India launches IAIRO to move from AI strategy to sovereign execution
India launches IAIRO, a new national AI institution, which aims to build deployable systems, sovereign IP and long-term capability.
- Jan 30, 2026,
- Updated Jan 30, 2026 5:09 PM IST
India has signalled a decisive shift in its artificial intelligence journey with the formal launch of the Indian AI Research Organisation (IAIRO), marking a move from strategy formulation to sovereign execution. Launched in New Delhi on 30 January 2026, IAIRO positions itself as the execution engine for India’s AI ambitions, focusing on translating research and intellectual property into deployable, population-scale systems.
The launch is supported by a position paper titled “Sovereign AI for India’s Strategic Autonomy” authored by Dr Amit Sheth, Founding Director of IAIRO. The paper outlines the need for India to strengthen its strategic autonomy by developing AI systems governed by national institutions and aligned with domestic priorities.
Aligned with the IndiaAI Mission, the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) and the Gujarat AI Action Plan, IAIRO will focus on advancing frontier AI research, creating sovereign intellectual property, retaining world-class AI talent in India, translating research into high-impact deployments, and supporting evidence-led policy for secure and trustworthy AI.
Unlike consumer-oriented large language models described as “monolithic and generalistic”, IAIRO will prioritise next-generation AI models that are custom, compact and domain-specific. These include neurosymbolic and hybrid agent-based frameworks designed to be more cost-effective to train and deploy, while supporting mission-critical enterprise and strategic applications.
Commenting on the launch, Dr Amit Sheth said, “As AI rapidly reshapes economic competitiveness, governance capacity, and national security, India is moving to ensure that its AI future is built in India, for India, and governed by Indian institutions. IAIRO has been established to serve as the country’s long-term execution engine—converting national AI ambition into deployable systems, sovereign intellectual property, and enduring capability.”
Dr Sheth also reiterated the organisation’s intent to avoid consumer-centric AI approaches that require massive resources and are rapidly becoming commoditised.
This aligns with recent remarks by Union Minister of Electronics & Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw at the World Economic Forum, highlighting the need for India to pursue its own AI path, including small language models.
Referring to these remarks, Dr Sheth added, “The articulation of Union Minister Vaishnaw at Davos marked a clear inflection point. India’s AI agenda is no longer exploratory. It is entering a mission-mode phase, requiring dedicated institutions, long-term capital, deep talent, and translational capability. IAIRO has been created precisely to meet this need”.
Established as a public–private partnership and headquartered in GIFT City, Gujarat, IAIRO integrates frontier research, ecosystem partnerships, talent development and real-world deployment under a single national mandate. The organisation aims to build for AI the kind of concentrated national capability that ISRO achieved for India’s space sector, with a focus on measurable outcomes and sovereign technological leadership.
IAIRO’s founding team comprises Prof. Ramesh Jain, Prof. Dev Niyogi (UNESCO Chair for AI, Water & Cities), Prof. Sanjay Chaudhary (Ahmedabad University), Juhi Bhatnagar (Growth Operator, VC and Wharton MBA - Snap, MuSigma, Swiggy and Forj Capital) and Selvam Velmurugan (Seasoned Engineering Leader – Amazon, Netflix, Vulcan, BlinkRx) and Dr Amit Sheth. Similarly, IAIRO’s many distinguished advisors include Prof. Srinivasan Parthasarathy (Ohio State University), Prof. Vasant Hanover (Penn State University), L. Venkata Subramanium (Quantum AI and IBM), and some of the top technical and engineering leaders from industry, including IBM Research, Google, DeepMind, OpenAI, Apple, and Amazon.
The IAIRO board comprises industry stalwarts, including Padma Bhushan recipient Dr. Ajai Chowdhry, Chairman, Mission Governing Board, National Quantum Mission, Prof. Rajat Moona, Director of IIT Gandhinagar, and Smt. P. Bharati, Secretary, Department of S&T, Government of Gujarat. The approved board expansion will bring Shri Sharad Sharma, Founder of iSPIRIT and a former key member of the team that developed India’s digital stack, Shri Abhishek Singh, CEO of the IndiaAI Mission and Prof. Ramesh Jain, Director at the Institute of Health at UC-Irvine and regarded as the Father of Multimedia.
As India prepares to host the AI Impact Summit, the launch of IAIRO underscores a broader national intent to pair ambition with institution-building, and innovation with sovereignty. In doing so, India positions itself not merely as a participant in the global AI race, but as a shaper of its own AI destiny.
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India has signalled a decisive shift in its artificial intelligence journey with the formal launch of the Indian AI Research Organisation (IAIRO), marking a move from strategy formulation to sovereign execution. Launched in New Delhi on 30 January 2026, IAIRO positions itself as the execution engine for India’s AI ambitions, focusing on translating research and intellectual property into deployable, population-scale systems.
The launch is supported by a position paper titled “Sovereign AI for India’s Strategic Autonomy” authored by Dr Amit Sheth, Founding Director of IAIRO. The paper outlines the need for India to strengthen its strategic autonomy by developing AI systems governed by national institutions and aligned with domestic priorities.
Aligned with the IndiaAI Mission, the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) and the Gujarat AI Action Plan, IAIRO will focus on advancing frontier AI research, creating sovereign intellectual property, retaining world-class AI talent in India, translating research into high-impact deployments, and supporting evidence-led policy for secure and trustworthy AI.
Unlike consumer-oriented large language models described as “monolithic and generalistic”, IAIRO will prioritise next-generation AI models that are custom, compact and domain-specific. These include neurosymbolic and hybrid agent-based frameworks designed to be more cost-effective to train and deploy, while supporting mission-critical enterprise and strategic applications.
Commenting on the launch, Dr Amit Sheth said, “As AI rapidly reshapes economic competitiveness, governance capacity, and national security, India is moving to ensure that its AI future is built in India, for India, and governed by Indian institutions. IAIRO has been established to serve as the country’s long-term execution engine—converting national AI ambition into deployable systems, sovereign intellectual property, and enduring capability.”
Dr Sheth also reiterated the organisation’s intent to avoid consumer-centric AI approaches that require massive resources and are rapidly becoming commoditised.
This aligns with recent remarks by Union Minister of Electronics & Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw at the World Economic Forum, highlighting the need for India to pursue its own AI path, including small language models.
Referring to these remarks, Dr Sheth added, “The articulation of Union Minister Vaishnaw at Davos marked a clear inflection point. India’s AI agenda is no longer exploratory. It is entering a mission-mode phase, requiring dedicated institutions, long-term capital, deep talent, and translational capability. IAIRO has been created precisely to meet this need”.
Established as a public–private partnership and headquartered in GIFT City, Gujarat, IAIRO integrates frontier research, ecosystem partnerships, talent development and real-world deployment under a single national mandate. The organisation aims to build for AI the kind of concentrated national capability that ISRO achieved for India’s space sector, with a focus on measurable outcomes and sovereign technological leadership.
IAIRO’s founding team comprises Prof. Ramesh Jain, Prof. Dev Niyogi (UNESCO Chair for AI, Water & Cities), Prof. Sanjay Chaudhary (Ahmedabad University), Juhi Bhatnagar (Growth Operator, VC and Wharton MBA - Snap, MuSigma, Swiggy and Forj Capital) and Selvam Velmurugan (Seasoned Engineering Leader – Amazon, Netflix, Vulcan, BlinkRx) and Dr Amit Sheth. Similarly, IAIRO’s many distinguished advisors include Prof. Srinivasan Parthasarathy (Ohio State University), Prof. Vasant Hanover (Penn State University), L. Venkata Subramanium (Quantum AI and IBM), and some of the top technical and engineering leaders from industry, including IBM Research, Google, DeepMind, OpenAI, Apple, and Amazon.
The IAIRO board comprises industry stalwarts, including Padma Bhushan recipient Dr. Ajai Chowdhry, Chairman, Mission Governing Board, National Quantum Mission, Prof. Rajat Moona, Director of IIT Gandhinagar, and Smt. P. Bharati, Secretary, Department of S&T, Government of Gujarat. The approved board expansion will bring Shri Sharad Sharma, Founder of iSPIRIT and a former key member of the team that developed India’s digital stack, Shri Abhishek Singh, CEO of the IndiaAI Mission and Prof. Ramesh Jain, Director at the Institute of Health at UC-Irvine and regarded as the Father of Multimedia.
As India prepares to host the AI Impact Summit, the launch of IAIRO underscores a broader national intent to pair ambition with institution-building, and innovation with sovereignty. In doing so, India positions itself not merely as a participant in the global AI race, but as a shaper of its own AI destiny.
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