India’s Role in Developing Practical and Impactful AI Applications: Insights from Elastic CEO

India is poised to play a crucial role in the development of practical and impactful AI applications, according to Ashutosh Kulkarni, CEO of Elastic, a leading tech company. Kulkarni highlighted that India is set to be a key player in utilizing AI systems, with companies and startups already driving exciting innovations at a remarkable scale and complexity.

While companies across various industries in India are actively involved in building AI-powered applications, Kulkarni noted that the development of AI systems themselves, such as large language models, is still in its early stages in the country. However, he expressed optimism about the future of AI adoption in India, particularly in sectors like fintech, logistics, tech, and ecommerce.

Kulkarni emphasized that the adoption of AI will ultimately be driven by the risk appetite of each sector, with digital natives likely to lead the charge in embracing AI technologies. He cited examples of financial services companies automating customer support using AI and predicted further adoption as confidence in managing biases and risks associated with AI models grows.

In addition to the private sector, Kulkarni highlighted the increasing use of AI in government organizations in India, noting that the country is as aggressive as the US in adopting AI within the public sector. He contrasted this with Europe, where there is more hesitation towards AI adoption, although the recent passing of the EU AI Act could potentially change this stance over time.

Kulkarni underscored the transformative impact of AI on the IT industry, stating that technologies like AI, cloud computing, and data analytics are converging to create new possibilities and change the way businesses operate. He emphasized the importance of developing advanced natural language processing and machine learning models to handle diverse data sources and user queries in the age of AI.

Overall, Kulkarni sees AI as a fundamental shift in IT, comparable to the impact of mobile technology, social media, and IoT in the past. He believes that leveraging unstructured data through AI could revolutionize services, enhance customer insights, and improve human-machine interactions. As the demand for computing power continues to grow, Kulkarni highlighted the simultaneous innovation happening in both hardware and software as a source of excitement in the tech industry.