Big Tech boost to India’s AI engine

Amazon, Google and Microsoft are investing big in India. This may support the development of AI infrastructure and local data hosting

- SHELLEY SINGH

Global Big Tech is betting big on India. Just last month, Google announced its single largest investment in the country — $15 billion to build an artificial intelligence (AI) and data hub in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. Earlier this year, Amazon Web Services (AWS) pledged $127 billion in Cloud infrastructure by 2030, and Microsoft unveiled a $3 billion plan to expand its Al and datacentre footprint over the next two years.

‘These plans underscore a big shift — India has become the new fulcrum for global digital expansion. Once the world’s information technology (IT) services back office, India is now emerging as the engine room of global AI, where data, talent and demand converge at scale. If the IT services wave that created a $300 billion industry employing 6 million was led by local companies, the AI ecosystem is being driven by global Big Tech, now betting on India.

Saikat Banerjee, partner and leader in Bain & Company’s Al, insights and solutions practice, India said, “these investments will go along way in supporting cloud-based, enterprise-grade Al applications as well as hosting significant data estate on the cloud.” He sees benefits across the ecosystem.

Besides, India offers a rare mix of scale, talent and economic depth, pointed out Praveen Bhadada, CEO of Neovay Global, a Gurgaonbased consultancy. “India is a $5 trillion economy in the making. India has 170 public-listed companies with revenue exceeding $1 billion, over 100,000 startups, and more than 1,800 global capability centres (GCCs) — India is no longer a peripheral node in the tech and Al value chain. It’s becoming the engine room,” Bhadada noted.