai and deep networks within MeitY and India’s technology policy landscape, BGA India will help in identifying opportunities to engage with the government and with Indian partners on a business-to-business level. BGA offers end-to-end consulting and secretarial services to engage with MeitY on specific events to advance our clients’ value propositions in AI service offerings.
If you are interested in engaging in the India AI Impact Summit 2026, contact our BGA Senior Director for Technology William Heidlage or BGA India Managing Director Anuj Gupta.
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BowerGroupAsia
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