Zohofounder Sridhar Vembumet with Prime Minister Narendra Modion Thursday for talks on artificial intelligence. PM Modi led a high-level roundtable with AI experts and CEOs in New Delhi. The discussion focused on how artificial intelligence can play a key role in India’s future, with the PM underlining the importance of “AI for All” and the need to build sovereign AI infrastructure within the country.
After meeting PM Modi Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu emphasized the importance of attaining self reliance in the tech sector. It is great to see our leaders and entrepreneurs working together to build a stronger digital ecosystem for India. pic.twitter.com/71MUnjp2my
— Prof cheems ॐ (@Prof_Cheems) January 29, 2026
Focus on self-reliance and Atmanirbhar Bharat
According to Vembu, the emphasis is on achieving self-reliance in advanced technologies, in line with the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat. “He (PM Modi) gave us the inspiration and the motivation to work on problems relevant to our country, how to leverage this technology and make it to the benefit of every Indian. That is the mission and also how to attain self-reliance in all this technology in our nation,” Vembu said.
Vembu added that the interaction reinforced the idea that technology should be inclusive and accessible, rather than limited to a privileged few. The Prime Minister, he said, inspired the participants to use AI as a tool for national development, while ensuring India remains independent in building and owning critical technology systems.
PM Modi stressed the importance of adopting emerging technologies across all sectors and using them as a driver of national development. He also called for greater deployment of indigenous technologies in critical areas of the economy.
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Referring to the upcoming AI Impact Summit, the PM said that individuals and companies should fully utilise the platform to identify new opportunities and accelerate their growth journey. He noted that India’s success with the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has already showcased the country’s technological capability and a similar model can be replicated in the AI space.
‘Inspire the world’, says PM Modi
Highlighting India’s strengths, PM said the country offers a unique combination of scale, diversity and democracy, which has helped build global trust in its digital infrastructure. Aligning this with his vision of ‘AI for All’, the Prime Minister stated that “we need to create an impact with our technology as well as inspire the world”. He further encouraged CEOs and experts to position India as a fertile hub for global AI initiatives.
This was not the first interaction between PM Modi and the Zoho founder. Earlier, during a visit to Ambasamudram near Vembu’s native village, the PM had met him to discuss Zoho’s rural-focused R&D model. That conversation highlighted how the company is creating high-tech jobs and innovation hubs in rural areas such as Tenkasi, aligning technology growth with grassroots development.
Who all were present at the meet?
The roundtable brought together CEOs from leading companies working in AI, including Wipro, TCS, HCL Tech, Zoho Corporation, LTI Mindtree, Jio Platforms Ltd, AdaniConnex, Nxtra Data and Netweb Technologies. The discussion also included leading academic voices, with experts from IIIT Hyderabad, IIT Madras and IIT Bombay taking part.
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Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw, along with Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Jitin Prasada, also participated in the interaction, highlighting the government’s direct involvement in shaping India’s AI roadmap. |
