As competition intensifies in India’s cloud market, Amazon’s cloud computing arm, Amazon Web Services (AWS), is expanding its investments in what has become one of its most important growth regions. With rivals such as Microsoft and Google accelerating their push into artificial intelligence (AI), competition among cloud providers is increasingly moving beyond infrastructure scale to platforms, developer ecosystems and long-term capability.
India’s fast-growing developer base, expanding start-up ecosystem and rising enterprise adoption of AI make the country a critical market for global cloud providers. At the same time, customers are becoming more demanding, seeking integrated AI platforms, cost-efficient computing models, secure data architecture and faster deployment cycles.
Against this backdrop, AWS is increasing investments in local infrastructure, developer enablement, partner ecosystems and AI capabilities. The company has committed billions of dollars towards expanding its cloud footprint in India by 2030 as it seeks to support large-scale AI adoption across sectors.
Jaime Vallés, Vice President of Amazon and Managing Director of AWS Global Sales for Asia Pacific, Japan and Greater China (APJC), talks to Business Today about India’s importance to AWS, the evolution of generative AI towards agentic systems, cost optimisation strategies and how the company is supporting India’s developer ecosystem. Edited excerpts:
Many companies in India are experimenting with AI. How is AWS enabling large-scale adoption, and which sectors are leading this shift?
From a sector perspective, almost every industry in India is already exploring AI in some form. We see this in our work with the government, with digital-native companies such as Zomato and Swiggy, and with financial institutions. AI adoption is also accelerating in telecom and healthcare. AI brings significant potential to democratise opportunities and access, so every sector stands to benefit.
India remains a key global priority for us, which is why building strong and future-ready infrastructure is foundational. Amazon announced an investment of $12.7 billion in local cloud infrastructure in India by 2030. Across our businesses, we have also announced plans to invest about $35 billion in India by 2030 to advance AI innovation.
Access to scalable tools and technologies is critical in the generative AI era. We continue to expand our regional presence, including in Mumbai and Hyderabad, to ensure low-latency, secure and reliable access to cloud technologies.
Customers also need solutions that are secure, easy to use and enterprise-grade. In India, where adoption is rapid and diverse, this becomes even more important. Finally, skilling plays a key role.
Infrastructure and skills alone are not enough. Organisations also need to build a culture of experimentation. I often advise leaders to empower teams to experiment, identify real customer problems and iterate quickly. AI enables firms to rethink customer experiences, operating models and entire industries.
How is AWS making AI services and training more affordable in a price-sensitive market like India?
Investment in infrastructure is fundamental. To make AI accessible and affordable, organisations need scalable computing resources, flexible models and tools that allow them to build and deploy solutions efficiently.
AWS has developed a range of AI models designed to balance performance with cost efficiency. These models run on custom-designed processors that help optimise performance while managing computing costs. This allows enterprises and developers to access advanced AI capabilities without the high costs often associated with frontier models.
Customers also benefit from flexibility. They can choose different AI models depending on their requirements for cost, performance or model size. This flexibility allows organisations to align their AI strategy with their budgets.
Another important element is the partner network. Consulting firms, start-ups and independent software vendors work with AWS to help enterprises adopt AI more effectively. We are continuing to expand these partnerships in India and strengthen the marketplace.
India also has one of the largest developer communities in the world. To support them, AWS provides frameworks and tools that help organisations build, test, deploy and scale AI apps more effectively across the development lifecycle.
Innovation hubs also play an important role. These environments allow customers to move from ideation to proof of concept and into production with built-in security.
Can you share examples of AI adoption in India?
There are several examples across sectors. Kore.ai, a conversational AI company developed in India, is expanding globally with enterprise AI solutions. Zomato has built a no-code agentic AI platform that helps companies automate customer interactions.
We also see strong adoption in traditional industries. Apollo Tyres, Axis Bank and the National Health Authority are using AI to improve operational efficiency.
In healthcare, the National Health Authority (NHA) has used AI to strengthen fraud detection under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY). The system now processes complex claims in about 30 minutes, representing a significant reduction in detection time. Real-time intervention has also improved fraud detection rates, which can translate into substantial savings for the healthcare system.
These examples show how AI is moving beyond experimentation and beginning to deliver real operational benefits across sectors.
What trends do you see in agentic AI for 2026?
The core idea behind agents is augmenting human capability. Agents allow people to focus on high-value and creative work while technology handles repetitive tasks.
One area where this is becoming evident is software development. AI-assisted development tools are enabling people to turn ideas into working applications much faster, without requiring large engineering teams or deep technical expertise.
This significantly lowers the barriers to innovation. Developers can move from concept to execution much more quickly, which allows organisations to experiment and innovate faster.
A lot of this progress is driven by systems that allow AI models to interact with enterprise data sources and applications. Data remains central to this transformation. Agentic AI helps accelerate execution while amplifying human potential rather than replacing it.
How is AWS supporting India’s developer community?
The first step is making technology accessible. Developers need tools and infrastructure that allow them to experiment and build applications efficiently.
AWS supports start-ups through programmes that provide cloud credits and structured support to help them scale. These credits can also be used for different AI models, giving start-ups flexibility in managing costs.
We also provide access to computing infrastructure, data services and development tools through dedicated start-up teams, innovation labs and technology hubs focused on the Indian market.
India’s developer Community is one of the most vibrant in the world, and enabling this community is central to our long-term strategy.
How is AWS approaching responsible AI?
Security has always been a core priority for us. We embed security into systems from the beginning.
Responsible AI builds on this foundation. Organisations need governance tools that allow them to monitor outputs, reduce the risk of inaccurate responses and enforce policy safeguards.
AI systems often rely on proprietary data, which makes data protection essential. Organisations must be confident that their data is secure and private.
By integrating governance, security and compliance capabilities directly into AI systems, organisations can innovate while maintaining strong safeguards. Responsible AI is ultimately about protecting data, managing risks and ensuring that technology is used safely.
With rising competition in cloud, how is AWS defending its position?
Competition is natural in a fast-growing market. Our focus remains on providing a broad technology stack that spans infrastructure, custom processors and higher-level AI services.
AI relies heavily on secure and scalable data management. Many organisations need to move workloads to the cloud to fully realise the potential of Gen AI.
Our experience in cloud infrastructure and the breadth of our services provide a strong foundation for that transition. At the same time, investments in skills development and our partner network help customers scale their AI initiatives.
In India, we continue to invest for the long term, combining infrastructure and talent.
@neetu_csharma
