Agentic AI and the new frontier of Bharat's tech ambitions

As India evolves from a trading economy to a development powerhouse, a quiet but powerful revolution is taking place. AI agents, indigenous tech strategies, and new- age commerce are redefining the rules of growth

- ASHOK PANDEY, BHARTI TREHAN

A decade ago, security and surveillance businesses in India mostly followed one path: import, sell, repeat.

Boxes came in, profits were made, but innovation didn't reside on local soil. Today, that landscape is transforming rapidly. Not loudly, but certainly. A quiet revolution is underway.

Companies that once served as traders are now working to become full-fledged developers. Instead of just distributing finished products, they're creating them from scratch, right here in India. Over 50 indigenous products are now seeking STQC certification, marking a serious shift from dependence to independence. It's no longer about participation; it's about ownership.

This change is more than technological. It's strategic. The drive is not just to make tech work, but to make it work for India, in India. It's a layered response to challenges of scale, security and sovereignty.

E-commerce, tenders and the power of three-front strategies

The expansion playbook used to be simple: open more branches, increase footfall. But the new rules are far more nuanced and powerful. Now, it's about combining three channels for reach:

When deployed together, this trio becomes formidable. Some businesses have even charted a fixed path: entering three new states every year, leaning heavily on public procurement for the initial push. It's deliberate, modular growth, not volume for volume's sake.

Interestingly, tier II and III regions are fast becoming hotbeds of innovation. The northern belt, once considered slow in tech uptake, is now where the real momentum is building.

Modular expansion: state by state, step by step