India AI Impact Summit: India must move ‘beyond English’ to lead in AI, says Sarvam co-founder Pratyush Kumar
Kumar added that making AI accessible for local needs is essential to fairness and broad adoption. “I personally feel that the most fair thing to do is to make it available to all, and not gate it with too many things,” he said.
- Feb 16, 2026,
- Updated Feb 16, 2026 1:08 PM IST
India must build artificial intelligence systems that work across its vast linguistic and cultural diversity rather than relying primarily on English, Sarvam AI co-founder Pratyush Kumar said on 16 February, arguing that current global benchmarks fail to reflect the country’s population-scale needs.
Speaking at the India AI Impact Summit 2026, Kumar said the global AI race does not adequately account for India’s rural population and varied social contexts.
“What somebody in a village in Maharashtra feels versus what somebody feels in Western Europe could be very different,” Kumar said, underscoring the cultural gaps that standard benchmarks overlook.
He said AI must be designed to be more inclusive and context-aware to deliver meaningful impact across India.
“There needs to be a constant effort to create benchmarks which capture the subjective experience of people using these things. This involves personal signatures like my voice, my language, my context, and my vocabulary,” Kumar said.
Kumar added that making AI accessible for local needs is essential to fairness and broad adoption.
“I personally feel that the most fair thing to do is to make it available to all, and not gate it with too many things,” he said.
India is seeking to position itself as a global AI hub, supported by government initiatives and rising private investment, even as competition intensifies worldwide.
Sarvam AI has recently launched several India-focused models and products, including Sarvam Vision, Bulbul V3 and Sarvam Arya, designed to handle local languages, cultural nuances and diverse user contexts, Kumar said.
For Unparalleled coverage of India's Businesses and Economy – Subscribe to Business Today Magazine
India must build artificial intelligence systems that work across its vast linguistic and cultural diversity rather than relying primarily on English, Sarvam AI co-founder Pratyush Kumar said on 16 February, arguing that current global benchmarks fail to reflect the country’s population-scale needs.
Speaking at the India AI Impact Summit 2026, Kumar said the global AI race does not adequately account for India’s rural population and varied social contexts.
“What somebody in a village in Maharashtra feels versus what somebody feels in Western Europe could be very different,” Kumar said, underscoring the cultural gaps that standard benchmarks overlook.
He said AI must be designed to be more inclusive and context-aware to deliver meaningful impact across India.
“There needs to be a constant effort to create benchmarks which capture the subjective experience of people using these things. This involves personal signatures like my voice, my language, my context, and my vocabulary,” Kumar said.
Kumar added that making AI accessible for local needs is essential to fairness and broad adoption.
“I personally feel that the most fair thing to do is to make it available to all, and not gate it with too many things,” he said.
India is seeking to position itself as a global AI hub, supported by government initiatives and rising private investment, even as competition intensifies worldwide.
Sarvam AI has recently launched several India-focused models and products, including Sarvam Vision, Bulbul V3 and Sarvam Arya, designed to handle local languages, cultural nuances and diverse user contexts, Kumar said.
For Unparalleled coverage of India's Businesses and Economy – Subscribe to Business Today Magazine