WGS 2026: Tech Mahindra’s Mohit Joshi says ambition for AI should be beyond corporate productivity

Tech Mahindra Managing Director and CEO Mohit Joshi on Wednesday urged global leaders to abandon short-term procurement mindsets in favour of "sovereign" digital systems. 

During a panel at the World Governments Summit in Dubai, moderated by Geeta Mohan, Senior Executive Editor, Foreign Affairs, India Today Group, Joshi argued that the success of national digital infrastructure depends on a fundamental shift in commercial and ethical philosophy.

"If your total ambition for AI is to be able to, you know, get rid of a few contact centre jobs or to improve developer productivity, people are really missing the picture," he said.

Instead, he proposed a far more transformational metric for success: “The objective of AI, for instance, should be: how can we provide everybody a truly world-class healthcare service for $10 a month?” He warned that unless this broader aspiration is spelt out, the public may view the technology as a threat to their livelihoods rather than a benefit.

Central to Joshi’s vision is the concept of "sovereign digital infrastructure" that empowers the individual. He advocated for a data model where “the individual has ownership of the data,” allowing them to share records transactionally and then “be able to withdraw it back once our transaction is complete.” This architecture, he noted, is essential for building trust, which he described as a “central determinant” of business success that is “earned over a long period of time but unfortunately can be lost rather quickly.”

To achieve this, Joshi highlighted the importance of linguistic inclusivity. He noted that while most models are in English, Tech Mahindra has developed "Indus," a model covering “about 27 dialects in Hindi,” to ensure that “the fruits of this technology go to everyone.”

Kaan Terzioğlu, CEO of VEON, echoed the need for this "policy level" ambition. He cited the example of Ukraine, where VEON integrated terrestrial networks with satellite platforms so that “every single person with a 4G enabled phone can directly connect to a satellite.” Terzioğlu argued that such partnerships are vital because “sovereign AI has become an agenda item in all the policies of the governments.”

Joshi concluded by noting that while the Global South faces a risk of missing the bus, the “cycle of adoption is speeding up very dramatically.” He urged governments to focus on creating “governance guardrails” that allow technology to serve as a “transformational” utility for all.