Seattle, Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella has urged technology leaders to ensure artificial intelligence reaches farmers, businesses and communities across India, saying its promise will depend on how widely people can use it and contribute to its development.
Addressing the Ideas4India forum in Seattle on September 17, Nadella said the benefits of a general-purpose technology should extend across countries and sectors. He coupled that call with an emphasis on national sovereignty, control over knowledge and human oversight.
“It will only happen when all of the world can both benefit from and contribute to this knowledge,” he said.
Nadella illustrated AI’s potential through a demonstration he had seen in Delhi. An Indian developer had combined a GPT model with language services to help a rural farmer seek information about a government scheme through WhatsApp.
The demonstration allowed the farmer to converse in a local language. The system explained access to a subsidy and attempted to help complete the required paperwork.
He said the experience helped shape his understanding of what AI could do beyond the technology industry.
Its impact, he said, would depend on reaching businesses of different sizes and sectors throughout the economy.
That expansion also required countries and companies to retain control over their knowledge.
“Countries need to have control of their knowledge,” Nadella said.
He argued that participation should allow countries and businesses to feel secure, without becoming subject to another entity’s technological frontier. Governance and control would therefore need to be more widely distributed.
Nadella also said that India’s AI opportunity must involve creating distinctive products and services for the world, while urging professionals to reconsider their skills as artificial intelligence changes how work gets done.
India’s Ambassador to the United States, Vinay Kwatra, placed practical development needs at the centre of the discussion. He said AI adoption in India would depend on useful outcomes and on what society and infrastructure could support.
“So I think all questions on AI get answered on outcome at the level of society,” Kwatra said.
Kwatra reaffirmed India’s commitment to an AI mission anchored in inclusivity, openness, sovereignty, democratised access, safety and trust.
Organisers said participants proposed cooperation in AI infrastructure, data centres, semiconductor design and manufacturing, quantum research, skills, aerospace and advanced manufacturing. Several companies represented at the meeting maintain substantial engineering, research and business operations in India.
The consulate cited Microsoft’s announced $17.5 billion investment in India during 2026-2029 for cloud and AI infrastructure, skills and operations. It also cited Amazon’s announced $48 billion investment during 2026-2030, including AWS data centre expansion in Mumbai and Hyderabad.
