Global Tech Leaders Eye India as USD 67.5 Bn AI Investment Looms The expansion, led by global cloud and technology firms, is expected to position India as a strategic hub for AI development and deployment.
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A delegation of 120 American chief executives arrived in the national capital for the India AI Impact Summit, underscoring rising global interest in India's artificial intelligence ecosystem.
The visiting group includes Shantanu Narayen (Adobe), Raj Subramaniam (FedEx), Brad Smith (Microsoft), and Hemant Taneja (General Catalyst). It represents the largest American business delegation to an AI-focused event in India.
The visit comes as major US technology companies prepare to invest an estimated USD 67.5 billion in AI and data centre infrastructure across India over the next five years. The expansion, led by global cloud and technology firms, is expected to position India as a strategic hub for AI development and deployment.
The five-day summit, organised by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, has drawn nearly 35,000 participants and more than 50 ministers from across the world. The US-India Strategic Partnership Forum is leading the American delegation, marking the largest US business presence at an AI event in the country.
Despite the scale of planned investment, business leaders highlighted workforce readiness as a major challenge. According to KPMG's India CEO Outlook 2025, 74% of Indian CEOs believe talent preparedness will determine whether their companies grow over the next three years. Separate research indicates that while many organisations have deployed AI tools, only a small percentage of employees feel confident using them effectively.
During a summit panel, Harjiv Singh of CambrianEdge.ai stressed the need to strengthen execution capability. "India has the talent and ambition, but our edge will come from how fast we build execution capability across the workforce," he said, noting that AI is already reshaping roles across sectors, including marketing and operations.
Panelists discussed the gap between AI literacy and AI fluency — the judgment required to know when to trust or override automated outputs. They also pointed to rapid growth in AI demand and supply in India, alongside the need to raise awareness about reskilling.
Experts cautioned that without closing the skills gap, returns on large infrastructure investments could be delayed. The summit continues this week with discussions focused on workforce transformation, AI adoption, and global collaboration.
