HYDERABAD: Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping businesses, healthcare, agriculture, and education, offering India’s young population new opportunities for growth, said Telangana Legislative Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar.
He was addressing the gathering at a round table on “Human at Core: AI, Ethics, and the Future” at Tech Mahindra in Hyderabad on Friday. The event was hosted by Dr Pritam Singh Foundation in collaboration with IILM University, in memory of the late Dr Pritam Singh, a pioneer of management education in India.
Gaddam Prasad Kumar said AI-powered diagnostics could reach rural areas, precision farming could strengthen agriculture, and fintech innovations could expand financial inclusion. Simultaneously, he warned of ethical challenges such as bias, data privacy risks, and job displacement, calling for reskilling and AI literacy in higher education. “India must shape AI in line with fairness, transparency, and inclusivity,” he stressed.
Recalling Dr Singh’s legacy, he described him as a mentor to business and academic leaders who applied management principles even to governance, training ministers during former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s tenure.
In his keynote address, Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) Chairman Padmanabhaiah Kantipudi paid tribute to Singh as a “nation-builder who bridged academia, business, and governance.” He stressed that for India to lead in AI, it must prioritise indigenous data and ensure equity in AI deployment. “AI models trained on western datasets will not serve Indian needs. Relevance of local data and equity are critical,” he emphasised.