India’s AI Transformation: Powering Development for a Billion+

Building on its digital service revolution, India is poised to lead the world in ‘AI for Development.’ By strategically leveraging its Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and tackling critical challenges in agriculture (e.g., AI-powered crop yield prediction and pest detection) and healthcare (e.g., AI-driven diagnostics for early disease detection and personalized treatment plans), India can deploy AI solutions for unprecedented social good, potentially impacting millions of lives. This paper examines the policy pathways necessary to achieve this, including bridging the digital divide, cultivating a skilled workforce, addressing infrastructure gaps, and establishing ethical data governance (data privacy, security, and mitigating algorithmic bias). Through inclusive and ethical AI deployment, India can become a beacon for development in
the Global South.