10,000 delegates, 100+ speakers, one vision: Inside the landmark summit that positioned Jaipur as India's entrepreneurial capital

When over 10,000 delegates from 30+ countries gathered in Jaipur from January 4 to 6, 2026, they came seeking answers to questions that will define India's next decade. What emerged over three intensive days at the Jaipur Exhibition & Convention Centre was a blueprint for how technology, entrepreneurship, and policy can converge to create shared prosperity.

The 10th edition of TiE Global Summit, running simultaneously with Rajasthan DigiFest, delivered on its promise to showcase why a non-metro city can compete with established innovation hubs and how AI will reshape every aspect of business and governance.

Setting the foundation with vision and capital

The opening day set a national tone. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s message framed the urgency and opportunity of the moment. “AI is already reshaping our polity, our economy, our security, and even our society. AI is writing the code for humanity,” he said, underlining AI’s role across healthcare, education, agriculture, and governance.

This vision translated into concrete action during the Rajasthan Regional AI Impact Summit. The state government announced the Rajasthan AI and ML Policy and Portal, unveiled the Rajasthan AI Mission, and outlined AI skilling initiatives aimed at building long-term capacity. Together, these moves positioned Rajasthan as an active participant in India’s AI-led development agenda rather than a passive adopter.

The opening sessions established a broader truth. India’s technology ambitions are no longer confined to startups or metros, but are increasingly embedded in state policy, public infrastructure, and governance frameworks.

The summit also saw participation from state delegations and officials from Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, and other states, alongside Shri Bhajan Lal Sharma, Chief Minister of Rajasthan, and Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore, Minister for IT&C, Government of Rajasthan, who emphasized the state's digital transformation initiatives.

Leadership lessons from the field

One of the most anticipated sessions was the fireside chat ‘No Fear, No Limits: Lessons from the World’s Most Aggressive Opener’, featuring Virender Sehwag, former Indian cricketer, in conversation with Mahavir Pratap Sharma, Convener, TiE Global Summit 2026.

Sehwag’s reflections bridged sport and entrepreneurship with clarity and candour. “Aaj hero ho, kal zero,” he said, explaining how cricket taught him humility and resilience. Recalling his time under Sourav Ganguly, he described leadership as the ability to understand teammates and give them the freedom to perform.

Drawing a direct parallel to startups, Sehwag spoke about trust and risk-taking. When he was encouraged to bat in his natural style, he took risks, knowing the team stood behind him. “If you allow your employees to take risks, you must support them. Otherwise, the company will not succeed,” he said, urging founders to empower teams rather than control outcomes.

The agentic future of AI

The focus then shifted to the future of artificial intelligence with a session by Ramesh Raskar, Associate Professor at the MIT Media Lab. Speaking on the rise of the internet of AI agents, Raskar outlined how India could leapfrog global AI models by building on its digital public infrastructure.

He proposed a future where every citizen has an AI agent integrated with Aadhaar, UPI, and DigiLocker, enabling open and inclusive participation in the AI economy. Raskar cautioned that the window to keep this agentic web open is narrowing. Without open protocols, AI risks consolidation into monopolies. With them, India could build a pluralistic ecosystem at a population scale. A practical use case tied to the upcoming Kumbh Mela demonstrated how AI agents could assist millions of pilgrims with navigation, services, and payments.

Rethinking growth and business models

Business fundamentals took center stage in the fireside chat ‘Designing for Growth in an Age of Disruption’, featuring Alexander Osterwalder, Founder and CEO, Strategyzer, in conversation with Madan Padaki, Co-founder and Director, Sylvant Advisors.

Through a simple drawing exercise, Osterwalder illustrated how deeply mental models shape decision-making and constrain innovation. He traced how business model inertia has caused incumbents to fail during technological shifts, from early manufacturing industries to modern enterprises grappling with AI.

His advice to founders was practical and unambiguous. Test ideas before building. Focus on desirability and viability, not just feasibility. What customers do is stronger evidence than what they say.

Creativity in the age of AI

The intersection of creativity and technology came alive in the panel ‘Algorithms with Soul: Creativity in the Age of AI’, moderated by Ajay Data, Managing Director, Data Group of Industries. Speakers included Breno Melo, Co-founder, Genspark; Raj Jaswa, CEO, Dyyno; and Lalitesh Katragadda, Founder, Indihood.

Melo shared how Genspark became a unicorn in under two years by addressing a universal problem. Knowledge workers lose hours daily switching between disconnected tools. By coordinating AI agents into a single platform, Genspark replaced fragmentation with efficiency.

Capital, scaling, and sustainable growth

The focus then moved to execution and scale. In a policy and capital session, Sanjiv Singh, Joint Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, outlined the intent behind Fund of Funds 2. The framework will prioritize deep tech, manufacturing, and micro VCs, enabling investments of up to Rs 10 crore to bridge the funding gap between early-stage support and Series A capital.

Anil Joshi, Managing Partner, Unicorn India Ventures, complemented this perspective with insights from deeptech investing. He spoke about backing Genrobotic, a company automating hazardous manual scavenging, and highlighted the strong margins and defensibility that deeptech businesses can deliver when aligned with real-world problems.

Founder-led scaling featured insights from Amit Jain and Anurag Jain, Co-founders of CarDekho. Reflecting on building India’s first unicorn from Jaipur, Amit spoke candidly about early failures and the importance of focus, while Anurag explained how fostering intrapreneurship allowed the group to scale multiple businesses without diluting the ownership mindset.

Mohit Yadav and Rahul Yadav, Co-founders of Minimalist, shared how data-driven decision-making shaped their growth. By tracking search behaviour rather than trends, they identified readiness for active skincare ingredients in India. Their journey to a near Rs 3,000 crore valuation demonstrated that profitability and scale can coexist.

Sustainability emerged as a defining theme. Vikram Gupta, Founder and Managing Partner, IvyCap Ventures, cited portfolio data showing that companies aligned with SDG goals consistently outperformed peers, challenging the assumption that sustainability compromises returns.

Across the three-day summit, voices from India’s film and storytelling ecosystem added a cultural dimension to the technology-led conversations.

Actors and creators Indira Tiwari, Namit Das, Rajit Kapur, Vijay Vikram Singh, and Anshuman Jha participated in discussions and interactions over the course of the event, reflecting on the evolving relationship between creativity, technology, and audience engagement. Their perspectives reinforced a consistent theme that while tools and platforms may change, authentic storytelling, cultural rootedness, and human emotion remain central to how stories resonate and travel.

Measuring impact beyond the summit

As the summit concluded, its impact extended beyond the stage. Six state governments, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Haryana, and Maharashtra, brought their startup ecosystems to Jaipur, creating a national platform for collaboration.

The iStart 100 showcased startups selected from over 7,200 registered ventures, while TGS 100 Pitches connected 100 curated startups with more than 500 venture funds through structured investor meetings. Creative initiatives such as the iStart International Film Festival, AVGC Challenge, Comic Con Zone, and Game Jam brought youth creators into the innovation mainstream.

For the duration of the summit, Jaipur became the center of India’s entrepreneurial universe. TiE Global Summit 2026 did not just ask whether non-metro cities can lead innovation. It demonstrated how leadership beyond metros is already taking shape.