India should ride AI wave to emerge as a product nation: Industry experts
Industry experts at a CII event argued that India should leverage the AI revolution to transition from a software services provider to a global product nation. Key challenges identified include a lack of sufficient venture capital and the need for greater investment in research and infrastructure.
Why it matters
This highlights the strategic shift required for India to move up the value chain in the global technology economy.
Industry experts speaking at a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) event said India should ride the AI wave to emerge as a product nation. While the country has excelled in engineering and software services, it has yet to fully master the entire product value chain from design and development to engineering and manufacturing, said Kamal Bali, chairman of CII Innoverge 2026, the trade body’s flagship national innovation summit scheduled to be held in Bengaluru on July 22 and 23.
Speaking at the curtain-raiser event on Tuesday, he said the focus should now be on transforming India into a globally relevant product powerhouse, with AI embedded across every function and supported by the three pillars of innovation, trust and technology. India’s world-class research institutions, supportive public policy framework, robust domestic market, skilled workforce and scalable manufacturing capabilities provide the ideal foundation for this transformation, Mr. Bali added.
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