AI Impact Summit for India’s Vision for Accessible & Inclusive AI

Mumbai, Dec 04

The Pre-Summit Event of the India – AI Impact Summit 2026, organised by Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) Delhi in association with the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP), was held on 3rd December 2025 at NBCC Auditorium, New Delhi. The theme of the event was “AI for Accessibility – Transforming Lives through Innovation”. The Pre-Summit event is one in a series of events leading up to the AI Impact Summit 2026, showcasing the all–pervasive impact of AI. The event brought together policymakers, technologists, researchers, industry leaders, and accessibility advocates.

The day-long programme was inaugurated by Shri S. Krishnan, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology of India (MeitY), in the gracious presence of Shri Arvind Kumar, Director General STPI, Ms. Deepa Nagraj, Global Head of Communications, Sparkle Innovation Ecosystem, ESG, and CSR at Mphasis, Dr Buddha Chandrashekhar, CEO, Anuvadini AI and COO, AICTE, Shri Pradeep Gupta, Chairman, CyberMedia Group and Dr Sanjay Kumar Gupta, Senior Director STPI. It highlighted how India is shaping a future where Artificial Intelligence (AI) serves as a catalyst for inclusion and equal opportunity, especially for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs).

Chief Guest, S. Krishnan, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology of India (MeitY), highlighted the government’s vision toward enabling AI that is ethical, inclusive, and focused on the public good. In his speech, Shri Krishnan said, “We expect technology, particularly AI—given the potential that it has to be inclusive and to ensure that it actually achieves the effect of democratising development and making sure that everybody participates. And that's again part of the key element of what we are trying to do there. Technology now gives us the opportunity to actually include everyone, including the most excluded. People with disabilities, people who have different abilities, are often left out of the mainstream simply because it is assumed that it will be difficult to serve them, especially if the resources needed are too heavy. We have a number of legislative enactments that attempt to change this. But legislation alone doesn't achieve the immediate change. You need to ensure that the change occurs through a number of actual initiatives, which will help achieve it, and through a number of bridging mechanisms. And technology, and AI in particular, offers one of those bridging mechanisms.”

Arvind Kumar, Director General, STPI, in his special address, spoke about the various technological revolutions and their impact on mankind. “Technology has always been a big enabler for levelling. The first revolution came in the form of electricity. The next revolution came in the form of the internet. AI is the third revolution. Now, AI can do the levelling, which has never been done by any of the technologies. That is, even the people who are differently abled can also work in a similar manner as other people. This is the potential of AI.”

The event also witnessed the signing/exchange of four strategic MoUs aimed at promoting collaborative research and innovation. These included agreements between STPI and IIIT Allahabad, STPI and C-DAC Pune, AIC STPINEXT Initiatives and GIMS, and AIC STPINEXT Initiatives and NCPEDP. These partnerships are expected to accelerate advancements in emerging technologies, strengthen assistive tech innovation, and expand opportunities for inclusive employment and healthcare innovation.

The two highly engaging sessions were “AI for Accessibility – Transforming Lives” and “Inclusive Design and AT Innovations.” The key speakers were Dr. Gaurav Raheja, Professor & Former HOD, Department of Architecture & Planning, IIT Roorkee; Dr. Ravinder Singh, Sr. Scientist, ICMR; Ms. Prachi Bhatia, Public Policy Manager, Meta; Dr. Richa Gupta, Professor, IIT Delhi; Ms. Deepa Nagraj, Global Head of Communications, Sparkle Innovation Ecosystem, ESG & CSR, Mphasis; Dr. Buddha Chandrashekhar, CEO Anuvadini AI and COO AICTE; and Shri Pradeep Gupta, Chairman, CyberMedia Group. Other speakers were Ms. Shilpi Kapoor, Founder & CEO, BarrierBreak; Shri Srinivasu Chakravarthula, Director of Product Accessibility, Freshworks; Shri Moses Chowdari, COO & Trustee, Enable India and Dr Subodh Sachan Director STPI.

Shri S Krishnan, Secretary MeitY also launched the Electropreneur Park Delhi Open Challenge Program (OCP), which comprises IIT Delhi as the Hub and 11 institutes based in Northern India as the spokes. The aim of the OCP is to identify, recognise, and reward aspiring and early-stage tech entrepreneurs and innovators.