N. Chandrasekaran: AI Is the Next Major Infrastructure, Must Reach Every Citizen

New Delhi, February 19: Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons, on Thursday described artificial intelligence as the next major infrastructure that will profoundly impact society—much like transformative technologies such as the steam engine, electricity, and the internet.

Addressing the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi, Chandrasekaran emphasized that AI represents a new form of infrastructure—an “infrastructure of intelligence”—that will shape the future of economies and societies worldwide.

“In my view, AI is the next big infrastructure. It is the infrastructure of intelligence. It will have a very deep impact, just as earlier infrastructure shifts did—whether it was the steam engine, electricity, or the internet,” he said.

AI Must Work for Every Citizen

Chandrasekaran stressed that the mission should be to make AI accessible to every individual, both in India and globally.

“Our mission should be to ensure that AI works for every person and every citizen in this country. We must place AI tools in the hands of the last person in the country—and indeed, every person on the planet. That is the mission we should all work toward,” he stated.

Highlighting AI accessibility, he cited an example from a recent event at Bharat Mandapam, where 1,500 rural women with no prior background in computing or digital tools learned to use AI within just a few hours.

“Just a few days ago at Bharat Mandapam, we invited 1,500 rural women with no computing or digital background. Within hours, they were able to learn AI, create products, develop marketing material and campaigns, and present them before a global audience. They achieved all of this in just four hours,” he said.

India’s Digital Strength and AI Vision

Chandrasekaran noted that India remains optimistic about AI, drawing confidence from its success in building large-scale digital infrastructure. He pointed out that India has created the world’s largest digital identity system covering 1.4 billion people and operates a digital payment interface that accounts for nearly half of the world’s total transactions.

He added that under the vision of Narendra Modi, India has recognized AI as a strategic national capability and is building capacity across the entire technology stack.

“Through recent reforms such as Semiconductor India, the India AI Mission, and most importantly, the Shakti Act for clean energy, we are building AI at scale—from chips to systems, energy, and applications—ensuring trust, resilience, and long-term competitiveness,” he said.

Chandrasekaran also described AI as a foundational technology that learns from data, continuously improves, and is not limited to predefined rules. He noted that AI has the potential to scale rapidly and drive innovation across industries.

The India-AI Impact Summit 2026, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, is being held in New Delhi from February 19–20. It is the first global AI summit hosted in the Global South.