PLATFORM POWERHOUSES OF THE AI ERA

How global platform leaders are shaping India's AI ecosystem through strategic commitment, infra capability and enterprise transformation

- NOOR FATHIMA WARSIA

FOR MOST enterprises, AI is adopted through platforms. Cloud providers, enterprise software suites and foundational model companies supply the infrastructure, tooling and guardrails that make AI deployable at scale. The executives leading these platforms, therefore, shape not just products, but the conditions under which AI is adopted across India. The Global AI Platform Leaders are not simply evangelists. They are accountable for platform direction, ecosystem build-out and responsible AI posture across cloud, foundational models, developer tooling and enterprise software.

Cloud-led AI Adoption

At the forefront is Puneet Chandok, President, India & South Asia, Microsoft. Microsoft's partnership with OpenAI and its Azure AI platform has made it one of the key enablers of enterprise generative AI adoption. Azure's integration of GPT-based models, copilots and analytics tools has created a strong deployment stack for enterprises.

In India, Chandok has helped align Microsoft's global AI priorities with local demand through infrastructure investment, partnerships and large-scale skilling initiatives. The result is a platform play defined by scale, integration and enterprise readiness.

Preeti Lobana, Country Manager & Vice President, Google India, has focused on expanding and localising Google Cloud AI capabilities for Indian enterprises. Vertex AI, TensorFlow and Google's generative AI tools have been adopted across sectors, including financial services, retail and media.

Under her leadership, Google has strengthened developer programmes and multilingual AI initiatives relevant to India, aligned with the company's broader AI safety principles. That blend of global capability and local relevance reinforces Google's enterprise footprint.