AI Appreciation Day 2025: Why India's tech leaders are optimistic about the future
From fueling scientific discovery, personalising education, optimising supply chains and meeting cybersecurity needs, here’s what top voices in the industry have to say about AI’s impact and promise.
AI Appreciation Day, celebrated each year on July 16, shines a spotlight on the numerous ways artificial intelligence is reshaping our lives. From fueling scientific discovery, personalising education, optimising supply chains, and meeting cybersecurity needs, AI is the new engine of modern technological breakthroughs.
This day salutes the researchers, developers, and thought leaders whose tireless work pushes AI’s boundaries, while also reminding us to champion transparent, responsible systems that serve everyone.
Here’s what top voices in the industry have to say about AI’s impact and promise:
Ganesh Gopalan, Co-founder and CEO, Gnani.ai
At Gnani.ai, we see AI not just as technology, but as a catalyst transforming how India speaks, learns, and transacts. On AI Appreciation Day, we celebrate the incredible strides made in voice AI, small language models, and generative AI that bridge linguistic diversity and democratise digital access. Aligned with the IndiaAI mission, we are committed to building solutions that are inclusive, responsible, and locally relevant, empowering enterprises and everyday users alike. As AI continues to evolve, our vision remains clear: to make conversational AI an enabler of growth and innovation for every corner of India.
Vijayant Rai, Managing Director - India, Snowflake
Today, we must acknowledge AI's pervasive impact on our day-to-day lives and its potential to solve our country’s grassroots-level challenges, whether in healthcare, agriculture, climate solutions, or financial inclusion programs. With India’s AI market projected to grow at a CAGR of 25–35% by 2027, fuelled by national-scale programs like the IndiaAI Mission, a thriving GenAI startup ecosystem, the second-largest developer population, and the growing need for an AI talent base, India is uniquely positioned to lead in the age of intelligent technologies. We are witnessing AI enabling businesses across various sectors to unlock deeper insights, personalise experiences, and optimise their operations at scale, moving from the AI hype and POCs to large-scale adoption.
Ankush Sabharwal, Founder and CEO, CoRover
Human-machine interaction has paralleled the evolution of human communication, evolving from primitive forms of stone writing and paper-based writing to digitised interfaces. Early digital systems, although dependent on text input, were not as natural as speech. Generative AI has altered this with enhanced speech-to-text and text-to-speech capabilities across a wide range of languages and dialects, making human-like interactions seamless. Although ecommerce accounts for just 5-6% of India's market, emerging technologies like AR and VR, along with AI, are closing the gap between the physical and digital, and leading to increased engagement and conversion. This is not just the future, it's already happening.
Umesh Shah, Director, Orient Technologies Limited
AI Appreciation Day serves as a powerful reminder of how artificial intelligence is no longer a futuristic concept but a present-day catalyst for progress across sectors. It’s a day to acknowledge the innovations that AI enables—from smarter governance and efficient enterprises to empowered communities. At Orient Technologies, we are dedicated to advancing this vision by helping position India as a global AI powerhouse. Through cutting-edge solutions and continued collaboration with MeitY, we bring deep expertise in managing large-scale digital infrastructure, ensuring that AI adoption is not only ambitious but also sustainable, secure, and impactful for businesses and society alike.
Arun Kumar Parameswaran, EVP & Managing Director - Sales & Distribution (South Asia) at Salesforce
The future of work will belong to those who can harness AI not just as a tool, but as a transformative partner in progress. At Salesforce, we see AI as a force multiplier, augmenting human intelligence, accelerating productivity, and enabling people to focus on what truly drives business and societal impact: creativity, empathy, and innovation. But AI is only as powerful as the data that fuels it. Trusted, unified, and real-time data is the foundation for effective AI, enabling meaningful insights, smarter decisions, and responsible automation. The ability to connect and contextualise data across systems is what ultimately empowers AI to deliver value at scale.
Sujatha S Iyer, Head of AI Security, ManageEngine, Zoho Corp
AI is no longer a futuristic concept; it’s a defining force in how we learn, work, and grow. It’s transforming the workplace from process-driven to purpose-driven by automating the routine and amplifying the human. For emerging professionals, this is a pivotal moment to cultivate skills that AI can’t replicate—creativity, critical thinking, and ethical judgment. For decision-makers, it’s a call to embed responsible AI practices that prioritise trust, transparency, and meaningful upskilling across the workforce.
Sumit Nigam, CTO, Perfios
In the last two decades, India has become synonymous with Information Technology (IT) infrastructure, and the world currently looks up to us for its IT needs. We have come a long way from where we started; from a technology support developing nation, to now an economic powerhouse that is at the forefront of developing and utilising a diverse range of emerging technologies.
On AI Appreciation Day, we celebrate the advancements in AI that are shaping our world. It enhances our daily lives in many ways, from powering smart technologies to improving healthcare and driving innovation across different industries, and this is just the beginning. The ongoing development of AI is vital for economic growth and societal progress. Today, we reflect on AI's potential to solve complex global challenges and transform our future.
Praveer Kochhar, Co-founder and CPO, KOGO AI
AI Appreciation Day is a good moment to pause and take in just how far we’ve come. In just a few years, AI has gone from a backend tool to an ally we actively collaborate with to make decisions, solve problems, and even shape strategy. It’s changed how we work, how we think, and in many ways, how we build.
Looking ahead, the future with AI feels even more promising. It holds the power to augment human potential and help us achieve in months or weeks what once took years. And with Private AI in the picture, some of the biggest blockers, like data exposure and security, are no longer standing in the way.
Edited by Kanishk Singh