By Narayanan T, General Counsel India & APAC, Cognizant, and Board Member, Cognizant India
India’s tech journey has reached a fascinating turning point. While the first phase earned global admiration for scale and skill, the next must focus on earning trust in India’s integrity as an innovation hub. In an age where algorithms influence economies and data underpins national power, trust has become the real foundation of progress—unseen yet vital.
From scale to substance
India’s early IT revolution was powered by efficiency and delivery excellence. Today, as artificial intelligence (AI) becomes the defining technology of this decade, the conversation is shifting from how much India builds to how responsibly it builds.
AI has expanded India’s role from being the world’s IT partner to a co-creator of intelligent systems that shape healthcare, finance, logistics, and governance. But this progress also raises questions about algorithm ownership, data provenance, and decision transparency—issues at the heart of intellectual property, ethics, and trust.
The task before India is not just to scale innovation but to govern it well. Trust, talent, and intellectual property (IP) integrity will define whether India’s AI-led growth becomes a model of responsible innovation or a race for speed without accountability.
Trust as competitiveness
In today’s world, businesses assess not just capability but conduct. Regulations like the Digital Personal Data Protection Act and proposed Digital Competition Bill are key steps in embedding transparency and fairness into India’s digital landscape.
These are not mere regulations, they are strategic advantages. Countries that show integrity alongside innovation attract more meaningful investments and forge stronger partnerships. India’s ability to deliver AI that’s safe, data that’s secure, and technologies that respect IP will be pivotal in defining its position in the global tech hierarchy.
IP advantage of owning, protecting, respecting
IP has steadily emerged as a core asset of the global economy. For India, it represents more than legal compliance—it signals innovation maturity. As India evolves from a service-based model to one that creates products and platforms, ethical IP practices will matter as much as innovation itself.
Policies such as the Innovation and IP Protection guidelines, National Deep Tech Startup Policy, and National Research Foundation-led incentives indicate that India now treats IP not just as a shield but as a strategic pillar of global trust.
Aligned with World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights standards as well as active roles in forums like the WIPO Development Agenda, India is poised to help set norms for responsible innovation. The next step is embedding IP awareness and ethical creation across the ecosystem. Clear ownership and mutual respect in collaborations can turn partnerships into lasting trust.
Talent is India’s soft power in code
If IP is the fuel of innovation, people are its engine. Over five million Indian tech experts power global transformation. Their reputation for competence boosts India’s brand and their integrity is its soft power.
To retain this edge, India must ensure its tech talent is not future-ready and also values-driven. Continuous upskilling, transparent career paths, and ethical recruitment are key to nurturing professionals who embody both excellence and ethics.
Programmes like NASSCOM’s FutureSkills Prime and the ministry of electronics and information technology’s digital skilling initiatives already combine technical skill with responsibility. Integrating education on data ethics, IP practices, and responsible AI will ensure India’s most valuable export, its talent, remains trusted worldwide.
Governance as a growth engine
India’s evolving digital policies covering data, competition, AI, and IP are forming a “trust architecture for technology”. This framework could become a model for other nations, a proof that innovation and good governance can go hand in hand.
Through public-private partnerships, ethical innovation can be embedded into academia, certification can reward compliant enterprises, and IP-secure research can be incentivised. These steps can elevate India from a participant to a leader in global tech governance.
Towards a trusted technology decade
India’s past tech success was built on competence, but its future will depend on credibility. The world will judge Indian innovation on three dimensions—trustworthiness, clear ownership rights, and ethical practices. By addressing these through sound governance, IP integrity, and cultivating an ethical culture, India can emerge as a global leader in responsible innovation.
In the next decade, India’s success in technology won’t be defined by the quantity of its code but by the quality of its conduct. Trust, once the result of innovation, must now be its foundation.