New Delhi: India’s approach to AI-driven development will be a key focus at the AI Action Summit Paris 2025, where AI4India and the Centre for Policy Research and Governance (CPRG) are co-hosting a panel discussion titled "Data for Development: Building AI in the Global South." The session will bring together experts and policymakers to discuss AI’s role in emerging economies.
AI4India and CPRG, the only non-governmental organisations from India to host an official side event at the summit, have announced the speaker lineup. The panel will feature Abhishek Singh, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India; Shashi Shekhar Vempati and Alok Agrawal, Co-Founders of AI4India; Ramanand, Director, CPRG, an expert on AI governance; Sean Dougherty, Senior Advisor at OECD, known for his work on global AI policies; and Gunjan Bhardwaj, Co-Founder and CEO of Partex NV, who has been working on AI-driven decision-making in healthcare and industry.
Ramanand of CPRG said the discussion will focus on three key areas—data sovereignty in the Global South, examining who controls data and how emerging economies can ensure equitable AI development; AI’s impact on global trade and economic resilience; and the transformation of labour markets in an AI-driven era. AI4India Co-founder Alok Agrawal highlighted that the session will also include leading voices such as Joel Ruet from CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique, CRG-i3, who researches AI’s economic transformation; Ravi Kaushik, Executive Director at the Centre for Indo-European Cooperation, an expert on AI collaborations between India and Europe; and Sriram Subramanian, Founder of CloudDon, known for his work in AI-led innovation and cloud computing. The discussion will also involve Chetan Aggarwal, Visiting Fellow at CPRG, and Parikshit Dhume, an AI innovation expert, both of whom have been actively engaged in AI policy and innovation in India.
In a curtain raiser podcast ahead of the summit, AI4India Co-founder Shashi Shekhar Vempati spoke with journalist and Managing Editor of Tak Channels, Milind Khandekar, on the significance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi co-chairing the summit with French President Emmanuel Macron. He also discussed AI4India’s initiative on "Data Daan," which is working towards creating open and publicly accessible datasets to support AI development in India.
By bringing together experts from India and across the world, the AI4India and CPRG session will contribute to global discussions on AI policy coordination and bridging the technology gap between nations to advance AI for the collective benefit of all.
BI Bureau
