‘Hum of AI will define this decade’: Roshni Nadar urges India to move from tech services to IP nation

At the India AI Impact Summit 2026, Roshni Nadar, Chairperson of HCL Technologies, called for a fundamental shift in how India approaches artificial intelligence — from scale-driven services to intellectual property-led value creation.  

She steered the conversation away from trillion-dollar projections and model sizes, urging leaders to focus on perspective and responsibility in what she described as a defining technological moment.  

From scale to intelligence-led growth  

Tracing India’s digital journey through the decades — from dial-up modems to smartphones — Nadar said the present era is marked by “the invisible hum of neural networks,” quietly reshaping society.  

Artificial intelligence, she noted, is no longer a tool that can be switched on and off. “It is with us at all times, even when we sleep, it is an assistant, a guide, a teacher, sometimes even a companion.”  

Calling AI a “structural shift,” she said, “For the first time in history, knowledge itself is being commoditised.” As knowledge becomes programmable, industries are redefined rather than merely evolving.  

In that environment, she argued, competitive advantage will not come from raw computing power. “When knowledge and intelligence becomes abundant, judgement becomes scarce. When answers are instant, questions become valuable. The competitive edge in the AI era is not computing power. It is clarity of thinking.”  

India’s shift to an IP-led nation  

For decades, India’s tech success was powered by scale-led growth. AI, however, is changing that equation “from scale lead growth to intelligence lead worlds.”  

“India must move from being a tech services led nation to an IP led nation. Services scale with effort. IP scales infinitely,” she said, underlining that in the AI economy, value will accrue to those who build and own platforms, models and products.  

She outlined three priorities for the transition: moving from scale-led growth to IP-led value creation; shifting from adopting technology to building it; and treating compute as digital public infrastructure to democratise access across startups, universities and enterprises.  

“When compute is accessible, innovation decentralises. When innovation decentralises, IP multiplies. That is how an IP nation is built.”  

At HCLTech, she said, the company is evolving from a people-centric delivery model to an integrated system of software products, intelligent agents and human expertise, alongside building new AI-led service lines such as “AL Factory” and “Physical AI.”  

AI, responsibility and leadership  

Nadar cautioned that the real test of AI is not capability, but governance. “The real question is not what AI can do. But how responsibly we will deploy it, how inclusively we will scale it. And how wisely we will govern it.”  

“Responsible AI is not a feature. It is a foundation. From awe to accountability, that is the journey. Speed is meaningless without control. Scale is unsustainable without trust.”  

Using a T20 cricket analogy, she likened AI to a power hitter clearing boundaries at speed. The answer, she said, is not retreat but repositioning. “AI is the power hitter. It is clearing boundaries that used to require entire teams. But the game is not batsman versus nobody. AI is a team sport. Our job is to set the field, to position our nation where the ball is going, not where it was.”  

“The hum of AI will define this decade,” she concluded. “But what the world would remember for centuries, is the leadership who shaped it, responsibly, wisely, and with clarity.”