'Thank God there is AI': Tata Group chair N Chandrasekaran bets on AI to fix cities, inequality, healthcare

Tata Group Chair N Chandrasekaran says India’s track record in digital payments proves it can deliver AI-led transformation, if it tackles inequality, cities and healthcare head-on.

• India poised for AI-driven transformation, says Tata Chair
• AI adoption seen as key to tackling India's structural challenges
• India AI Impact Summit hosts 700+ sessions on AI's wide impact

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India stands at an inflexion point in artificial intelligence, and the country has done this before.

That was the message from Tata Group Chair Natarajan Chandrasekaran on Day 4 of the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, where he declared that “the moment of AI for India has come” and urged the country to use the technology to tackle deep structural challenges.

Sharing the stage with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and senior global leaders, Chandrasekaran framed AI not as a distant possibility but as the next phase of India’s transformation story.

Chandrasekaran pointed to India’s digital payments revolution as proof of the country’s execution muscle.

“We do more than fifty percent of digital payments in the world,” he said, arguing that India has already demonstrated how technology can scale to billions.

The implication was clear: if India could leapfrog into global leadership in real-time digital payments, it could do the same in AI adoption.

He described India as a country with a 'unique ability,' one that may struggle with incremental fixes but excels at large-scale structural change.

“Sometimes we can’t do the small stuff, but we can pull off big transformations,” he said. “That’s the beauty of this country.”

For Chandrasekaran, the opportunity is not confined to elite tech corridors.

“People will believe in AI even in rural areas,” he said, suggesting that acceptance and adoption could spread far beyond metropolitan centres.

India’s past decade of digital public infrastructure, from Aadhaar to UPI, has already penetrated deep into rural and semi-urban India.

The next step, he indicated, is embedding AI into everyday governance, healthcare and services.

The Tata Chair was explicit about the problems AI must confront.

India needs to fix its cities. It must reduce inequality. It needs better healthcare delivery.

Technology, he argued, cannot remain confined to efficiency gains or corporate productivity. It has to address public systems.

In a remark that drew attention in the room, he added: “Thank God there is AI, thank God there is OpenAI.”

The summit itself reflects the breadth of that ambition. More than 700 sessions are planned across six days, covering AI safety, governance, ethics, sovereign AI capabilities, data protection and the future of work.