Davos 2025: AI will be a major growth driver for Mahindra Group, says Anish Shah

Mahindra and Mahindra group CEO and managing director Anish Shah in Davos

Artificial intelligence (AI) is going to be a major driver of growth for the auto to information technology (IT) services conglomerate Mahindra Group, said managing director and CEO Anish Shah on January 22.

"We are doing a lot in AI. We have a team of about 250 to 300 people focused just on AI" Shah said in an interview to Moneycontrol on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.

He noted that these people are data science professionals and that the conglomerate's teams are "very well positioned to lead in the space"

Manufacturing is a "huge area" where AI is being implemented, Shah said. "There are a number of products that are driving productivity on the shop floor, higher quality of products, better service, better wait times for customers" he said.

Read: Davos 2025: India story growing from strength to strength, says Mahindra Group's Anish Shah

In an earlier interview with Moneycontrol, Shah had mentioned that Mahindra Group is actively exploring opportunities in emerging sectors such as semiconductors, drones, healthcare, and consumer goods.

At Davos, he stated that the group hasn't found the 'right opportunity' as yet.

"We're patient. For us, it's important to be able to do it in a way where we can generate returns higher than industry and we can build a scale business" he said.

"Our current businesses are growing at a very rapid pace. Therefore, we will be very particular about where we enter. And when we do so, we will do so with scale," Shah added. He noted that the group already operates in about 70 percent of India’s growth sectors.

Shah expressed the conglomerate's goal of making manufacturing in India a 'great story,' something they are beginning to see now, with many more investments flowing into the country.

"Innovation, R&D, products, and the cost of manufacturing - all these factors play a big role. Based on the trends we see and what we've done from a product standpoint, we feel that India is starting to make a case for being the manufacturing hub of the world" he said. "If we continue on this journey, India should be positioned very well"