There is a subtle shift underway in India’s AI story. The noise around models, benchmarks, and billion-parameter bragging rights is giving way to something far more consequential—deployment at scale. Here are five emerging AI platforms from India redefining real-world applications in 2026. This week’s selection is not about who builds the smartest AI.It is about…
Not a Transition, But a Reinvention There are moments in a nation’s journey when change is not incremental but foundational. India appears to be entering such a phase. With the release of multiple scenario reports by NITI Aayog, aligned with the twin ambitions of Viksit Bharat by 2047 and Net Zero by 2070, the country…
The global conversation around artificial intelligence has, for understandable reasons, revolved around disruption. Every week brings a new report forecasting which professions will vanish, which industries will transform, and which skills will become obsolete. In boardrooms and universities alike, the question has become almost existential: what remains uniquely human in an AI-dominated world? For entrepreneurs,…
The cavernous halls of Bharat Mandapam are used to diplomatic applause and carefully worded policy announcements. But this week, the India AI Impact Summit 2026 produced something far more unusual — a mass civic gesture. Within 24 hours, organisers reported that over 250,000 citizens, largely students, completed a digital pledge committing to the responsible use…
In what could mark a defining shift in India’s entrepreneurial landscape, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has introduced sweeping changes to the Startup India policy. For the first time, the coveted “startup” label — along with its basket of tax benefits, funding support, and innovation incentives — is no longer reserved only for urban…
For more than a decade now, the future of mobility has been sold to us with a single promise: batteries will save us. Bigger batteries. Faster charging. Denser lithium packs. Smarter grids. Entire cities redesigned around plugs, ports, and power points. Somewhere along the way, electric mobility became less about movement and more about energy…
One of the quieter but more consequential outcomes of the 2026 Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum was not a speech, a declaration, or a geopolitical headline. It was the selection of ten early-stage startups under the Water Resilience Challenge, run by UpLink in partnership with HCL Group. Chosen from over 300 global applicants,…
For much of the last decade, India’s startup ecosystem lived on an abundant flow of venture capital. Capital chased growth, valuations expanded rapidly, and scale often mattered more than sustainability. That era is decisively over. In 2025, venture capital in India did not disappear — it changed character. Investors became more selective, deal volumes shrank,…
Sikkim has long been recognised for its leadership in organic farming, pharmaceuticals, and ecological stewardship. Now, the Himalayan state appears to be scripting a new economic chapter—one that shifts the focus from land-intensive industries to knowledge-, design-, and creativity-led growth. Two recent policy signals make this transition unmistakable: the Sikkim Start-up Policy 2025 and a…
