Patna: The Indian Institute of Technology-Patna (IIT-Patna) will host a pre-event of the ‘India AI Impact Summit 2026’ on Tuesday, focusing on AI strategy for innovation, startups and national priorities.The India AI Impact Summit 2026, the first global summit on artificial intelligence aimed at addressing India-centric challenges and creating economic and employment opportunities through AI applications, is scheduled to be held in New Delhi from Feb 16 to 20.The pre-event, to be held under the guidance of IIT Patna director T N Singh, will be conducted by computer science and engineering department faculty member Rajiv Mishra. Participants from academia, industry, govt institutions and international organisations will take part.Discussions will be structured around three national priority pillars — AI for climate resilience and disaster management, national AI infrastructure, and AI for child safety. Strategic inputs will be provided by organisations such as Microsoft, IBM, Salesforce, BharatGPT, Sprinklr, Wadhwani AI, Arista Networks, Ericsson and ONYX Healthcare, along with thematic sessions by UNICEF and CDAC Pune.IIT-Patna sources said the day-long programme will include expert talks, group deliberations, presentations and a concluding panel discussion aimed at generating consolidated recommendations to strengthen India’s AI innovation ecosystem and startup landscape, contributing to the broader vision of responsible and impactful AI adoption for national development.The pre-summit has been officially approved and supported as part of the India AI Summit 2026 initiative. More than 15 institutes, including IIM Bodh Gaya, NIELIT Patna, FDDI Patna, NIFT Patna, CNLU Patna, IIIT Bhagalpur and Magadh University, along with other leading institutions from the region, are expected to participate.
