Need for sovereign AI systems to avoid digital colonialism: Chandrasekaran

Chandrasekaran explained that the group was focused on priority areas, including artificial intelligence, sustainability and new energy, and geopolitical and supply chain resilience

There is a need to develop sovereign artificial intelligence (AI) systems in India to avoid the risks associated with digital colonialism, Tata group chairman N Chandrasekaran said on Friday. 

 

“If we don't develop sovereign AI capabilities, we have a major risk of having all of our activities, languages and cultures being processed by AI systems that don't understand India. It will take it to a different place, a kind of a digital colonialism that we should avoid,” he said at the Mumbai Tech Week 2025. 

 

Chandrasekaran asserted that the Tata group is developing AI projects including AI agents, AI robotics and infrastructure, virtual workers, and capabilities to nurture talent through an AI institute. 

 

He explained that the conglomerate was focused on priority areas including artificial intelligence, sustainability and new energy, geopolitical and supply chain resilience. 

 

“In addition to building all this sovereign AI and the India AI stack, we have a unique opportunity to create another very powerful sector similar to the scale of the Indian IT services sector just on AI. That is the potential,” he explained. 

 

Chandrasekaran explained sovereign capabilities can be developed by achieving success on four pillars such as technological, data, talent and governance sovereignty while highlighting the need to be independent in AI development. 

 

“We build the capabilities that are required, put in place the infrastructure that is required and we develop the knowledge that is required so that we can be totally independent,” he said. 

 

In order to be one of the frontrunners in the global AI race, he stressed on the need to develop multiple layers such as foundational, capability, application, and governance layers. 

 

The foundational layer would require an India AI stack to be established whereas AI models and developer toolkits would build the capability layer. Meanwhile, the application layer can power AI solutions and the governance layer can bind all these aspects together. 

 

Despite prevailing apprehensions about jobs losses driven by AI, he explained that Generative AI will be a net job creator in India. 

 

 “Certain routine jobs will go. It is not that every job is going to be kept. Gen AI will assist a no-skilled man or a low-skilled person to perform at a different level of productivity. It will enhance the productivity very significantly,” he added.