India at inflection point in Artificial Intelligence adoption: Microsoft

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SME Times News Bureau | 20 Feb, 2019
There has been a spurt in the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) across industries in India and cloud infrastructure and rapid deployment of intelligent Cloud services will further drive AI adoption in the country, Microsoft India said on Wednesday.

In a white paper titled "Age of Intelligence," Microsoft said the focus is to create modern mobile infrastructure, skill up the workforce and reduce data costs and cross-industry collaboration, thus extending information connectivity and digital services to the underserved segments of the population.

"Our ambition is to enable a human-centered approach to AI. India is currently at an inflection point in the adoption of AI," said Anant Maheshwari, President, Microsoft India as the company unveiled the white paper at the Nasscom Technology and Leadership Forum (NTLF) 2019 here.

"Building on the four foundational pillars -- enabling digital transformation across industries, forging coalitions for innovation, building a future-ready workforce and creating sustained societal impact -- will unlock and accelerate the potential of AI," Maheshwari added.

The white paper outlines challenges and opportunities with respect to AI and how balanced and forward looking government policies, technological advancements including growing Internet penetration and connectivity will help reap benefits of digital transformation in the years to come.

According to Microsoft, the company is busy democratising AI and is making the technology available on Azure Cloud to empower developers and institutions in solving difficult problems.

"AI enables organizations to make better informed decisions by making it easy to derive insights from data, helping them expand and improve customer engagement and experiences, optimize operations and improve offerings," read the white paper.

India is digitally ready for a comprehensive AI framework aligned to industries' long-term strategy.

"With the size of the market and opportunity for growth, it's imperative to implement AI for India that brings economic, societal and inclusive growth," Microsoft noted.