Bengaluru: As AI adoption accelerates globally, Infosys and EkStep cofounder Nandan Nilekani said India must position itself firmly in the race to the top, using AI to improve livelihoods and create real economic value.“There is a race in AI—a race to the bottom and a race to the top. The race to the bottom is what we mostly see today: AI stock pornography, people preying on loneliness, mental health, and so on. The race to the top is about how we use AI to improve livelihoods. We want the race to the top to win,” Nilekani said at an event hosted by the EkStep Foundation in Bengaluru on Wednesday. The event showcased India’s diverse voice AI use cases and deployments across govt services, agriculture, financial services, logistics, the judiciary, and enterprise operations.Nilekani emphasised the need for guardrails, saying the focus should be on responsible AI that works as intended, avoids hallucinations and stays within clear boundaries, rather than on extreme fears about superintelligence. “The AI community talks about how AI will eliminate jobs, make everyone so productive that they can sit on a beach, get stablecoins into a digital wallet, drink margaritas, and play video games ….. These are all grand claims,” he said.Referring to Aadhaar’s success, Nilekani said India proved it can build population-scale digital infrastructure with frugal design so that 1 billion people can benefit. “UPI does over 20 billion transactions at near-zero cost. A vegetable vendor can sell produce and get paid without paying a transaction fee. That’s what we need to do again — by tweaking models, designing chips better for our needs — it doesn’t matter how. That’s the game. And you’ll see this happening over the next two years, and this community will make it happen.”Nilekani also emphasised that voice-based AI is the most practical interface for India and a critical step towards digital equity. “Just as UPI made digital payments effortless for everyone, voice-driven interfaces can remove barriers to opportunity in sectors, such as agriculture, education, and others for every citizen. Literacy will no longer be a barrier.”Vishal Dhupar, MD for South Asia at Nvidia, said India is moving towards becoming a global hub for intelligence. “Bengaluru can become a global hub for intelligence — not as a cliché, but because we are already playing the game. As you move from practice to the professional league, the canvas gets bigger, you learn the nuances, and you get better. Talent and infrastructure will come here. I see a 3x opportunity for India over the next three-to-four years,” he said.
