Davos: India’s democratic model of AI is being appreciated on the global stage. At the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) —which will continue till Jan 23, 2026 with nearly 3,000 participants from more than 130 countries — Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw highlighted that India’s strategy of making technology democratic, inclusive and scalable is drawing significant international attention.
He emphasised that India’s model focuses on broad-based growth, ensuring that advances in AI and digital platforms benefit diverse segments of society rather than concentrating gains among a few. On being asked if India should be in the second-tier countries and align with US or China for AI, Vaishnaw rejected the idea while highlighting how India’s model is best suited for the society as it enters the fifth industrial revolution.
“There are five layers in the AI architecture, the application layer, the model layer and the chip layer, the infra-layer and the energy layer. We (India) are working on all the five layers, making very good progress on all the layers. On the application layer, we will probably be the biggest provider of services to
the world. Go to an enterprise, understand the business and working of the enterprise and provide that service-using applications. That’s going to be the biggest factor of success or successful deployment of AI because that’s where ROI comes from. ROI doesn’t come from creating a very large model. 95% of the work can happen with models which are 20 billion or 50 billion parameters,” he said, highlighting that India has already developed a ‘bouquet of such models,’ which are now being deployed in multiple sectors to increase the productivity and increase the efficiency.
“I don’t know what the IMF criteria is but Stanford places India at 3rd in terms of AI penetration, AI preparedness and AI talent,” the minister said, while answering a question on the sidelines of Davos summit.
India’s message at Davos also aligns with broader global narratives that see the country as an emerging technology hub with a unique emphasis on innovation that benefits all economic strata. By combining democratic principles with technological growth, India aims not only to compete globally but also to shape how societies harness AI for inclusive prosperity.
“We are now entering the Fifth Industrial Revolution, where AI works alongside humans to transform every sector of the economy. It builds on the digital advances of the past decade. It focuses on humans and machines working together, using AI to improve lives and address challenges in agriculture, health, climate change and a host of other sectors,” the minister had earlier written in an article.