The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), in collaboration with the Software Technology Parks of India and Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), today organized two key sessions on telecom and artificial intelligence at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi. The Summit brings together policymakers, technology leaders, researchers, and innovators to deliberate on the transformative role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in shaping India’s digital future. The session was curated by Sh. Anil Bhardwaj, DDG(SE), DoT.

The first session, titled “Gen AI and Future Networks," brought together leading voices from industry and government to deliberate on the transformative impact of generative AI on next-generation telecom infrastructure. The session featured Shyam Prabhakar Mardikar, President and Group CTO (Mobility), Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd; Randeep Singh Sekhon, Chief Technology Officer (India and South Asia), Bharti Airtel; Jagbir Singh, Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Vodafone Idea; Syed Tausif Abbas, Deputy Director General, DoT; Gurvinder Singh Ahluwalia, Founder and CEO, Digital Twin Labs; and Jeanette Whyte, Head of Public Policy (APAC), GSMA.

The discussion deliberated on how AI-driven predictive maintenance, intelligent spectrum optimization, energy-efficient network management, and AI-native architectures are reshaping telecom networks into adaptive, self-optimizing systems capable of supporting large-scale AI workloads. Speakers in the first session highlighted how cloud and network are becoming more agile. The boundaries between data centers, the cloud, and the network are blurring as they are required to provide a seamless experience to users. AI engines have to, on a real-time basis, seek more computing power and compute-on-demand to deliver outcomes that are required by the networks. They highlighted that the future networks will provide on-demand speed and on-time connectivity with such ultra-low latency that the real-time experience for AR/VR and other applications will be visible.

The second session, titled “AI Powered Bharat through Universal Digital Connectivity," was the highlight of the day and featured the keynote address by Dr. Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, Hon’ble Minister of State for Communications and Rural Development. It also included a panel discussion moderated by Sanjeev Sharma, Deputy Director General, DoT, with panelists Robert Ravi, CMD BSNL; ⁠Lt. General Dr. S.P. Kochhar, Director General, Cellular Operators Association of India; Vikas Garg, DDG SPPI, DoT; Ravi Gandhi, President and Chief Public Policy and Regulatory Officer, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd.; Ambika Khurana, Chief Regulatory and Corporate Affairs Officer, Vodafone Idea; Rahul Vatts, Chief Regulatory Officer, Bharti Airtel; and Julian Gorman, Head of Asia Pacific (APAC), GSMA.

This session explored how artificial intelligence is strengthening India’s digital connectivity for the customers, capacity building, and use of AI in addressing telecom frauds. Panelists highlighted that the network and universal meaningful digital connectivity will be achieved only when the last person gets full connectivity & connectivity on demand and delivers the quality of service to provide the content and real-time experience to a person wherever she or he is. The second aspect highlighted by the panel was that providing secured communication remains the responsibility of network providers, policymakers, and regulators. DoT and Telcos highlighted the citizen-centric initiatives taken up in recent times, like Sanchar Saathi, FRI, etc., to help citizens get the desired digital safety.

Dr. Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, Hon’ble Minister of State for Communications and Rural Development, also visited key stalls at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, and took interest in the products displayed by global tech firms and AI enthusiasts. He briefly met with Sh. Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, Hon'ble Minister of Railways, Information and Broadcasting, and Electronics and Information Technology, and conveyed his appreciation for the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology on organizing an inspiring expo and summit.

In addition, a delegation comprising senior officers of the DoT led by Sh. Amit Agrawal, Secretary of the DOT, and comprising Sh. R. N. Palai, Member of the Technology Digital Communications Commission of the DOT; Sh. Shyamal Misra, Administrator of Digital Bharat Nidhi of the DOT; Sh. Gulzar N., Additional Secretary of the DOT; and Dr. Raj Kumar Upadhyaya, CEO of the Center for Development of Telematics (CDOT), visited the AI Expo 2026 with a view to observe significant ideas/innovations for enabling the telecommunications sector and apply the use cases for the benefit of citizens.

Through its active participation in both sessions, DoT reiterated its commitment to strengthening India’s digital backbone and enabling AI-driven growth across sectors and regions, ensuring that the benefits of artificial intelligence reach every citizen.

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