India's AI future counts on an edge advantage
Edge AI took center stage at the landmark India AI Impact Summit 2026, signaling a future defined by broader AI access and scalable, inclusive deployment
Last Updated: Feb 27, 2026, 15:20 IST1 min
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From February 16 to 20, New Delhi became the focal point of global AI discourse as governments, industry leaders, and researchers convened at Bharat Mandapam around a shared vision: AI must serve People, Planet, and Progress. As the first global AI convening led from the Global South, the Summit underscored a critical message, AI development had to reflect diverse realities, prioritizing who AI served and at what cost.
A defining highlight was the Edge AI Studio, curated by CNBC‑TV18 in partnership with Qualcomm, which spotlighted a decisive shift in how AI was being built and deployed. While cloud‑centric AI had enabled scale and experimentation, it had also introduced high costs and latency, significant barriers when designing for a population of a billion-plus users.
Edge AI addressed these challenges by bringing intelligence directly onto devices such as smartphones, vehicles, and IoT systems. Processing occurred in milliseconds, sensitive data remained local, and privacy and digital sovereignty were strengthened. Through focused discussions and demonstrations, the Edge AI Studio translated these technical advantages into real‑world relevance for India’s digital future.
The Summit also reflected India’s growing leadership in shaping global AI narratives, backed by the authority of the Government of India and framed around AI as critical national infrastructure. Conversations emphasized the need for indigenous, India‑first AI architectures, optimized for local languages, connectivity conditions, and everyday use cases, and capable of running on devices already in people’s hands.
These discussions carried practical weight. Policymakers explored on‑device privacy frameworks, while industry leaders demonstrated real‑time AI on mass‑market hardware, proving that inclusion and performance could advance together. Use cases spanning agriculture, education, and real‑time translation reinforced a simple insight: AI worked best when it stayed closest to the problem.
With its deep experience in AI research and edge computing across mobile, automotive, and industrial platforms, Qualcomm brought substantive perspective to the dialogue. Alongside CNBC‑TV18, the Edge AI Studio emerged as a platform where industry capability aligned with public interest.
As the Summit concluded, one idea endured: India’s AI future would be shaped less by distant cloud scale and more by distributed, edge‑led empowerment. The India AI Impact Summit set the ambition. The Edge AI Studio outlined the path to execution.
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First Published: Feb 27, 2026, 16:13
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