How AI Can Help India Become The World’s Largest Middle-Class Economy | BTDavos 2026

As concerns grow in India over jobs, data access and the absence of a home-grown large language model, Christopher Lehane, Chief Global Affairs Officer at OpenAI, addresses the debate at BT Davos 2026. In conversation with Siddharth Zarabi, Group Editor, Business Today, and Rajdeep Sardesai, Consulting Editor, India Today TV, Lehane explains why only a few countries currently have the capacity to build frontier AI models at scale—and why that may not be the most important question. Comparing artificial intelligence to electricity and the printing press, he argues that India’s true opportunity lies in building on top of AI through widespread literacy, training and adoption. From empowering small businesses to expanding productivity across industries, Lehane outlines how AI can help India make the leap towards becoming the world’s largest middle-class economy, provided the country invests in AI literacy for students and mid-career workers alike.