AI SWARAJ: THE NEXT INDIA STACK

We must replicate the success of UPI and Aadhaar. This means open-sourcing our foundational Indic LLMs, mandating interoperability through APIs, and subsidizing compute power for social-impact projects in health, agriculture, and education.

- BRIJESH SINGH

A new global gold rush has begun. It's not for a precious metal, but for something far more transformative: Generative Artificial Intelligence. This technology, which can create everything from poetry to complex computer code, isn't just another tech trend; it's a seismic shift reshaping the world economy. The numbers are staggering. A recent McKinsey study estimates that Gen-AI could inject up to $4.4 trillion into the global economy annually—that's like adding another United Kingdom to the world's GDP every single year. The AI market itself is predicted to multiply sevenfold this decade, exploding from $233 billion to nearly $1.8 trillion.

For India, a nation that has built its modern economic identity on the bedrock of technology and services, this isn't just an opportunity; it's a destiny-defining moment. We are at a critical juncture where the right moves could cement our position as a global leader for the next century, while inaction could leave us dependent on foreign powers for the core technology of the future. The question is no longer if AI will change the world, but who will write the rules of this new era. India must be a lead author.

THE GLOBAL AI GOLD RUSH: AN INDIAN ADVANTAGE The incredible economic forecasts for AI are not just abstract numbers; they translate directly into productivity and growth. Oxford Economics projects that advanced economies could see their GDPs jump by as much as 4% by 2032 thanks to AI. For India, with a relatively low base of automation, the potential for a productivity "kicker" is even higher. We have a massive workforce that can be supercharged by AI tools, delivering a far greater marginal return on investment.