India's big data edge to power next global tech leap: ex-WEF MD Smadja

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India's unique superiority in data and big data has placed it at an inflection point, ready to accelerate technological innovation and potentially deliver the world's next big surprise, according to former World Economic Forum (WEF) MD Claude Smadja.

With an unparalleled capacity for data collection and utilisation, India is poised to become a global leader in AI and deep tech fields that fundamentally rely on access to massive datasets, Smadja said.

"India is at an inflection point. India is, at the moment, in its domestic evolution, and in the global context, where it has to give a big push to accelerate the momentum for technological innovation.

The next big surprise could come from India in the domain of data and big data because India has a unique superiority advantage in terms of data collection and data potential leveraging," Smadja said at IGIC 2025 here.

Smadja, Chairman of Smadja & Smadja Strategic Advisory, contrasted India with major world economies, stating that the US is losing momentum and having its prominence eroded in every single aspect. At the same time, he noted, China has overcome its structural challenges to become more powerful.

Against this backdrop, Smadja asserted that India's moment has arrived.

Drawing on his 53 years of engagement with India, Smadja described the country's journey as a "roller coaster" of hope and setbacks, often derailed from economic growth by distractions. Now, he said, India must seize this critical juncture to accelerate its technological innovation and catch up with global leaders.

It (India) has to accelerate the momentum for the technology catching up process because it is the right time, the right global conditions to try to assert leadership ambitions in some technological domain, to assert its role and place as the new global hub for technology innovation and entrepreneurship, Smadja said.

The 4th edition of India Global Innovation Connect (IGIC), being held in Bengaluru on June 4-5, 2025, will see a lineup of global industry leaders from the US, Japan, Korea, Germany, Singapore, Israel, Switzerland, France, and the UAE, among other countries.