A first of its kind AI summit of the Global south is going to happen in New Delhi. The summit is called the AI Impact Summit and will take place at the Bharat Mandapam, in New Delhi from February 16. Importantly the biggest names from the AI and technology industry are going to be speaking.
In this article we have mentioned everything you need to know about the AI Impact Summit.
What is the agenda of the AI summit?
The Government of India is aiming to make the AI Impact Summit 2026 as a ‘pivotal global platform’ to shape the future agenda for in clusive and impactful AI. The summit will be structured around three core pillars of People, Planet and Progress and discussions will be focussed on skilling, sustainable and energy efficient AI, along with economic and social development.
Additionally seven working groups, co-chaired by the Global North and Global South, will present concrete deliverables such as proposals for the Commons, trusted AI tools, shared compute infrastructure and sector-specific compendiums of AI use cases.
Over 700 sessions have been planned for five days on areas such as AI safety, governance, ethical use, data protection and India’s approach to sovereign AI.
Who is attending the AI summit?
The India-AI Impact Summit 2026 has attracted significant high-level engagement, with 15–20 Heads of Government, over 50 international ministers, and more than 40 global and Indian CEOs expected to participate.
Importantly the summit is set to be attended by some of the biggest names in the industry. Including OpenAl Sam Altman who will join Sundar Pichai, Alexandr Wang, Jensen Huang, Demis Hassabis, Cristiano Amon and other leaders.
In terms of Indian entrepreneurs, Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, Tata Sons Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, Bharti Enterprises Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal, TCS CEO K. Krithivasan, Infosys CEO Salil Parekh, and HCLTech Chairperson Roshni Nadar Malhotra, Google’s Sundar Pichai, OpenAI’s Sam Altman have all been confirmed to be a part of the mega event.
Alongside tech leaders, a host of technology ministers, presidents, political leaders from some of the world’s most important economies are also expected to attend the event on Prime Minister Modi’s personal invitation.
- Bhutan – Tshering Tobgay, Prime Minister
- Bolivia – Edmand Lara Montano, Vice President
- Brazil – Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President
- Croatia – Andrej Plenković, Prime Minister
- Estonia – Alar Karis, President
- Finland – Petteri Orpo, Prime Minister
- France – Emmanuel Macron, President
- Greece – Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Prime Minister
- Guyana – Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, Vice President
- Kazakhstan – Olzhas Bektenov, Prime Minister
- Liechtenstein –Hereditary Prince Alois, Hereditary Prince of the Principality of Liechtenstein
- Mauritius – Dr Navinchandra Ramgoolam GCSK, FRCP, Prime Minister
- Serbia – Aleksandar Vučić, President
- Slovakia –Peter Pellegrini, President
- Spain – Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón, President
- Sri Lanka – Anura Kumara Disanayaka, President
- Seychelles – Sebastien Pillay, Vice President
- Switzerland – Guy Parmelin, President
- The Netherlands- Dick Schoof, Prime Minister
- UAE – Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi
In addition, Ministerial delegations from over 45 countries would be participating in the Summit. The UN Secretary General and Senior Officials from several International Organizations will also join the deliberations.
Why is this summit important?
Since India is at a pivotal stage in its development journey, with Artificial Intelligence (AI) emerging as a key enabler. For India, AI needs to function as a strategic national tool to drive the democratisation of technology, ensuring access, inclusion, and equity at scale. This technological revolution will open vast opportunities for advancements across every domain of tech industry.