AI Appreciation Day spotlights India's growth stakes
Thu, 16th Jul 2026 (Today)
Industry leaders are using AI Appreciation Day to highlight the economic and social stakes of artificial intelligence in India. Executives from technology and skills organisations point to both productivity gains and ethical risks.
The day has become a focal point for discussion about how artificial intelligence is reshaping innovation, entrepreneurship and the jobs market. It also highlights a widening gap between organisations that deploy AI strategically and those that have yet to adapt.
Priya Goutham, Co-founder of digital consultancy Bunjy Digital, said AI is changing the cost structures that once defined product development and company building. She described a shift away from large, capital-intensive teams towards smaller groups working alongside machine intelligence.
"AI has fundamentally changed the economics of innovation. What once required large teams, significant capital, and years of execution can now be accomplished by lean, agile businesses with the right AI capabilities. The next wave of AI won't just automate tasks; it will augment decision-making, enabling founders and business leaders to make faster, smarter, and more data-driven choices. The companies that thrive won't be those with the biggest budgets, but those that learn to collaborate with AI as a strategic partner," said Priya Goutham, Co-founder of Bunjy Digital.
Her comments reflect a broader view in the start-up ecosystem that AI tools now sit at the centre of product design, customer engagement and internal operations. Founders across sectors including financial services, retail, education and logistics report that automation and predictive analytics have become core to their business models.
Goutham's emphasis on decision-making highlights a shift away from viewing AI as a back-office function. Boards and executive teams are increasingly using AI-driven insights for pricing, expansion planning and risk assessment.
Workforce impact remains a central concern as organisations adopt AI. Business leaders and policymakers are debating how workers can transition into more analytical and oversight roles as routine tasks move to software.
From the skills perspective, Manav Subodh, Founder of non-profit skilling organisation 1M1B (One Million for One Billion), linked AI's potential economic contribution to the need for grounded, local use cases. He also highlighted the risk that young people could either miss out on AI-led growth or enter AI-driven workplaces without clear ethical frameworks.
"AI could add $1.7 trillion to India's economy by 2035. But that number will mean very little if our youth are left watching the revolution from the sidelines, or entering it without the safeguards to shape it responsibly. On AI Appreciation Day, my message is simple: India's AI future has to be applied, local, secure and youth-led. A young person in Bulandshahr should be able to use AI to map solar jobs while understanding how local data is collected and protected. A girl in a government school in Sitapur should use it to imagine a career in STEM without being limited by biased algorithms. A small-town graduate in Raichur should use responsible AI to solve real problems for local businesses, while building systems people can trust. The urgent mission ahead is to build a bridge from skills to work, from ethical technology to dignity, and from ambition to action, with young people helping define the rules of India's AI future," said Manav Subodh, Founder of 1M1B (One Million for One Billion), an AI-focused skilling organisation.
Subodh's remarks point to a gap between headline projections for AI-led growth in India and on-the-ground readiness in schools and smaller cities. Education groups and training providers are racing to update curricula with AI literacy, data protection awareness and practical project work.
The focus on smaller towns and government schools signals a shift away from viewing AI as the preserve of metropolitan technology hubs. Many skilling programmes now place responsible AI use at the centre of their engagement with students and first-time workers.
Executives and educators view AI Appreciation Day as a marker of how quickly expectations around the technology are changing. They describe a landscape in which collaboration with AI systems, and the rules that govern that collaboration, will shape who benefits from the next phase of digital growth in India.