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Addressing fears of job losses, the minister, while speaking at News18 Rising Bharat Summit 2026 said India’s IT industry has historically adapted to technological disruption.
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw speaks at News18 Rising Bharat Summit 2026.
“Trust factor in deploying AI is important,” Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said while addressing concerns over artificial intelligence and its impact on jobs at the News18 Rising Bharat Summit 2026. Emphasising India’s strengths in the technology sector, Vaishnaw argued that AI adoption would expand opportunities rather than diminish them — provided trust, talent and innovation move in tandem.
Addressing fears of job losses, the minister said India’s IT industry has historically adapted to technological disruption. “The biggest strength of our IT sector is to be able to go to an enterprise, understand how it works and, based on that, provide a solution. It was demonstrated during the Y2K problem,” he noted, recalling how Indian IT firms earned global credibility during the millennium bug crisis.
He underlined that trust will be central to AI integration in sensitive sectors such as banking and finance. “A bank would not want to hand over its coding to a software it doesn’t trust. That is where the role of IT companies will grow,” he said. According to Vaishnaw, Indian technology firms are uniquely positioned to act as trusted partners in deploying AI systems securely and responsibly.
At the same time, he acknowledged the inevitability of disruption. “We need to scale up innovation in the AI sector. At the same time, we must be prepared for disruption due to the AI boost,” he said, calling for proactive planning to manage workforce transitions. He stressed the importance of building a strong talent pipeline, adding that state governments must ensure colleges are reoriented to equip students with AI-focused skills and solution-driven training.
Speaking about the India AI Impact Summit, Vaishnaw described it as a global success. “The summit was well received and recognised globally. The format was more on the lines of World Economic Focus (WEF) Davos. It was designed in a way that the younger generation, who I call Gen Bharat, gets an opportunity to create their future in the way they want,” he said, highlighting the focus on youth participation and solution-driven dialogue.
On funding, the minister was clear that India must increase investments. “We will have to scale up our investment on AI models,” he said, signalling a push towards indigenous AI capabilities.
He also touched upon the evolving digital content ecosystem. “Content creators must get their fair share for creating content. Media houses should be rewarded accordingly for high-quality content,” Vaishnaw said, underscoring the need for fair compensation in the AI-driven information economy.
February 27, 2026, 13:34 IST
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