The implications of AI in India will be more significant than anywhere in the world over the next few years, given its large population, and the country can play a global leadership role in data, privacy and security, Adobe Chairman and CEO Shantanu Narayen said on Thursday.
India is better positioned than most other countries when it comes to democratising AI and making it available for the masses compared to other countries, Narayen said here at the AI Impact Summit. “…In terms of the implications, the one is, given the number of people who use AI in India will be greater than anywhere in the world over a few years,” he said.
Narayen further said the leadership that India can play is not just in what these models mean, but also in “how do you think about data? How do you think about privacy, security and trust?” Highlighting the area of “content authenticity”, he said this is an “incredible opportunity for India, where, as a company, we are incredibly honoured to participate with it”.
On the issue of making AI democratic, making it available to all for the benefit of humanity and not letting it be controlled by a few big companies, Narayen said there will be inevitable challenges between commercial enterprises that want to keep information proprietary and how they advance it to do good for humanity, but India is better positioned in that aspect.
“I’m actually confident, now I do think India is better positioned than most other countries…I’m less confident about what will happen in those countries. I’m a lot more confident about what will happen in India,” Narayen asserted. Bharti Enterprises Founder and Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal with Adobe Chairman and CEO Shantanu Narayen during the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi.
