'India will not only export CEOs but...': Reliance Industries' Mukesh Ambani and NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang discuss India's role in AI revolution

At the NVIDIA AI Summit 2024 at the Jio World Centre, Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani shared his vision for India's role in artificial intelligence. Addressing NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, Ambani stated, "And Indians now, will not only export CEO's to the world's largest companies, but hundreds of millions of Indians,” signalling ambitions for India's place in the global AI industry.

Ambani highlighted India's demographic advantage, with one of the youngest populations globally. He said, " This is a new aspirational India. What we have today is we are among the only country in the world where the average age of 1.4 billion Indians is below 35. So, what is driving our economy is not only new technology like AI, but also aspirations."

He pointed to India's digital connectivity, enhanced by Jio, which has made the country one of the best-connected globally.

Jensen Huang praised India’s IT expertise and rapid adoption of AI skills, mentioning that NVIDIA has helped upskill 200,000 IT professionals in the country. Both leaders discussed turning India into a hub not just for IT but also for AI and deep tech innovation. Huang noted, "And then the thing that I will say is that in order ultimately to create that into a flywheel is one of the great advantages that India has, which is a very large population of users. And so now you have the fundamental ingredients… AI, data and AI infrastructure, and you have a large population of users that ultimately creates your AI flywheel."

Ambani also brought up a symbolic interpretation of NVIDIA's name, linking it to the Sanskrit word "Vidya" (knowledge), associated with the goddess Saraswati, underscoring the idea that knowledge and prosperity go hand in hand. He added, "When you actually devote yourself sincerely to the goddess of knowledge, and you acquire knowledge, then in our tradition, the goddess of prosperity, which is Lakshmi, follows."

He also emphasised the significant strides made in digital connectivity, pointing out, "We, as a single company, didn't know anything about this domain. But today, we are the largest data company in the world. Our volumes are equivalent to AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon combined."

Jensen Huang acknowledged the immense contributions of the Indian IT workforce, stating, "We have over 10,000 engineers here in India ourselves." He also referred to India's rapid progress in AI infrastructure, adding, that in order to lead in artificial intelligence, one needs to have AI model technology, data, and AI infrastructure and according to Huang, India has all three.

Ambani emphasised that India has all the necessary elements — a young population, digital infrastructure, and partnerships with global tech leaders like NVIDIA — to lead the next phase of the AI revolution. He asserted that beyond exporting CEOs, India would become a major exporter of AI services, helping to bring prosperity and equality.

The discussion ended on an optimistic note, with Ambani and Huang pledging to work together to make India a key player in the global AI scene. "We all have to work together to bring this intelligence age safely to the world so that we can create a more equal world, a prosperous world, and allow the global south to catch up with the rest of the world," said Ambani, expressing confidence that India would surprise the world with its achievements in AI in the coming years. He added, "In a few years from now, we will surprise the world with what India and Indians can achieve in the intelligence market."