From Scale to Resilience: Rethinking Efficient AI System
AI Impact Summit Pre Event
Venue: Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
Date: 20th January 2026
Time: 10:00 AM to 16:15 PM IST (GMT +05:30)
Context:
The India–AI Impact Summit 2026 will be the first global AI summit hosted in the Global South. Informed by deliberations at leading international forums, the Summit is structured around Working Groups addressing seven interconnected themes, guided by the principles of People, Planet, and Progress. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to transform everyday lives and drive inclusive growth by expanding access to education, healthcare, clean energy, and livelihoods. Yet today’s AI paradigm is constrained by heavy reliance on compute, data, and energy, creating rising costs and barriers to adoption.
In response, the Resilience, Innovation, and Efficiency Working Group will facilitate dialogue and collaboration—anchored in Global South perspectives with global relevance—to advance AI systems that are high-performing yet resource-efficient, accessible and scalable under constraints, and responsive to diverse societal needs, ensuring that no one is left behind.
About the Event
Advancing the vision of Resilient AI, the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) will host a pre- Summit event on 20 January, followed by a hybrid, closed-door Working Group meeting at IISc Bengaluru. The pre-Summit event will serve as a global platform—anchored in Global South perspectives—for bringing together Working Group members and distinguished leaders from technology, entrepreneurship, research, and academia. The programme will showcase resilient AI technologies and foster deliberations on future research directions and policy pathways, contributing to globally relevant frameworks for efficient, scalable, and impactful AI systems that address real-world constraints and advance inclusive development.
Agenda
9:00 AM – 10:00 AM | Registration and Refreshments
10:00 AM – 11:15 AM | Inauguration
Welcome Address by Prof. Rajesh Sundaresan, Convener, Deans of Divisions, IISc, Bangalore
Inaugural Address by Chief Guest, Dr. Shalini Rajneesh, Chief Secretary, Government of Karnataka
Keynote speech by Shri. Pankaj Kumar Pandey IAS, Principal Secretary to Government, Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (e-Governance) and Managing Director, Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation
Summit Address by Shri Shashank Misra, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Power
Overview of India AI Impact Summit by Mr. Abhishek Aggarwal, Scientist D, IndiaAI, MeitY
11:15 AM – 11:30 AM | Break
11:30 AM – 01:00 PM| Overcoming Data and Compute Challenges: A Research Viewpoint | Session Chair: Prof. Y. Narahari
Keynote: Mr. S Gopalakrishnan - Resilient AI: India's Global Role
Dr. Venkat Padmanabhan, Al@Microsoft Research
Dr. Prateek Jain, Al@Google - Matryoshka Structured Adaptive Models
Prof. Prasanta Kumar Ghosh, Vaani: Multimodal dataset for Indian Languages, IISc
1:00 PM – 2:00 PM | Lunch & Networking
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM | Challenges and Strategies in AI research and Impact pathways | Session Chair: Prof Navakant Bhat
Keynote 2 – Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty
Prof. Sriram Ganapathy, TANUH, AI COE in Healthcare
Shobhit Banga, Co-founder Joshtalks - Overcoming the Data Hurdles in Voice AI
3:00 PM – 4:00 PM | Building AI systems at scale: Policy, Funding and Technology Gaps
Moderator: Mr. Anirban Sarma, Director, Centre for Digital Societies, Observer Research Foundation
Shri. T. Bhoobalan. IAS Chief Executive Officer, Centre for e-Governance – GoK
Shri. Shreevyas H M, Project Director, Karnataka AI Cell
Mr Prasad Unnikrishnan, Grant Thornton Bharat LLP
Dr Prateek Jain, Distinguished Scientist, Google DeepMinds
Mr Venkat Padmanabhan,Managing Director, Microsoft Research India
Mr Ankit Bose, Head of Nasscom AI, CEO for Center of Excellence Data Science and AI
4:00 PM – 4:15 PM | Closing Remarks
4:15 PM – 4:30 PM | High Tea