A 120-member US CEO delegation led by Shantanu Narayen, Raj Subramaniam, Brad Smith and Hemant Taneja arrived in the capital for the India AI Impact Summit, marking the largest American business presence at an AI-focused event in the country.
American tech majors are preparing to invest $67.5 billion in AI and data centre infrastructure in India over the next five years, with Microsoft, Amazon and Google leading the push, according to The New York Times. The five-day summit, organised by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, has drawn 35,000 participants and over 50 ministers globally. The U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum is spearheading the American contingent.
However, industry leaders flagged a talent gap. As per KPMG’s India CEO Outlook 2025, 74% of Indian CEOs say workforce readiness will determine growth. Deloitte data shows while 78% of firms have deployed AI tools, only 6% of employees feel confident using them.
At a key panel moderated by CambrianEdge.ai founder Harjiv Singh, leaders from GE Healthcare, HCL Tech and LinkedIn discussed the shift from AI literacy to AI fluency, stressing accountability and reskilling.
In Kolkata, the city’s growing IT and analytics ecosystem could benefit from the AI push. However, local enterprises must accelerate workforce upskilling to compete for contracts and talent in the emerging AI economy.