Google recently made a handful of AI announcements at Google for India event in New Delhi. The top officials even emphasised that the country might even lead the AI adoption in the world. In conversation with Business Today, Bikram Singh Bedi, Vice President & Country MD - Google Cloud, India Region stated that India is well-positioned to take lead in AI adoption.
He said, “AI has gone mainstream, with a large number of companies—from enterprises to small businesses, startups, and the public sector—embracing the technology. A great example is HDFC, which uses AI to boost agent productivity and help customers quickly access information from their extensive policy booklets. For instance, customers can easily find out if they're covered for prenatal care or how long it will take to settle a claim.”
He added, “Given our scale as a population, India is uniquely positioned to leverage AI and related technologies to drive us toward the next phase of growth.”
Talking about India’s place in the current AI race globally, Bedi said, “I wouldn’t call it a race; it's more about the adoption of AI for business transformation. We're seeing this happen at scale, with large enterprises, the public sector, small businesses, SMEs, and startups—especially digital-native companies—all embracing AI to help drive innovation and achieve their business goals.”
Google Cloud has announced four key initiatives, starting with the introduction of Gemini Flash 1.5, a large language model based in India. This will allow Indian customers across various sectors, including public, startups, healthcare, and financial services, to store data and run machine learning processes locally. The move provides a significant advantage for industries that require local operations for specific use cases. Additionally, the launch of DP in a Box, in collaboration with the EkStep Foundation, will allow India’s successful DP and DG infrastructure to be exported globally. This plug-and-play solution will enable other countries to adopt the technology quickly and at a lower cost.
The third announcement is the open-sourcing of an AI-based agent framework in partnership with open network protocols. This means that any network-compliant app, like Glance or Google Pay, can embed this agent, allowing users to access information or conduct transactions through open networks. Finally, in alignment with sustainability goals, Google is partnering with the Adani Group and CleanMax to source 186 megawatts of hybrid solar and wind energy. This energy will power Google’s offices and data centers in India, contributing to the company’s goal of using carbon-free energy.