AI to be gamechanger for India in citizen services: Salesforce's Arundhati

AI's cross-border nature will require a 'Global Compact' to ensure its benefits reach all of humanity and to safeguard against any potential misuse, Arundhati Bhattacharya, the top boss of Salesforce India has said exuding confidence that for India, Artificial Intelligence will be a "gamechanger" in delivery of public services.

Bhattacharya, the CEO and Chairperson of Salesforce India and former Chairperson of the SBI, said that AI is poised to bring about a transformation in every sphere - from healthcare to diagnostics, and education to skilling.

The advent of this futuristic technology will benefit India in a big way, firing the engines of public service delivery, at scale and lower cost, she observed.

In an interview with PTI, Bhattacharya also highlighted the need for a 'Global Compact' on AI, given the cross-border nature of technology and its impact. Bhattacharya said she is convinced that AI would benefit society, but in the wrong hands it can be prove to be "quite harmful" and advocated "caution".

"AI is like any other tool, you can use it for good purposes, or you can use it for bad. So one needs to be careful. I am not scared but I would definitely recommend caution...I would recommend that we are careful about what we do with AI, and how we do it," she said.

Just like climate issues, AI too goes beyond country borders, and hence requires Global Compact, consensus, and international efforts, according to her.

"I think there need to be a Global Compact on this as well. This is not something that is going to remain enclosed within borders of a country, it will impact people globally...AI is not going to be a respecter of borders of a country," he said.

AI, at this point, is largely self-regulated, she noted.

"AI will need a global compact, it will need people to agree that there are possible ways that AI can be used that would be harmful to mankind...They would need to come together and have some kind of understanding to ensure that we use this tool for betterment of mankind...," Bhattacharya said.

Bhattacharya smashed the glass ceiling in 2013 when she became the first woman to lead State Bank of India (SBI) in the bank's over 200-year history. She retired from SBI in 2017 and went on to reinvent herself with a brand new career innings at the helm of cloud-based service provider Salesforce India in 2020, as Chairperson and CEO - a position she has held since.

Describing the advent of AI as a "gamechanger" and "blessing" for India, Bhattacharya said she is convinced that the technology will bring transformation all across, benefiting society.

"India does not have paucity of manpower, what it needs is technology for us to enable each of those people to reach optimum potential. To do that through brick-and mortar is difficult in terms of bandwidth and costs...if AI can deliver the first layer of it, and offer us insights to determine what exactly is needed, it will ensure fair distribution...it will be a great step forward," she said.

It is pertinent to mention that while immense potential of AI to positively impact society has been widely-recognised by policymakers across the world, the potential dangers and risks around the new technology are also driving global conversations and parleys around need for safety brakes, and responsible, human-centric governance framework for Artificial Intelligence.