‘Technology is a sutradhar’: Sandip Patel of IBM India on democratisation of technology
Speaking about if India will miss the AI bus and whether it will help really achieve the ‘Vikshit Bharat’ dream, Patel said India can truly become the AI capital of the world across many dimensions.
- Dec 6, 2024,
- Updated Dec 6, 2024 8:13 PM IST
Sandip Patel, MD of IBM India and South Asia, feels that technology and artificial intelligence are be used in a more democratic and inclusive way to make lives better. He also sees artificial intelligence in an augmentative role, which helps us to make better decisions.
Speaking in the Business Today-India Today AI Conclave 2024, Patel elaborated his concept of ‘technology as a sutradhar’ in a conversation with Siddharth Zarabi, Managing Editor, Business Today TV.
“When I coined this term, we had just come out of COVID and clearly technology was serving as a sutra that. It was keeping people corrected was keeping communities connected. It was actually connecting uh, you know, different countries as well. And it was driving essential services,” Patel said.
Speaking in the context of artificial intelligence (AI), Patel said that AI in many respects is bringing technology a lot closer to everyone. It is happening to a certain extent, but it is it is clearly something that has the power to create technology and democratise technology for the masses, for citizens services, he added.
“You can bring it all the way down to rural areas and make a difference in terms of how people are equipped with the right information to make decisions themselves,” said Patel.
Patel also said that he likes to think artificial intelligence more as augmented intelligence. It is clearly something that actually enables you to make better decisions to be a lot more informed, and that actually can happen at any part of the of the society, whether it is urban, rural, and it’s actually the rural areas where you can actually do a lot more with it, he said.
Speaking about if India will miss the AI bus from a 'producer and manufacturer nation' perspective and whether it will help really achieve the ‘Vikshit Bharat’ dream, Patel said India can truly become the AI capital of the world across many dimensions.
The IBM MD cited the example of AI adoption index survey, which surveyed companies around the world in terms of where they were in terms of adopting AI as a technology and not just experimentation. “Interestingly, 59 percent of all companies that were surveyed in India said that they were doing something or the other with AI, which, by the way, was the highest percentage across all the countries that were surveyed. And in addition to that, 27 percent of companies in India said that they were thinking about, and they had plans to move forward with AI,” he said.
What it means is that this is a technology that is not only recognised, but people are doing something with it.
Highlighting the demographic dividend that India has in terms of its youth, Patel said, "If you look at a demographic dividend in about two or three years, we will have the largest largest volume of employable youth in the country. If that demographic dividend is skilled appropriately, we can truly become the skill capital of the world for not only AI, but for any kind of technologies."
The Business Today-India Today AI Conference will explore the transformative impact of AI on innovation, industries, and everyday life. With sessions covering AI's real-world applications, emerging trends, and the ethical implications shaping its future, this event is set to be an in-depth look at the cutting-edge developments in AI.
For Unparalleled coverage of India's Businesses and Economy – Subscribe to Business Today Magazine
Sandip Patel, MD of IBM India and South Asia, feels that technology and artificial intelligence are be used in a more democratic and inclusive way to make lives better. He also sees artificial intelligence in an augmentative role, which helps us to make better decisions.
Speaking in the Business Today-India Today AI Conclave 2024, Patel elaborated his concept of ‘technology as a sutradhar’ in a conversation with Siddharth Zarabi, Managing Editor, Business Today TV.
“When I coined this term, we had just come out of COVID and clearly technology was serving as a sutra that. It was keeping people corrected was keeping communities connected. It was actually connecting uh, you know, different countries as well. And it was driving essential services,” Patel said.
Speaking in the context of artificial intelligence (AI), Patel said that AI in many respects is bringing technology a lot closer to everyone. It is happening to a certain extent, but it is it is clearly something that has the power to create technology and democratise technology for the masses, for citizens services, he added.
“You can bring it all the way down to rural areas and make a difference in terms of how people are equipped with the right information to make decisions themselves,” said Patel.
Patel also said that he likes to think artificial intelligence more as augmented intelligence. It is clearly something that actually enables you to make better decisions to be a lot more informed, and that actually can happen at any part of the of the society, whether it is urban, rural, and it’s actually the rural areas where you can actually do a lot more with it, he said.
Speaking about if India will miss the AI bus from a 'producer and manufacturer nation' perspective and whether it will help really achieve the ‘Vikshit Bharat’ dream, Patel said India can truly become the AI capital of the world across many dimensions.
The IBM MD cited the example of AI adoption index survey, which surveyed companies around the world in terms of where they were in terms of adopting AI as a technology and not just experimentation. “Interestingly, 59 percent of all companies that were surveyed in India said that they were doing something or the other with AI, which, by the way, was the highest percentage across all the countries that were surveyed. And in addition to that, 27 percent of companies in India said that they were thinking about, and they had plans to move forward with AI,” he said.
What it means is that this is a technology that is not only recognised, but people are doing something with it.
Highlighting the demographic dividend that India has in terms of its youth, Patel said, "If you look at a demographic dividend in about two or three years, we will have the largest largest volume of employable youth in the country. If that demographic dividend is skilled appropriately, we can truly become the skill capital of the world for not only AI, but for any kind of technologies."
The Business Today-India Today AI Conference will explore the transformative impact of AI on innovation, industries, and everyday life. With sessions covering AI's real-world applications, emerging trends, and the ethical implications shaping its future, this event is set to be an in-depth look at the cutting-edge developments in AI.
For Unparalleled coverage of India's Businesses and Economy – Subscribe to Business Today Magazine