Observed annually on July 16, AI Appreciation Day was founded in May 2021 by A.I. Heart LLC to honor the positive impact of artificial intelligence. What began with a marketing push has grown into a meaningful global observance dedicated to both celebrating AI’s breakthroughs and prompting discussions on ethical development.
The day is more than a celebration—it's a moment to reflect, learn, and act. It invites all stakeholders to appreciate AI’s advances and to reflect how AI has changed our lives, while committing to ethical innovation and collaboration. AI Day inspires participation across sectors—educators, developers, students, policymakers—to engage responsibly with AI’s future.
While it is a day to recognize AI’s transformative potential, it also underscores the need for ethical guardrails.
Take for instance, in the realm of cybersecurity, which is one of the trending issues today, AI presents both significant advantages and serious challenges. While it offers powerful tools for defense, AI is also being leveraged by cybercriminals to enhance the scale and sophistication of their attacks. These threats are becoming not only more advanced but also more accessible, enabling even inexperienced actors to launch highly effective cyberattacks. The risks posed by AI-driven threats are no longer hypothetical—they’re impacting real people in real situations. In one alarming case, a finance employee at a multinational bank in Hong Kong transferred $25 million after scammers used a deepfake video call on Zoom to impersonate the company’s CFO.
VARINDIA speaks to a few AI leaders from the industry to analyse what the next wave of AI innovations have in store and will be its transformative impact on various industries worldwide –
AI Emerges as Strategic Bedrock for Indian Enterprise Growth
Venkat Sitaram, Senior Director & Country Head, ISG - Dell Technologies India
“AI is no longer simply a technological advancement; it has become a strategic cornerstone for Indian enterprises driving digital transformation. As organizations increasingly generate and rely on vast volumes of data, the demand for intelligent, real-time infrastructure has never been greater. We are witnessing a definitive shift from AI experimentation to enterprise-wide implementation, particularly in critical sectors such as manufacturing, BFSI, and healthcare.
However, successful AI adoption requires more than deploying algorithms—it depends on scalable, secure, and sustainable infrastructure seamlessly integrated across edge, core, and cloud ecosystems. At Dell Technologies, we are dedicated to empowering businesses with comprehensive, end-to-end solutions that align with cutting-edge AI advancements. Our mission is to enable enterprises, whether emerging startups or established industry leaders, to harness the transformative power of AI to unlock business value, optimize operations, and secure long-term growth.
As we celebrate AI Appreciation Day, it is clear that the future belongs to those who responsibly scale their AI initiatives, foster innovation with confidence, and transform data into a formidable competitive advantage.”
AI's true value can be unlocked when it's developed and used with transparency and responsibility
Arun Kumar Parameswaran, EVP & Managing Director - Sales & Distribution (South Asia), Salesforce
"The future of work will belong to those who can harness AI not just as a tool, but as a transformative partner in progress. At Salesforce, we see AI as a force multiplier, augmenting human intelligence, accelerating productivity, and enabling people to focus on what truly drives business and societal impact: creativity, empathy, and innovation.
But AI is only as powerful as the data that fuels it. Trusted, unified, and real-time data is the foundation for effective AI, enabling meaningful insights, smarter decisions, and responsible automation. The ability to connect and contextualize data across systems is what ultimately empowers AI to deliver value at scale.
This transformation must also be anchored in trust. The promise of AI can only be realised through transparency, accountability, and ethical use. That’s why we are embedding trusted AI into the fabric of our platform, in the flow of work, with humans at the centre. On AI Appreciation Day, let’s shift the narrative, from fear of obsolescence to confidence in augmentation, from man versus machine to man with machine. Because it’s this partnership that will define the next frontier of work.”
AI Unlocks Human Potential in an Increasingly Digital India
Sooraj Balakrishnan, Associate Director & Head of Marketing, Acer India
“AI Appreciation Day serves as a reminder that artificial intelligence is no longer a frontier technology; it is now embedded across sectors, shaping how we learn, work, heal, and solve problems. From climate modelling and personalized learning to supply chain intelligence and healthcare diagnostics, AI is driving real impact. At Acer, we believe its value lies in amplifying human potential. In a diverse and fast-moving country like India, that potential must be inclusive, ethical, and responsive to real-world needs. This is why our AI PCs are designed to be accessible, adaptive, and relevant — empowering students, entrepreneurs, and professionals to solve, create, and lead effectively in their respective contexts. As India moves toward a digital-first future, we remain focused on delivering intelligent technology with purpose.”
Time to Embrace AI as Driver of Growth, Inclusion and Real-World Value
Amit Luthra, Managing Director, Lenovo ISG India
“AI Appreciation Day is a timely reminder that AI is no longer a futuristic concept — it’s a business-critical imperative today. Yet, many organizations are limited not by vision, but by the realities of their infrastructure and readiness. Lenovo’s CIO Playbook 2025 reveals that 63% of enterprises in India favor hybrid or on-premises environments for AI workloads, underscoring the urgent need for secure, scalable, and low-latency infrastructure. As AI advances, it is transforming how data is analyzed, decisions are made, and business outcomes are achieved. At Lenovo, we see the future in Hybrid AI — a secure, flexible, and distributed model that empowers AI to operate wherever it delivers the greatest impact: in the cloud, on-premises, or at the edge. India’s AI journey is still emerging, with 49% of organizations currently evaluating or planning adoption. This signals a meaningful shift from hype to tangible impact, as enterprises focus on building a strong foundation for sustainable growth. On this AI Appreciation Day, it is time for organizations to move beyond experiments and embrace AI as a core driver of growth, inclusion, and real-world value.”
AI today moving at a speed never seen before
Parag Khurana, Country Manager, India, Barracuda Networks
“It is not an overstatement to say that the adoption of AI is moving at breakneck speed. The ease of using generative AI to create and enhance content is having a far-reaching impact on people’s lives. AI tools and capabilities continue to evolve. Unfortunately, the AI-based tools that are powering innovation, productivity, and efficiency in business are also being used by cyber attackers to develop and scale increasingly complex, sophisticated, and evasive cyber threats. The most advanced AI-based threats can adapt in real-time and target vulnerabilities to exploit. The attackers only need to succeed once, with one user or security gap – the cybersecurity tools that defend against them need to succeed 100% of the time. Organisations need their own, powerful multimodal AI security that can detect and neutralize AI-based attacks regardless of whether they are delivered in an image or a QR code, and even if the language and sender seem completely legitimate.”
True progress is about creating the right infrastructure, mindset, and culture to support them
Matthew Oostveen, Chief Technology Officer and Vice President, APJ, Pure Storage
AI has moved from curiosity to business priority. Across Asia Pacific, the conversation is shifting. Business leaders are no longer asking, “Can we do AI?” but rather, “Is it delivering?” The novelty is fading, and the expectations are getting sharper. What’s the return? What value are we unlocking? What problems are we actually solving? But there’s a blind spot in many of these conversations. While companies rush to adopt AI tools and add compute power, few are spending enough time fixing what truly matters - the data feeding those systems.
Here’s the reality - messy data means messy AI. If your organisation has five versions of the same dataset floating around, sitting in different departments, and no one’s quite sure which is the most accurate or up to date, you don’t get intelligence - you get noise. And in sectors like finance, healthcare, or government, that noise can lead to dangerous decisions. Throwing more compute at the problem won’t help - it’ll just get you to the wrong answer faster.
To get AI right, we need to do the hard, unglamorous work: cleaning up data, standardising it, making sure everyone’s working off the same version of the truth. That means breaking down silos, setting clear rules on how data is handled, and investing in the right systems to track and manage it.
We also need to take data accountability seriously. That means knowing where your data came from, how it’s been changed, and who has access to it. On AI Appreciation Day, let’s shift the focus to the foundation. Because real progress doesn’t come from adopting the latest tool, but from building the right infrastructure, mindset, and culture to support it.”
AI Shifts Cybersecurity from Reactive Defence to Proactive Resilience
David Allott, Field CISO – APJ, Veeam
“On AI Appreciation Day, most discussions focus on the risks AI introduces. But in cybersecurity, we are overlooking a bigger opportunity: AI is also helping us rethink how we defend and recover.
AI is enabling security leaders across APJ, including India, to shift from reactive defence to proactive resilience. At Veeam, we are integrating AI to help businesses better understand and protect their data. It is not just about knowing where it is stored, but understanding what it contains, who has access, and whether it is subject to compliance issues or exfiltration risk.
In 2023, India saw more than 2.2 million cybersecurity incidents – a sharp rise in threats targeting critical infrastructure, enterprises, and digital services. This may be attributed to a surge in digital adoption and hybrid working environments.
As Indian companies adopt hybrid-cloud models and operate across legacy and modern infrastructure, this visibility becomes harder to achieve. AI cuts through the complexity by identifying anomalies faster, knowing misconfigurations before they become vulnerabilities, and introducing backup strategies with actual data value.
While AI is not a silver bullet for security, it is a tool that delivers clarity and context on how to become more resilient. For example, Veeam enables AI directly into platforms to assist with threat diagnostics and intelligent support for backup admins. Tools like VeeamONE deliver AI-powered threat detection, while Recon Scanner (a feature of Veeam Data Platform) helps identify risks before they escalate. This ensures organisations can protect the right data in the right way before threats emerge.”
AI Evolves From Tool to Trusted Partner in workplaces
Rahul Sharma, Vice President - Sales, Salesforce India
“We’re at a turning point in how work gets done. AI is moving from being a tool we use to a trusted partner that works alongside us - anticipating needs, reducing noise, and unlocking time for what really matters. The real opportunity lies in how AI can augment teams: helping them move faster, surface insights in the moment, and cut through the complexity that slows work down. That’s where agentic AI comes in - AI that’s proactive, contextual, and purpose-built to support humans, not replace them.
At Slack, we see this shift come to life with Agentforce, where autonomous agents act as teammates within the rhythm of daily work. But the future isn’t about more technology - it’s about technology that enables more meaningful work.
On AI Appreciation Day, we're not just acknowledging the progress we've made - we're charting a future where humans and AI collaborate in perfect sync, driving creativity, innovation, and lasting impact.”
AI Transforms Workplaces From Process-Driven to Purpose-Driven Cultures
Sujatha S Iyer, Head - AI Security, ManageEngine, Zoho Corp
“AI is no longer a futuristic concept, it’s a defining force in how we learn, work, and grow. It’s transforming the workplace from process-driven to purpose-driven by automating the routine and amplifying the human.
For emerging professionals, this is a pivotal moment to cultivate skills that AI can’t replicate - creativity, critical thinking, and ethical judgment. For decision-makers, it’s a call to embed responsible AI practices that prioritize trust, transparency, and meaningful upskilling across the workforce.
This transformation isn’t just technological, it’s deeply human. When implemented thoughtfully, AI doesn’t just boost productivity, it fosters a hybrid workforce where human insight and machine intelligence elevate one another.”
AI Becomes a Trusted Ally for Small Business Success
Laka Sriram, VP - Product, Independents, GoDaddy
“At GoDaddy, we view artificial intelligence as a powerful ally for millions of small businesses who are bringing their ideas to life. AI is no longer a futuristic concept; it’s here today, making an extraordinary difference in how small businesses operate, compete, and grow.
AI agents act as dedicated workers, handling specific tasks and preparing the work for business owners to review, refine, and approve thereby saving time, streamlining decision-making, and helping businesses move faster with confidence.
From instantly generating beautiful websites and product descriptions to helping business owners understand customer trends and optimize marketing campaigns, AI simplifies complexity and saves precious time. It enables entrepreneurs to focus on their passions while giving them the confidence that their technology is working smarter in the background.
This AI Appreciation Day, we celebrate not just the technology itself, but the creativity, resilience, and ambition it helps unlock in people everywhere. The future of business is being built at the intersection of human ingenuity and intelligent tools, and we are proud to empower entrepreneurs with AI solutions that make big dreams achievable.”
AI Success Hinges on Intelligent Data and Scalable Infrastructure
Vasanthi Ramesh, VP- Engineering and Managing Director, NetApp India
“On AI Appreciation Day, it’s essential to reflect on the transformative role AI continues to play across industries worldwide. With data volumes now far outpacing our human ability to process and respond, AI isn’t just valuable, it’s essential. With the rise of open large language models (LLMs), businesses are navigating an increasingly competitive global landscape for AI leadership. NetApp’s AI Space Race report reveals that this momentum is shared across geographies: 81% of CEO’s and IT executives surveyed highlighted that they are currently piloting or scaling AI initiatives, and 88% believe their organizations are mostly or fully prepared to sustain long-term AI transformation. That said, winning the AI race will require intelligent data strategies and robust infrastructures - supported by agile, secure, and scalable cloud solutions. Regardless of industry, size, or geography, organizations must invest in resilient infrastructure that enables real innovation. Because in the AI Space Race, success will be defined by the ability to turn data into lasting competitive advantage.”
AI Adoption Surges as India Builds a Digital Future
Mayank Baid, Regional Vice President, India & South Asia, Cloudera
“On AI Appreciation Day, we honor the extraordinary advances in Artificial Intelligence and its power to redefine our world. Over the years, AI has become a key enabler of digital transformation. In fact, our recent survey, titled The Future of Enterprise AI Agents, revealed that 84% of Indian respondents said they have implemented AI agents in the past two years, and 98% plan to expand their use in the coming years. At Cloudera, we are committed to the rapid deployment of trusted AI by enabling organizations to integrate any AI model with secure and governed data across hybrid environments. By empowering Indian businesses to derive AI-driven insights securely while retaining full control over their infrastructure, we are supporting greater agility, compliance, and insight-driven innovation. This aligns seamlessly with Digital India’s goals and the nation’s digital upskilling efforts.”
Celebrating AI That Matters!
Naresh B. Wadhwa, Vice-Chairman & Managing Director, Videonetics
"As we celebrate AI Appreciation Day, it is essential to recognize that the true potential of AI lies not just in automating tasks, but in empowering intelligent, real-time decision-making across critical environments. At Videonetics, we believe in building what we call ‘True AI’: AI that is explainable, contextual, and deeply integrated with real-world scenarios.
From enhancing urban safety to streamlining traffic systems and securing vital infrastructure, our mission is to enable organisations to look deeper into video data and derive actionable insights that drive impact. India has the talent, scale, and ambition to lead the next wave of AI innovation, and we are proud to be building world-class, Made-in-India solutions that are already transforming how cities and enterprises think about security and intelligence.
AI is not just the future; it is the foundation of smarter, safer societies, and it must be built responsibly, for people and with purpose."
AI Powers Frictionless Innovation, Personalization, and Ethical Digital Experiences
Nishant Patel, Co-founder & CTO, Contentstack
“AI has become the engine room of modern digital innovation, quietly removing friction, automating the mundane, and letting creators and developers focus on what truly moves the needle. At Contentstack, we see AI as a force multiplier that enables hyper-personalised, real-time experiences, anticipates user needs, and accelerates delivery across every digital touchpoint. For developers, it means less time on boilerplate and more time on breakthroughs. For enterprises, it means content that adapts, performs, and resonates at scale. But with this power comes a duty to wield AI ethically, ensuring that every experience is inclusive, responsible, and grounded in human values. AI Appreciation Day is a call to lead with ambition and integrity.”
Securing Machine Identities Key to India’s Trusted AI Future
Sumit Srivastava, Solutions Engineering Director - India, CyberArk
“India is witnessing a significant surge in AI adoption, cloud-native application development, and digital transformation across enterprises, government, and even startups. As a result, machine identities are growing at an unprecedented rate, far outpacing human identities. According to the CyberArk 2025 Identity Security Landscape report, organizations today have 82 machine identities for every human identity, and this number is expected to keep rising with the proliferation of agentic AI. This trend presents a critical cybersecurity challenge. Autonomous AI agents, while powerful, can independently make decisions, escalate their access privileges, and interact with critical IT systems, often without direct human oversight. Left unsecured, they can be exploited by threat actors to gain lateral access across networks, including sensitive data and infrastructure.
For Indian enterprises, especially those in BFSI, manufacturing, and government sectors undergoing rapid digitization, the top priority must be implementing a unified, AI-powered identity security framework, starting with robust machine identity protection. CyberArk strongly believes that industry, academia, and government must come together to proactively define secure AI usage frameworks before bad actors can exploit the gap. Human and machine identities are the backbone of India’s growing digital economy. On AI Appreciation Day, it’s vital to recognize that securing these identities isn’t just a technical necessity, it is foundational to ensuring safe, trustworthy AI innovation in India’s digital future.”
AI Is Today’s Catalyst for India’s Sustainable Digital Growth
Umesh Shah, Director, Orient Technologies Limited
“AI Appreciation Day serves as a powerful reminder of how artificial intelligence is no longer a futuristic concept but a present-day catalyst for progress across sectors. It’s a day to acknowledge the innovations that AI enables—from smarter governance and efficient enterprises to empowered communities. At Orient Technologies, we are dedicated to advancing this vision by helping position India as a global AI powerhouse. Through cutting-edge solutions and continued collaboration with MeitY, we bring deep expertise in managing large-scale digital infrastructure, ensuring that AI adoption is not only ambitious but also sustainable, secure, and impactful for businesses and society alike.”
When Innovation Meets Compassion: Responsible AI in Healthcare
“At Philips, we embrace AI with a deep sense of responsibility, recognizing its potential to transform lives through healthcare innovation. For us, AI is not just a powerful technological advancement; - it is an enabler that helps clinicians address complex challenges, support diagnostic decision-making, and personalize care pathways.
While we celebrate the opportunities AI brings, we also remain focused on its thoughtful and ethical integration. Transparency, trust, and human empathy must guide every solution we develop. We believe that the real promise of AI lies in responsibly aligning technology with human values, improving care delivery, reducing disparities, and empowering both patients and care providers.”
India’s AI Progress Demands Scalable, Unified Enterprise Strategy
Naveen Bolalingappa - CEO, STL Digital
“As we mark AI Appreciation Day in India, it’s important to acknowledge both the promise and the pressing challenges that define the country’s AI journey. While India is rapidly becoming a global digital powerhouse, reports indicate that over 60% of enterprises still fail to operationalize AI at scale without future-ready enterprise solutions. This challenge arises due to data silos and legacy infrastructure as key barriers. The root cause lies in the fragmented adoption approach—where AI is often treated as a one-off initiative rather than a long-term, organization-wide capability. This disjointedness not only stalls innovation but also prevents businesses from unlocking the true value of data-driven decision-making.
The consequences are visible: from under-readiness in the manufacturing sector and delayed insights in BFSI, to missed personalization in retail and healthcare. Without a foundational AI strategy, Indian enterprises risk falling behind in a world where AI maturity will define competitive advantage. With the changing landscape of AI across sectors, what is also needed for equitable AI success is regulation at the industry, individual and national level.
At STL Digital, we’re committed to changing that narrative. Our approach integrates AI with cloud, data engineering, and security by design, helping enterprises scale AI across levels of their organization and innovate consistently. We are enabling businesses to move from experimentation to execution—with frameworks that ensure access, scalability, and real-time intelligence.
On this AI Appreciation Day, we urge Indian businesses to not just adopt AI, but to embed it into the core of their operations. Because appreciation should lead to action—and that’s how we collectively shape a smarter, more resilient digital future for India.”
Trust, Not Just Intelligence, Will Define AI’s Future Impact
Anant Deshpande, DigiCert Regional Vice President, India and ASEAN
“This AI Appreciation Day, we’re not just celebrating the power of artificial intelligence—we’re championing its responsible evolution. At DigiCert, we believe that as AI becomes more integral to business, security must scale alongside innovation. Generative AI, autonomous systems, and machine learning models are transforming how we work, communicate, and build. But with these advancements come growing risks - deepfakes, misinformation, model drift, and quantum-era vulnerabilities that threaten the very trust AI depends on. That’s why we’re embedding digital trust into the core of every AI interaction, from identity-backed content provenance to PKI-secured AI pipelines.
As the lines blur between human and machine-generated actions, trust becomes the defining currency. Our AI initiatives ranging from anomaly detection to post-quantum cryptographic readiness and secure agentic AI are built with one goal in mind: to make AI not just smarter, but safer. Because when you anchor innovation in verifiability, authenticity, and transparency, AI doesn't just solve problems faster - it earns the confidence to lead us into the future.”
AI Demands Scalable, Resilient Data Infrastructure for Real-Time Insights
Dr. Badri Gomatam, Group CTO, Sterlite Technologies Limited
“In today’s AI-powered world, the ability to turn massive amounts of data into real-time, actionable insights is what sets successful organisations apart. As AI workloads demand ever-greater speed and scale, the role of data centres has shifted from simply storing information to enabling intelligence at every level. With India’s data centre capacity poised to double in the next five years, and AI applications requiring exponentially more compute power, the need for robust, sustainable, and low-latency connectivity has never been greater.
At STL, we see this as a tremendous opportunity to deliver next-generation structured cabling and optical connectivity offerings tailored for AI-driven data centres. Our advanced Data Centre and Enterprise Cabling Systems are designed to support everything from distributed AI tasks to high-performance GPU clusters. By combining high throughput, energy efficiency, and superior security, our optical fibre-backed networks are forming the backbone of tomorrow’s digital infrastructure.
On AI Appreciation Day, we’re focused on building resilient, intelligent, and scalable data centre ecosystems that empower enterprises to move from experimentation to execution. For AI to truly unlock its potential, it needs an infrastructure foundation that’s as dynamic and dependable as the technology itself—and that’s exactly what STL is committed to delivering.”
AI Redefines Cloud, Data Centers, and India’s Digital Future
Narendra Sen, Founder & CEO, RackBank & NeevCloud
“AI is one of the most exciting chapters in the story of technology. It’s changing how we live, learn, and lead. It is helping us solve complex problems, unlock new possibilities, and reimagine the future. AI is amplifying human potential in ways we are only beginning to imagine and transforming how we operate data centers and provide cloud services—from revolutionary yet affordable cloud AI solutions to predictive maintenance to intelligent cooling and energy efficiency. Today, we recognize AI not just as a workload we support, but as a partner that drives value, innovation, and trust. It is redefining how we work, serve customers and grow as a company. At RackBank and NeevCloud we are proud to be at the forefront of this journey of shaping technology that empowers people and enriches lives, while also championing the need for homegrown, sovereign AI capabilities that strengthen India’s digital ecosystem.”
India’s AI Moment: Powering Progress with Privacy at the Core
Praveer Kochhar, Co-Founder & CPO, KOGO AI
“AI Appreciation Day is a good moment to pause and take in just how far we’ve come. In just a few years, AI has gone from a backend tool to an ally we actively collaborate with to make decisions, solve problems, and even shape strategy. It’s changed how we work, how we think, and in many ways, how we build. Looking ahead, the future with AI feels even more promising. It holds the power to augment human potential and help us achieve in months or weeks what once took years. And with Private AI in the picture, some of the biggest blockers, like data exposure and security, are no longer standing in the way.
That’s exactly why we built Private AI at KOGO— to help organisations leverage the power of AI without having to give up control over their data. That opens up possibilities for sectors that have traditionally kept their distance from AI, like defence, healthcare, and BFSI, where AI has always been needed but never fully trusted. India has both the talent and the urgency to lead in this space. And as the blockers are out, people can innovate without second thoughts. When human potential moves in lockstep with AI capabilities, nothing is standing in the way. What’s ahead is a kind of innovation we haven’t yet imagined, and I believe we’re just getting started.”
AI’s Future Lies in Empowering People, Not Replacing Them
Dinesh Ajmera, Site Leader and VP - Engineering, Confluent India
“AI’s real promise for India lies not in replacing human hands, but in extending human potential—transforming our vast talent, curiosity, and entrepreneurial spirit into unstoppable momentum. Its impact will grow when it becomes part of daily life for every worker, educator, farmer, and student. That means meaningful education, training in local languages, and real opportunities to use AI to solve problems, learn faster, and make better decisions. We must create systems that support curiosity with access and turn ambition into action. India’s strength has always been its people. When every Indian can harness AI, we don’t just automate tasks—we ignite possibility, building a future that’s not only smarter, but more inclusive, resilient, and deeply humane.”
Agentic AI is Powering the Next-Gen Business Revolution
Sagar P.V., Chief Technology Officer – Mindsprint
"AI is no longer just a tool; it is a strategic partner that is reshaping how businesses think and operate. At Mindsprint, we have built our organization around this belief, embedding intelligence into every solution we deliver. What sets this era apart is the rise of agentic AI, systems that can reason, adapt, and act with context. This shift goes beyond automation; it enables leaders to reimagine strategy with intelligence at the core. For our clients, the impact is real. They are gaining predictive insights, optimizing in real-time, and uncovering growth opportunities they had not previously considered. For teams, AI is amplifying creativity and freeing people to focus on innovation and strategic problem-solving. The future is not about AI replacing humans; it is about purposeful AI working alongside us to build smarter, more resilient enterprises."
Redefining Intelligence: AI with Intent
Bhawna Singh, CTO, Auth0, Okta
"AI is transforming how we think about scale, security, and simplicity. It enables us to solve complex challenges faster while pushing us to stay intentional about ethics, transparency, and trust. On AI Appreciation Day, we celebrate progress, but more importantly, we reaffirm our commitment to building AI that’s responsible, resilient, and built for everyone."
Winning the AI Race: Why Smart Observability is the Key to Sustainable Innovation
Rob Newell, Group Vice President Solutions Consulting, Asia Pacific & Japan, New Relic
"On AI Appreciation Day, it is important to celebrate the significant progress made in recent years but also recognise that the AI race is far from over. APAC’s emerging leadership in AI adoption and investment means that AI is weaving its way into our everyday lives and systems. Organisations are using large language models (LLMs) and generative AI (genAI) to optimise operations, and AI agents promise to reshape our most common digital experiences. The value that organisations receive by augmenting human capabilities with AI are clear: there’s significant cost and productivity efficiencies that help businesses unlock new frontiers of innovation.
For organisations to integrate these AI tools and realise their potential, they will have to fundamentally rethink their technology architectures. Regardless of the size, all companies are facing the same harsh reality: AI tools are expensive to use, and the costs of building new AI-backed technologies are unpredictable. Organisations that win in our inevitable AI-enabled future won’t necessarily be the ones with the best ideas; instead, the winners will be those that have figured out how to effectively balance cost, value, and performance.
Despite the rapid evolution of generative AI technology, the fundamental questions underpinning the cost of AI are simple: How often do companies query an LLM and how much do those queries cost? By controlling these queries effectively and getting the most out of every call by adopting AI-supportive techniques such as retrieval augmented generation (RAG) and agent frameworks, companies can more reliably predict and lower their AI expenses.
Historically, observability has offered organisations the ability to detect and respond to anomalies in their systems and optimise performance. But with AI driving a revolution in processes and architectures, observability needs to evolve to keep pace and continue providing users with a window into their own systems and processes. New Relic research found that 39% of IT leaders in India regarded AI as a key driver for observability adoption.
Organisations need intelligent observability to rise and meet the challenge brought by AI. This next phase of observability will be preventive, self-healing, and autonomous, so that it can surface the right insights to the right person at the right time. AI monitoring tools give companies end-to-end visibility into their AI-integrated workflows, but more importantly real-time insight to troubleshoot, compare, and optimise approaches to using LLMs to improve their features or offer brand new experiences. This allows companies to adjust when necessary to manage costs, improve performance, and reduce common issues that can cause costly hiccups.
In the long term, AI will truly become ubiquitous when we can reliably achieve the right balance between cost, performance, quality, value, and reliability. Companies developing AI features need to identify the right use cases to get the most out of those LLMs while still delivering value and innovation to their customers.
Observability helps companies maintain reliability, quality, and efficiency throughout all components of the AI technology stack, alongside services and infrastructure, so that they have the data they need to make decisions that limit expenses, maximise ROI, and accelerate business outcomes."
Beyond the Buzz: Why AI + Privacy = The Future of Innovation
Mitesh Jain, Regional Vice President - India, Akamai Technologies
“Artificial Intelligence is transforming industries, driving innovation, and shaping how we live and work. From personalized digital experiences to real-time insights, AI is helping organizations reimagine what is possible. However, as AI adoption grows, so do the challenges of securing applications, protecting data, and ensuring consistent performance. The future of AI depends not only on the pace of innovation but also on building strong cybersecurity foundations and resilient cloud infrastructure that enable safe, scalable, and trustworthy AI-driven solutions.
To help businesses realize this potential, it is essential to ensure that AI applications are protected, high-performing, and built for scale. Akamai’s intelligent cloud platform, combined with advanced security solutions such as Firewall for AI, App and API Protector, and edge-powered inference capabilities, empowers enterprises to adopt AI with confidence. As we mark AI Appreciation Day, we remain committed to pushing the boundaries of what AI can make possible, helping organizations deliver secure, reliable, and seamless digital experiences.”
AI Is No Longer a Tool—It’s a Trusted Partner
Ranga Jagannath, Senior Director – Growth, Agora
“AI is more than just automation — it is a bridge to deeper human connection. We believe real-time interactions should be intelligent, inclusive, and truly human-centred. Our innovations — like the Conversational AI Engine and the ConvoAI Device Kit — help organizations create seamless voice and video experiences across devices, from phones to wearables.
With ultra-low latency, real-time translation, noise cancellation, intelligent interruption handling, and multi-lingual support, we are not just removing technical barriers — we are making conversations more accessible, empathetic, and meaningful.
Whether it is an AI companion offering emotional support or a virtual assistant helping students learn beyond the classroom, we see AI as a force that connects — not replaces. At Agora, we are proud to shape a future where AI does not just improve communication — it amplifies understanding.”
Enabling AI innovation by focusing on localized AI model training
Amit Agrawal, President, Techno Digital
“Artificial intelligence is only as powerful as the infrastructure that fuels it. At Techno Digital, we recognize that AI innovation begins with robust, sustainable and scalable digital infrastructure. From GPU-optimized clusters and liquid-cooled high-density compute to latency-sensitive AI workloads at the edge, our infrastructure is built to meet the speed, scale, and diversity of AI demands.
We are accelerating the decentralization of AI by building India’s largest network of interconnected data centers, bringing compute closer to communities, devices, and users. Our mission is to enable AI innovation by focusing on localised AI model training and inferences using GPUs and diverse regional data, ensuring that AI solutions are sustainable, efficient, and accessible for everyone. We are committed to building a digital framework that is sustainable, efficient, and accessible for everyone. Our core focus is to ensure that AI serves every citizen — not just those in metro cities, but across the length and breadth of the country.
On this day, we reaffirm our commitment to building a digital backbone that supports ethical AI, fosters collaboration, and transforms lives - one intelligent node at a time.”
The focus should be on making AI practical, secure and scalable
Pratik Shah, Managing Director India & SAARC, F5
“On AI Appreciation Day, it is important to reflect not just on the significant advancements in artificial intelligence, but also on our shared responsibility to deploy it with purpose, trust, and long-term value. For Indian enterprises, the adoption has shifted from pilot project to platform readiness. Going forward, AI is expected to orchestrate end-to-end processes, replacing traditional management consoles with natural language interfaces and programmable platforms.
While every app we interact with today leverages AI to some extent, this widespread adoption underscores the critical importance to secure these AI-powered applications, ensuring organizations can safely continue to harness their full benefits. Even our 2025 State of Application Strategy Report revealed that 96% of organisations are deploying AI models. As AI becomes core to business operations and competitiveness, platforms must offer flexibility without compromising security. We need to focus on making AI practical, secure and scalable from optimizing interference performance to securing data pipelines for enterprises to move with promptness, assurance, and control. Our mission is to help enterprises build the infrastructure they need to move forward with confidence, control, and resilience to support growing demands.”
Embedding AI into enterprise strategy is no longer a choice but ensuring trust
Suvabrata Sinha, CISO-in-Residence, Zscaler
“AI Appreciation Day is a timely reminder that we’re witnessing a dual transformation, one of innovation and one of responsibility. Our ThreatLabz 2025 AI Security Report analysed over 536 billion AI transactions and revealed both the enormous potential of AI and the growing complexity of its misuse. From agentic AI to deepfake platforms and AI-enhanced phishing, the risks are evolving as fast as the technology itself.
India is leading AI/ML transaction volumes in APAC, highlighting the region’s accelerated digital transformation. But this rapid adoption also brings real-world challenges navigating compliance, managing costs, and bridging talent gaps in securing AI at scale. As we celebrate how far AI has come, it’s also an opportunity to reflect on how we are safeguarding its future. Embedding AI into enterprise strategy is no longer a choice but ensuring trust, governance, and resilience around it must be a shared priority across industries. The balance between innovation, precision, and protection will define the next era of intelligent transformation.
From Access to Empowerment: AI's Role in Transforming SME Finance"For a long time, SMEs were financially excluded not by intent but because traditional channels failed to serve them effectively. Digital payments and infrastructure laid the foundation for inclusion and started engaging them meaningfully. Now AI is set to strengthen and accelerate that progress. It allows the payments ecosystem to offer data-driven support that helps merchants run their businesses better and smarter. At Mintoak, we believe AI isn’t just about automation. Its about deeper engagement and real empowerment for the SME sector. It’s a powerful step forward in building a more inclusive and responsive financial ecosystem."
Harnessing AI to empower India’s youth with skills and tools
Premalakshmi PR, Vice President and Head of Technology, Oracle
“On AI Appreciation Day, I am inspired by the transformative power of artificial intelligence and its pivotal role in shaping the future of learning, work, and innovation. At Oracle, we are deeply committed to harnessing AI to empower India’s youth with the skills and tools they need to lead in the digital economy.
Through our strategic partnerships with the Government of India’s DIKSHA platform and the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), we are driving scalable and impactful skilling initiatives. By embedding advanced AI and cloud technologies into these platforms, we’re enabling millions of learners and educators to access smart digital content, personalized learning experiences, and industry-recognized certifications—helping build a future-ready workforce.
Additionally, as we work with AI-driven enterprise solutions, we are not only equipping individuals but also empowering AI enterprise customers to unlock their full potential. With Oracle’s cloud infrastructure and AI capabilities, businesses can seamlessly integrate next-generation technologies to accelerate innovation and drive measurable outcomes, creating an ecosystem where both individuals and organizations can thrive.”
India Isn’t Just in the AI Race—It’s Shaping the Track!"The true value of AI does not only lie in its novelty but also in its ability to help us tackle real-world challenges. As we advance, the conversation around AI must shift from what it can do to what it should do to make our systems and environments more trustworthy, purpose-driven, and inclusive.
What is exciting to see is how India is uniquely positioned to lead this transformation. We are not merely participants in the global AI revolution; we are actively shaping it, with the talent, responsibility, and vision to develop solutions that serve billions around the world.
Aurigo is harnessing the power of AI to make infrastructure smarter and more secure. By embedding AI across capital planning and construction management, we are enabling our customers to gain better insights, drive greater accountability, and ultimately, improve the quality of life for citizens. We are not only building task agents that improve efficiency but also decision agents that help our customers take data-driven actions autonomously. For instance, our Lumina search agents empower construction professionals to access information across documents or records via natural language, accelerate timely decision-making, and derive insights."
AI-Powered Chipsets Are Redefining Smartphone Performance and Experience
Anku Jain, Managing Director, MediaTek India
“Artificial Intelligence has evolved from a futuristic concept to a transformative force, particularly in the semiconductor and smartphone industries. AI is redefining user experiences by enabling everyday features, from voice assistants and computational photography to real-time translations. At MediaTek, we’re embedding advanced AI capabilities into our chipsets to make devices smarter, faster, and more responsive. Our latest flagship Dimensity 9400 series and performance-driven MediaTek Dimensity 8450 SoC feature next-gen NPUs built to handle complex AI tasks efficiently. By integrating AI across our premium platforms, we enable brands to deliver cutting-edge, flagship-level experiences. As AI continues to evolve, MediaTek remains focused on enabling meaningful, intelligent technology for the next generation of devices.”
AI and Automation Unite to Augment People and Processes
Rajesh Undaviya, Regional Vice President, India, UiPath
“Artificial Intelligence is reshaping the way industries operate, innovate, and deliver value. From transforming customer service to streamlining compliance, its true promise lies not just in intelligence, but in how responsibly and meaningfully it is applied. At UiPath, we recognize the profound impact AI can have across sectors, and the importance of building it with intention, purpose, and trust.
AI Appreciation Day is an opportunity to reflect on the real-world impact AI can have when it is responsibly developed and thoughtfully applied. We view AI not as a siloed capability that operates in isolation, but as an important enabler when combined with automation and orchestrated end-to-end across the enterprise.
UiPath is advancing this vision with agentic automation. AI agents bring autonomy and adaptability to enterprise workflows, helping tackle decision-intensive tasks that were once beyond automation’s reach. With UiPath Orchestration, we enable agentic automation by aligning AI agents, robots, and people to work in seamless coordination. Together, they work across systems, teams, and processes to automate more dynamic and unstructured tasks. This integration helps businesses enhance productivity, make better decisions, and reduce repetitive work.
We believe the future of AI lies in its ability to augment people, not replace them. As AI takes on routine work, it creates space for human ingenuity to thrive. We are focused on building that future by empowering people with the flexibility, skills, and trust to use technology meaningfully.”
AI Becomes Foundational Force in Securing the Digital Future
Sanjay Katkar, Jt. Managing Director, Quick Heal Technologies
“AI Appreciation Day is a timely reminder of the transformational role artificial intelligence plays in securing our connected world. As we navigate an increasingly uncertain digital world, AI-powered cybersecurity has become essential in enabling stronger, more adaptive defenses. The global AI cybersecurity market is projected to reach $93.75 billion by 2030, growing at a remarkable CAGR of 24.4 percent, a reflection of the trust being placed in AI to keep pace with emerging digital threats.
At Quick Heal Technologies Limited, we recognized the potential of AI a few decades ago and have built our entire innovation strategy around it. As the only cybersecurity company from India to be part of the United States Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute Consortium, we deeply understand its responsible use. For us, AI is not just an enabler, it is a foundational capability we are continuously investing in and refining. At the heart of this strategy is GoDeep.AI, our patented malware hunting engine that powers both Quick Heal and Seqrite solutions. Using deep learning and behavioral analytics, it identifies and neutralizes threats in real time enabling a stronger, faster defense against today’s evolving threat landscape.
Our recent innovations build on this momentum as well. Launched last year, AntiFraud.AI, India’s first comprehensive fraud prevention solution, reflects our commitment to safeguarding citizens in a rapidly evolving digital financial landscape where fraud is becoming more sophisticated by the day. On the enterprise side, Seqrite Intelligent Assistant (SIA), brings AI to the center of security operations with conversational threat intelligence that simplifies and accelerates decision-making for security teams.
Through every product and breakthrough, we remain focused on reimagining cybersecurity through the lens of responsible AI making security simpler, sharper, and more effective for every user we serve.”
AI Powers the Next Era of Intelligent Customer Interactions
Harsha Solanki, VP GM Asia, Infobip
“Over the years, Artificial Intelligence has emerged as a revolutionising force that changes the way we innovate and interact with technology. At Infobip, we see AI evolving from a support tool to an autonomous agent driving the future of customer experience. With the rise of Agentic AI and platforms like our Customer Experience Orchestration Platform (CXOP), brands can now deliver truly proactive, contextual, and personalised conversations across the customer journey. Whether guiding users from a social ad into a WhatsApp chat or resolving queries before they’re even raised, AI is enabling experiences that are seamless, smart, and scalable. On AI Appreciation Day, we celebrate the shift from reactive engagement to intelligent orchestration, where every interaction is an opportunity to build trust and long-term value.”
Scalable, Secure AI Drives Enterprise Innovation and Domain Excellence
Sridhar Mantha, CEO - Generative AI Business Services (GBS), Happiest Minds Technologies
“AI forms the foundation of Happiest Minds’ digital transformation journey. Through our Analytics & AI Center of Excellence and Gen-AI Business Services unit, we deliver scalable, secure, and responsible AI solutions. Our portfolio features repeatable innovations, including the Research and Legal Companion, a suite of AI & Gen-AI offerings, and intelligent automation across the enterprise.
Our distinctive approach leverages deep, domain-specific AI expertise, integrating Generative AI into the software development lifecycle, championing ethical leadership, and forging strategic partnerships to accelerate solution delivery with clear, measurable outcomes. By applying a structured framework, we consistently move multiple AI & Gen-AI projects into production, adhering to best practices in MLOps and LLMOps with robust security guardrails. Additionally, we are pioneering advancements in emerging AI domains such as Bioinformatics, further expanding the value we bring to our clients.”
AI Growth in India Demands Scalable, Resilient Infrastructure Backbone
Shrirang Deshpande, Country Head, Strategic Programmes, Vertiv India
“India’s AI sector is anticipated to contribute around US$400 billion to the national economy by 2030. Today, we celebrate AI for how far it has taken us and for the possibilities it continues to unlock. In India, the transition is evident, organisations that once explored use cases are now deploying AI at scale.
This shift is driving a fundamental transformation in critical digital infrastructure. With some compute racks now exceeding 100 kilowatts and AI training clusters reaching several megawatts, data centres must evolve rapidly to meet unprecedented power and cooling demands. To sustain this momentum, organisations must align their infrastructure strategies with the growing needs of AI.
On AI Appreciation Day, we applaud the benefits and innovation of AI applications to advance healthcare, finance, education, entertainment, and beyond – and at the same time recognize the work happening behind the scenes to strengthen the backbone of innovation, including the chips, power, cooling, and other technologies that are essential for AI to work. Realising the full potential of AI will require more than just algorithms, it will demand reliable, energy-aware foundations that are capable of supporting dynamic workloads. We at Vertiv are always committed to enabling this shift by building infrastructure that is ready for the scale, complexity, and ambition of India’s AI-driven future.”
AI Evolves From Productivity Enabler to Purpose-Driven Innovation Engine
Prashanth G J, CEO, Technobind Solutions
"Artificial Intelligence has graduated from being a productivity enabler to becoming a purpose accelerator. At TechnoBind, we see AI as the compass guiding businesses from a metrics-driven mindset to a mission-driven future. Whether it's anticipating cyber threats, enhancing healthcare outcomes, or bridging digital divides, AI is helping us align technology with human intent.
The real promise of AI lies not in automation alone, but in its ability to illuminate purpose, foster innovation with integrity, and drive outcomes that matter to society at large.”
AI Powers Purpose-Driven Transformation and Inclusive Innovation at Scale
Venkataraman D, Vice President – Sales & Strategy, Crayon Software Experts India
“Artificial Intelligence has evolved from being a background enabler to becoming a strategic engine of progress. We are witnessing a fundamental shift, where AI is empowering organizations to move beyond productivity metrics and towards purpose-driven transformation. It enables businesses to make sense of complex data, respond in real time to changing customer expectations, and unlock innovation at scale.
“More importantly, it gives people the freedom to focus on creative thinking, empathy, and problem-solving. What makes AI truly remarkable is its potential to level the playing field, giving businesses of all sizes access to intelligence and agility once reserved for the few. As we mark this moment, it’s clear: AI is not merely advancing productivity; it’s elevating our collective purpose, guiding us toward a more intelligent, inclusive, and impactful future.”
AI Makes GIS More Intuitive, Accessible, and Insight-Driven
Agendra Kumar, Managing Director, Esri India
"AI is transforming the world by unlocking new possibilities across every sector. From automating routine tasks to generating deep insights from massive datasets, it is enabling faster, smarter decision-making. The integration of AI into geospatial workflows is transforming how we collect, analyze, and share spatial data. We are calling this Geospatial Artificial Intelligence (GeoAI). With GeoAI, users across sectors are able to derive actionable insights from satellite imagery, drone videos, unstructured text, and more at unprecedented speed and scale. Additionally, natural language-powered AI assistants are making GIS more accessible, enabling users to interact with complex spatial datasets simply by describing what they need in plain English or even in their native language. These advancements are happening now, and our newly launched GIS and AI Centre is a step towards democratizing this potential, empowering users across domains to solve real-world problems more intelligently and intuitively."
AI Transforms Global Logistics With Precision, Speed, and Resilience
Dhruvil Sanghvi, CEO & Founder, LogiNext
“With the global AI market projected to reach $1.85 trillion by 2030, it’s clear that AI has gone far beyond automation. Over 78% of companies worldwide are already using AI, nearly doubling their usage in the past two years. Sectors and businesses, including accounting and finance, cybersecurity, sales, supply chain, logistics, and IT operations, are leveraging AI's ability to process vast data volumes, generate content, bridge skill gaps, and handle complexity to scale operations.
With AI in logistics, used for route optimization, demand forecasting, autonomous vehicles, and data intelligence, it is transforming the industry, leading to increased efficiency, lower costs, and enhanced overall reliability. The AI logistics market is expected to grow from $18.01 billion in 2024 to $549 billion by 2033. As we use AI to optimize each step in the supply chain, we move toward achieving this goal with greater efficiency and precision, driving smarter, faster, and more resilient logistics operations. On AI Appreciation Day, we celebrate these groundbreaking advances that continue to reshape the world.”
Open, Flexible AI Infrastructure Key to India’s Innovation Future
Vishal Ghariwala, APAC CTO, SUSE
“Over the last ten years, Indian businesses have really embraced new tech, and AI is no different. India's becoming a global hotspot for AI talent and has a booming startup scene, so it's not just adopting AI, but actively shaping its future. With efforts like the IndiaAI Mission and the rise of fast-scaling local AI startups, it’s critical to build on open infrastructure that can scale, offer flexible models, and be compliance-ready from day one. That said, today’s AI breakthroughs will be tomorrow’s legacy. Getting locked in or stuck in one ecosystem is counter-intuitive to innovation. Meanwhile, APAC’s businesses are leapfrogging other markets at a rapid pace. Businesses, therefore, need to be prepared and think ahead about how to make use of best-in-class technologies, while maintaining the flexibility to move between different stacks and solutions.
Open source principles – collaborative improvements, knowledge pooling, transparency – will be key to AI’s future health. Open development speeds up innovation and invites greater participation from the wider developer ecosystem, whether that’s a hobbyist at home, through to IT leaders pulling from the same source repository for some of India’s largest enterprises. AI has the power to boost human potential, crank up productivity, tackle tough challenges, and spark new creative ideas. Genuine open source means lowering the barriers to access and working together to innovate, and that's the kind of environment we should all be aiming to build, including in AI.”
Building with agility and long-term flexibility in mind helps organizations from getting stuck, and in turn builds resiliency and ability to innovate as new breakthroughs emerge. With open source, businesses can innovate securely, transparently, and on their own terms. So, on AI Appreciation Day, we're not just celebrating what AI can do, but how we choose to build it. As it becomes more and more part of our daily lives, it's our shared responsibility to guide its development for the benefit of everyone.”
Voice AI and Language Models Democratize Digital Access in India
Ganesh Gopalan, Co-Founder & CEO, Gnani.ai
“At Gnani.ai, we see AI not just as technology, but as a catalyst transforming how India speaks, learns, and transacts. On AI Appreciation Day, we celebrate the incredible strides made in voice AI, small language models, and generative AI that bridge linguistic diversity and democratize digital access. Aligned with the IndiaAI mission, we are committed to building solutions that are inclusive, responsible, and locally relevant—empowering enterprises and everyday users alike. As AI continues to evolve, our vision remains clear: to make conversational AI an enabler of growth and innovation for every corner of India.”
Search Supercharges AI by Unlocking Real-Time Data Intelligence
Karthik Rajaram, Area Vice President & General Manager, Elastic India
“AI has rapidly evolved over the last few years - it is now able to learn and create a wide range of creative responses far quicker than humans. Fuelling this evolution is search, which enables AI applications not only to learn but also to extract value from data. Search underpins effective AI applications by providing fast and accurate access to data. While not immediately apparent, search drives many of the applications and services that we use frequently. For example, India’s largest jobs and professional networking platform, Apna, uses AI and search to connect 50 million registered users and 600,000 employers. The service provides users with highly relevant and personalised job notifications while connecting employers with candidates that match their hiring criteria.
AI and search also play a massive role in providing real-time visibility into business-critical systems and ensuring that they run at peak performance. This visibility across multiple data sources enables companies to unify their security operations into a single platform, improving threat detection, reducing false positives, and strengthening their security posture. By fusing search with AI, companies can unlock the full potential of their structured and unstructured data to make better decisions, maximise efficiency and elevate customer experiences. As India seeks to establish itself as a leader in AI through the IndiaAI Mission, Elastic is proud to support the country’s AI vision with technologies that are open, adaptive, and capable of providing a real-time, complete view of all data.”
India’s AI Economy Poised to Add $500 Billion in Value
Jay Modh, Founder & CEO, Intuitive.Cloud
"AI is fast becoming the backbone of intelligent enterprise across industry verticals. At Intuitive.Cloud, we are co-building the Data Intelligence and AI-led future with scale, agility, security and governance where enterprises can accelerate the context-aware intelligence and transformation with trust and confidence.
India is not just a talent hub; it’s emerging as a global engine of applied AI innovation. It’s estimated that AI could contribute over $500 billion to the Indian economy and $4 Trillion to the world economy in the near term, underscoring the scale of transformation already underway. The priority now isn’t adoption but orchestration, for high-quality data, responsible AI, security, and governance delivering measurable business outcomes. It is about value over volume, about impact over noise, delivering continuous modernization at the speed of business. At its best, AI augments, not replaces, human potential, reducing the inefficiencies and chaos in the system. The real opportunity is to build intelligently, scale responsibly, and lead with clarity.”
AI-First Marketing Delivers Personalization, Speed, and Deeper Insight
Chris Koehler, Chief Marketing Officer, Twilio
“AI has moved beyond the hype to become a vital part of how we work and live. In marketing, it’s rewriting the rules—from adaptive audience segmentation to predictive lead scoring and self-optimising campaigns that learn and improve with every click. AI empowers brands to move faster, act smarter, and build deeper customer relevance at scale. But AI’s impact goes beyond efficiency—it’s about making connections. When paired with rich data, AI enables marketers to move past shallow personalisation. It’s not just about adding a name to an email; it’s about truly understanding customers as individuals at scale. Twilio’s research shows 88% of Indian consumers abandon purchases when brands fail to connect personally, while 79% will spend more when engagement is personalised. The message is clear: transactional marketing is out. Relevance, timing and connection are the way forward.
At Twilio, we're transitioning our entire marketing organization to become AI-first. This means embedding it into our daily marketing operations. We use it to route 90% of inbound interest, deflect 75% of support tickets, and cut campaign launch times by the same amount. AI helps us identify segments, generate creative variations, and summarise performance so we can act on insights the very same day. This also means changing our way of thinking. It's about fundamentally reimagining how we connect with our customers, how quickly we move and iterate, and how we inspire our teams to continuously raise the bar. We’re still figuring out just how far AI can go, there’s a lot we don’t know yet. But one thing’s for certain: AI has levelled the playing field. Marketers need to stay curious and make the most of it. That means embracing what I call a learner’s mindset: stay humble, ask plenty of questions, share both wins and setbacks, and keep evolving.
The future of marketing isn’t AI versus human, it’s AI plus human. That’s where that real magic happens. And that’s how we build campaigns that not only perform, but truly connect. As we celebrate AI Appreciation Day, let’s not just marvel at what AI can do, but focus on what we do best. What sets us apart as humans is our ability to lead with empathy, collaborate across teams, and adapt to what customers need in real time. This is what gives marketing its edge.”
AI Amplifies Human Potential, Not Replaces It
Murugan Anjunan, Chief Technology Officer, HerKey
“AI Appreciation Day is a moment to reflect; not just on how far the technology has come, but on what it makes possible. We don’t view AI as a disruptor in isolation, but as a dynamic partner in progress. It helps us reimagine how women return to, remain in, and rise within the workforce at scale and with personalisation. The real potential of AI lies not in replacing human intelligence, but in amplifying it. It’s not about man versus machine; it’s about designing systems where both thrive together. The future of work is not just AI-powered, but it is human-first, AI-enabled.”
AI Removes Communication Bottlenecks, Drives Intelligent Business Continuity
Sarvagya Mishra, Founder & Director, Superbot
“Artificial Intelligence is no longer a distant promise but a present force transforming how businesses operate and engage. On AI Appreciation Day, we celebrate not just the technology but the intelligence behind making machines efficient and endlessly scalable. At Superbot, we have witnessed firsthand how AI can remove communication bottlenecks and empower organisations across education, healthcare, e-commerce and more. It is no longer just about faster responses but about meaningful, data-led conversations that elevate customer journeys. Whether it is reducing turnaround times or enabling 24x7 support across languages, AI has become a core enabler of business continuity and customer satisfaction. What excites us most is not just what AI can do today but the immense potential it holds to reshape workflows, personalise engagement and redefine productivity across industries. We remain committed to building a future powered by intelligent automation, making AI accessible, adaptable and truly experience-driven for every organisation we serve.”
AI in India Moves From Pilots to Production Fast
Karan Kirpalani, Chief Product Officer, Neysa
“Much of the global AI conversation still revolves around model innovation. But in India, the focus is shifting to something more foundational, how we build and deploy AI systems at scale, within real-world constraints. At Neysa, we are working with enterprises that are dealing with fragmented data, multilingual user bases, evolving compliance needs, and limited infrastructure budgets. Despite that, they are moving from pilots to production-grade deployments in a matter of months. That kind of progress is no longer limited to large tech companies. It’s happening across sectors, and it’s shaping a version of AI that’s more inclusive, grounded, and scalable both for India and the rest of the world.”
Responsible AI Must Prioritize Trust, Clarity, and Human Alignment
“AI Appreciation Day is a reminder of how far artificial intelligence has come, not just as a technology, but as a trusted force shaping decisions, industries, and the way we live. It’s a moment to celebrate the creativity and collaboration that drive AI forward, and to reflect on how we can steer its progress with care.
As AI becomes more deeply embedded in critical systems, from finance to public infrastructure, what matters most is not how fast we innovate, but how responsibly we scale. Transparency, auditability, and human alignment must define the next chapter of AI.
At Arya.ai, we see this not just as a technical challenge but as a shared responsibility. It’s about ensuring that AI remains a force for clarity, not complexity, a partner in progress, not a black box. On this day, we celebrate AI’s immense promise while staying grounded in the values that will shape its future.”
Appreciating AI as a Tool for Human Empowerment
Sachin Panicker, Chief AI Officer, Fulcrum Digital
“AI Appreciation Day is an opportunity to reflect on the transformative role artificial intelligence plays in shaping the way we live, work, and solve problems. At Fulcrum Digital, we view AI not merely as a suite of technologies, but as a strategic enabler of innovation, efficiency, and equitable growth. From revolutionizing customer experiences to driving intelligent automation at scale, AI empowers businesses to think boldly and act with precision.
But true appreciation of AI comes with responsibility. As we embed AI deeper into enterprise and societal frameworks, ethical stewardship, transparency, and human-centric design must remain front and center. The future of AI lies not in replacing human potential—but in amplifying it. That’s why we invest in developing AI talent pipelines, responsible frameworks, and adaptive learning models that ensure our solutions are as thoughtful as they are intelligent.
On this day, we don’t just celebrate how far AI has come—we recommit to shaping its future in a way that is inclusive, sustainable, and deeply human.”
AI’s Future Depends on Process Intelligence, Not Just Data
Kaushik Mitra, Vice-President, and Head of India GTM, Celonis
“Enterprise AI can only create a lasting impact when it understands how the organization actually operates. Data alone is not enough. What matters is how processes run, where they stall, and what is needed to improve them. This is where process intelligence becomes essential. It gives AI the visibility, structure, and context needed to reason through decisions, simulate outcomes, and act with relevance. There is no AI without PI. Intelligence requires a living map of the enterprise. With process intelligence, teams can move from isolated automation to coordinated, continuous transformation. AI becomes a support system for human judgment, not a black box. At Celonis, we are enabling this shift through our Process Intelligence Graph and platform innovations that help businesses across the world unlock trapped value, build trust in outcomes, and improve how decisions are made across systems. A better future with AI depends on what powers it. Process intelligence is that foundation.”
AI Is the New Operating Layer for Enterprise IT
Keith Odom, Executive Vice President - Services & Consulting, AHEAD
“AI is becoming the operating layer for how modern IT infrastructure is monitored, managed, and optimized. The volume, velocity, and variability of today’s enterprise environments make manual intervention both unsustainable and ineffective. AI-driven operations are essential for anticipating incidents, reducing response times, and improving overall resilience. But the value of AI in infrastructure lies in how well it enables continuous improvement without sacrificing control. Intelligent systems must be explainable, interoperable, and aligned with business priorities. That includes identifying performance gaps before they turn into service failures, optimising resource allocation in real time, and supporting compliance without adding overhead. At AHEAD, we have seen how AI Ops, when designed to work across hybrid environments, becomes the connective tissue that allows enterprises to operate with both scale and stability. This is quickly becoming the baseline for enterprise readiness.”
AI Enables Faster, Safer Decisions in Cyber Defense
Ashish Tandon, Founder and CEO, Indusface
“AI has become essential in modern cybersecurity, not because it replaces human decision-making, but because it enables faster, more precise action in an environment defined by scale and unpredictability. As attack patterns grow more distributed and sophisticated, intelligence must evolve from reactive to anticipatory. This is especially urgent in areas like API security, where attacks have now surpassed those on traditional websites. In our recent analysis of over 7 billion attacks, APIs saw 30% more intrusion attempts, and bot attacks surged by 48%. The future of security lies in systems that can filter noise, detect intent, and enable real-time decisions with confidence. But intelligence without verification can be risky. That’s why AI needs to be paired with people who understand the application, the risk, and the response path. At Indusface, we combine AI-powered threat detection with human-led tuning and response. The goal is not just automation, but trusted outcomes. That’s what gives our customers clarity under pressure and confidence when it matters most.”
AI Turns Urban Complexity into Clarity and Connectivity
Sriram Kannan, Founder & CEO, Routematic
“On AI Appreciation Day, we celebrate its role in advancing education, innovation, and everyday life while keeping human values at the core. At Routematic, we see AI as a catalyst for smarter decisions, seamless mobility, and sustainable systems. From decoding traffic patterns and EV charging data to optimizing employee commutes, we use AI to turn complexity into clarity. The next decade will be defined not by automation, but by the intelligence with which we apply it to empower people, solve hard problems, and move cities forward. As we continue to build data-driven, eco-conscious mobility solutions, we remain committed to harnessing technology that supports progress and empowers people.”
AI Is Reshaping Work with Purpose and Precision
Sumit Sabharwal, Country Leader for India, Deel
“Every year, AI Appreciation Day provides a moment to reflect, not just on how far artificial intelligence has advanced, but on the purpose it is meant to serve. At its core, AI’s greatest strength is the ability to empower people to achieve more. AI is not just reshaping industries, it’s redefining the future of work. According to a recent report, generative AI could reshape up to 38 million jobs in the country by 2030. At Deel, we see this not as a replacement for human effort, but as an enabler.
We’ve been early adopters of AI, embedding it across both our internal operations and the solutions we offer to customers. In 2024 alone, we hired over 2,500 people and leveraged AI tools to streamline application screening, auto-schedule interviews, and generate summaries, saving over 200,000 hours across the hiring process. Our teams were able to concentrate on high-value tasks like candidate engagement and strategic decision-making by using these tools to reduce the amount of time spent on business interviews and CV screenings by 25 and 55 hours per role, respectively. Deel’s AI-Powered Support and Compliance Feature Knowledge Hub provides instant access to updated compliance guidance across 150+ countries, embedded directly within the Deel platform.
As AI continues to evolve, HR leaders must take the lead in balancing automation with empathy. This means upskilling teams, embracing AI-driven efficiencies, and keeping the human element at the heart of talent management.
Belief and Persistence Unlock the True Power of AI
Abhimanyu Jha, Co-Founder, SabPaisa
"I don't think most people in the business world, even those who use AI tools on a regular basis, have yet realized how powerful these tools are despite their limitations like hallucinations, and are therefore not using the tools to their fullest extent. I keep seeing social media posts from India to Silicon Valley, including research papers from academics, debating whether vibe coding is possible, which is where people who haven't written a line of software in their life before can create useful software applications with help of current AI tools. In SabPaisa, almost 20% of our non-technical people have already vibe coded. How is it that in SabPaisa we are doing things regularly that the rest of the world is still debating if it's possible? We have invented a term for it called 'Moneyball AI'. In Moneyball AI, you have to do two things: one, you have to let yourself believe in the power of these tools and pick up impossible projects; and two, you have to be able to hold long, very long conversations with these tools till you reach your goals."
GoTo Highlights AI’s Role in Secure, Scalable, and Human-Centric InnovationOver the next five years, AI will shift from being a reactive tool to a proactive, strategic partner. At GoTo, we see AI not as a replacement for people but as a tool to amplify human impact in smarter, more secure, and more ethical ways, reshaping how we work, connect, and create value in an increasingly hybrid world.”
Democratizing AI to realize its full potential
Santosh Singh, President & Global Head Marketing & BE, Tata Technologies
“At Tata Technologies, we are embedding AI across the entire product development lifecycle—from generative design and simulation automation to digital twins and AI-powered engineering co-pilots—enabling global OEMs to accelerate innovation, elevate quality, and shape the future of connected, electric, and autonomous mobility. What sets us apart is our ability to democratize AI—developing intuitive platforms that empower engineers, even those without deep AI expertise, to harness its full potential. Our AI-led solutions are already making a difference, earning industry recognition, including special honors at the prestigious Tata Group InnoVista program. We are not just applying AI—we’re reimagining how the world engineers’ products that are safer, intelligent and deliver a great experience.”
AI today is about enabling businesses to address real-world challenges effectively
Ranga Pothula, SVP, Global Delivery Services, Infor
“AI today is no longer about experimental tools or isolated features; it’s about enabling businesses to address real-world challenges more effectively. Whether it’s streamlining production, reducing downtime, and enhancing quality control in manufacturing or forecasting trends and enhancing supply chain visibility in retail and fashion – AI enables faster decisions, better outcomes, and smarter ways of working across sectors.
At Infor, our approach to AI is rooted in purpose and practicality. We’ve integrated multi-modal intelligence, from machine learning and process automation to document interpretation, into a unified platform designed to serve diverse industries. Our engineering teams in India play a central role in developing these solutions, applying deep industry expertise to ensure AI aligns with the unique processes of sectors such as manufacturing, F&B and retail. The result is AI that’s not just advanced, but impactful, helping people work smarter and organizations move forward with confidence.”
AI Appreciation Day: Empowering Human Potential and Fortifying Cyber Defences
Bernard Montel, EMEA Technical Director and Security Strategist, Tenable
"As we approach AI Appreciation Day, it's clear that artificial intelligence has seamlessly integrated into our daily lives, from personalised recommendations and GPS navigation to predictive text and advanced medical diagnostics. In cybersecurity, AI is proving invaluable, analysing vast datasets to distinguish threats and automating repetitive tasks to maintain secure infrastructures.
To truly harness the power of AI in our computing environments, organisations must champion AI as a tool for augmentation, not replacement. This means designing systems where AI handles repetitive tasks, freeing humans to focus on complex problem-solving, innovation, and ethical oversight. Prioritising human creativity and judgment is paramount as AI continues to advance. Alongside AI literacy, educational initiatives should emphasise critical thinking and adaptability.
However, the rapid advancement of AI also presents multifaceted cybersecurity threats. We're seeing everything from sophisticated AI-generated deepfakes designed to trick employees into making fraudulent bank transfers, to simplistic AI-generated malware leveraging known flaws through phishing attacks. The most effective approach to defending against and mitigating these threats mirrors current cyber defence strategies: preemptive exposure management to address vulnerabilities before they're exploited, and robust employee education on suspicious requests, no matter how compelling they may seem.”
AI evolving from a futuristic concept to a transformative force
Anku Jain, Managing Director, MediaTek India
“Artificial Intelligence has evolved from a futuristic concept to a transformative force, particularly in the semiconductor and smartphone industries. AI is redefining user experiences by enabling everyday features, from voice assistants and computational photography to real-time translations. At MediaTek, we’re embedding advanced AI capabilities into our chipsets to make devices smarter, faster, and more responsive. Our latest flagship Dimensity 9400 series and performance-driven MediaTek Dimensity 8450 SoC feature next-gen NPUs built to handle complex AI tasks efficiently. By integrating AI across our premium platforms, we enable brands to deliver cutting-edge, flagship-level experiences. As AI continues to evolve, MediaTek remains focused on enabling meaningful, intelligent technology for the next generation of devices.”
AI Appreciation Day is about the values and vision shaping its future
Anurag Gupta, Partner and Leader, EY Parthenon
“AI Appreciation Day is a powerful moment to reflect on how artificial intelligence has evolved from a promising innovation to a transformative force across Business. Today, AI is helping businesses reimagine operations, personalize customer experiences, and unlock new economic value. But with this power comes responsibility. Across sectors, leaders are recognizing that ethical, transparent, and inclusive AI is not optional but it is essential. From responsible data practices to bias mitigation and explainability, the industry is shifting toward AI that earns trust and delivers impact. We also celebrate the people behind the progress: the engineers, strategists, and educators driving change through platforms like AI academies and upskilling initiatives. As we look ahead, the challenge is not just to innovate, but to do so with integrity. AI Appreciation Day is not just about technology it is about the values and vision shaping its future.”
Combining human judgment with machine precision creating an exponential value
Dr. Ganesh Natarajan, Chairman, GTT Data Solutions Ltd
“AI’s real promise lies in augmenting—not replacing—human capability. We are entering an era of Dual Intelligence, where the combination of human judgment and machine precision creates exponential value. Whether it’s transforming enterprise data into decisions or enabling an AI-ready workforce, the focus must remain on purposeful application. AI Appreciation Day is a timely reminder that the future of innovation is rooted in collaboration between people and intelligent systems, driving outcomes that are scalable, ethical, and inclusive.”
AI's Future Hinges on Adaptive, Intelligent Digital Infrastructure
Sarath Kumar, Chief Technology Officer, ACT Fibernet
“AI is no longer just a frontier technology, it’s a foundational layer for modern enterprises. But its potential is only as strong as the digital infrastructure that supports it. From low-latency networks to edge computing and intelligent bandwidth allocation, AI thrives on robust, adaptive connectivity. On AI Appreciation Day, it’s worth recognizing that the real enabler of AI-led transformation lies in the invisible yet critical backbone of infrastructure. As industries pursue smarter, real-time decision-making, the convergence of AI and next-gen networks will define the next era of innovation.”
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