Karnataka to set up AI Centre of Excellence for public sector innovation in Bengaluru

Karnataka AI-ML Cell

• Karnataka to establish AI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru for public sector innovation
• AI-CoE aims to boost efficiency, transparency, and accountability in governance
• Centre will support startups, capacity building, and responsible AI adoption

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In a bid to sharpen its push to embed artificial intelligence across governance, policymaking and citizen service delivery, Karnataka government will soon establish an Artificial Intelligence Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Public Sector Innovation (AI-CoE for PSI) in Bengaluru.

Centre for e-Governance (CeG), which comes under Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (e-Governance), has recently invited Expressions of Interest from industry, academic and research institutions to partner with the state in setting up and operating the proposed CoE. The initiative will be anchored by the Karnataka AI Cell.

Also, read: From tackling absenteeism to chatbots for grievances, Karnataka’s AI-ML Cell plots digital reforms

Embedding AI into government systems

AI-CoE will focus exclusively on integrating artificial intelligence into government workflows and public-sector innovation systems, with the objective of improving efficiency, transparency, accountability and evidence-based decision-making across departments.

“CoE is envisaged as a scalable institution that will help mainstream AI adoption across government while addressing real governance challenges,” a senior government official told Moneycontrol.

Officials said the initiative builds on Karnataka’s existing digital governance platforms and its wider technology and startup ecosystem.

Also, read: Karnataka to use AI platform to monitor schemes worth over Rs 100 crore

CoE in Bengaluru

CeG has already identified a modern, fully furnished 20,000 sq ft facility in Bengaluru. The space includes co-working areas, collaborative meeting rooms, training and demonstration zones, and utilities required for research, prototyping and deployment of AI solutions.

AI-CoE will operate under IndiaAI Mission’s 40:40:20 co-funding framework, under which Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and Karnataka government will together contribute 80 percent of the total budget. The remaining 20 percent will be contributed by selected industry and academic partners, either individually or through a consortium.

Officials said the shared investment model is designed to ensure sustainability, accountability and long-term public–private collaboration, while aligning state-level initiatives with national AI priorities.

Focus on solutions, startups and capacity building

CoE will design, operationalise and scale AI-driven solutions across governance domains such as administrative workflows, citizen engagement, healthcare, agriculture, education and urban services. It will also establish shared AI innovation infrastructure, including compute access, development tools, sandbox environments and curated, de-identified datasets to enable safe and responsible experimentation.

“In parallel, CoE will act as a catalyst for Karnataka’s GovTech and social-impact startup ecosystem by running innovation challenges, incubation programmes and accelerator cohorts focused on public-sector problem statements. Startups will gain access to mentorship, datasets, compute resources and co-development opportunities with government departments,” the official said.

Capacity building will be another key focus area, with CoE supporting departments through analytics platforms, predictive models and decision-support tools, alongside structured training programmes, workshops, hands-on labs and deployment of AI Fellows within government, he added.

Responsible AI and long-term vision

Officials said principles such as fairness, transparency, privacy-by-design and accountability will be embedded across all initiatives, aligned with national and global responsible AI standards. After the initial four-year support period under the IndiaAI Mission and Karnataka government, CoE is proposed to transition into a Section 8 not-for-profit entity to enable sustained public-private collaboration.

“This initiative positions Karnataka as a national hub for AI-enabled governance and contributes directly to the objectives of the IndiaAI Mission,” the official said.

Also, read: In a first, Karnataka to roll out AI-powered WhatsApp-based public grievance redressal mechanism