India missing AI opportunity at scale: Paytm's Vijay Shekhar Sharma

Vijay Shekhar Sharma says India must not surrender AI sovereignty to other nations and urges tech entrepreneurs to bet big on home-grown innovation

India is not leveraging the opportunity of artificial intelligence (AI) at scale and should not give up its AI sovereignty to other nations, Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma said.

 

Sharma added that he is working on AI-specific products and plans to rebrand these offerings, as the Paytm brand is currently associated primarily with financial technology and payments.

 

He said that for the first time in years, India had access to “risk capital” as more tech entrepreneurs began betting on AI-driven opportunities.

 

“Now is the time for each of us, especially tech entrepreneurs, to take the bet that we will not let this country become controlled by any other country's AI,” Sharma said.

 

He was speaking at the Global Fintech Fest 2026 in Mumbai.

 

‘India must embrace AI to secure its future’

 

“In 2005, I worked in the telecom operator space, in 2011 I worked in payments, and in 2025 I’m working in AI. In this country, if an individual is not working in AI, then that person is not working for the future,” he said.

 

Sharma noted that India has the talent and ecosystem needed to build its own AI sovereignty.

 

“As a generation, we are underestimating the power of AI and the dramatic change it will bring. I am uncomfortable with the fact that our country is not playing the opportunity of AI at the scale we need to,” he said.

 

His comments come as global AI giants continue to raise multi-million-dollar funding rounds and expand their operations worldwide.