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    Op-Ed                                                                     MAY 22, 2026     |  The Indian Eye 12

            Forging the Next Wave of AI Innovation

               U.S. leadership in frontier AI research, combined with India’s talent pool, creates powerful
                                        opportunities to develop solutions for global challenges.

             GIRIRAJ AGARWAL, SPAN Magazine,
                  U.S. Embassy New Delhi

                n  February  2026,  researchers
               and  practitioners  from  the  Unit-
            Ied States and India convened in
            Mohali  for  the  Workshop  on  Build-
            ing  U.S.-India  Research  Collabora-
            tions  in  Artificial  Intelligence  (AI).
            The  event  was  hosted  by  Plaksha
            University in collaboration with U.S.
            Embassy  New  Delhi.  The  goal  was
            clear: to move beyond dialogue and   ing shared research infrastructure to   have clearly defined goals, shared ar-  tonomous systems.
            build sustained, working partnerships   enable  collaboration  across  institu-  tifacts like code, data, or benchmarks,   Gupta  observes  that  while  tra-
            in AI research.                   tions, using education as a force mul-  and sustained people-to-people con-  ditional  machines  follow  human  in-
                The  workshop  highlighted  both   tiplier, and embedding AI principles   nections  through  co-mentoring,  vis-  structions,  AI  systems  increasingly
            progress and areas for growth. While   like  safety,  security,  and  robustness   its, and recurring workshops.  make  autonomous  decisions,  mak-
            the United States continues to lead   from the outset rather than as an af-  Successful  partnerships  also   ing  governance  frameworks  essen-
            in  frontier  AI  research,  India  con-  terthought.               benefit  from  the  U.S.  culture  of  in-  tial. “Since machines do not natural-
            tributes  a  large,  skilled  talent  pool   Building academic bridges  tellectual freedom, where individuals   ly  follow  social  rules,  only  physical
            and  extensive  real-world  deploy-   Education  and  talent  develop-  can take on challenges regardless of   laws,  we  must  develop  systems  of
            ment  contexts.  Experts  also  noted   ment remain the foundation of long-  age or degree, helping drive innova-  governance that guide AI,” he says.
            opportunities  to  align  funding  and   term  cooperation.  Gupta  draws  on   tion across borders.      Gupta  emphasizes  that  skills
            institutional  priorities  more  closely   historical  examples,  pointing  to  the                   shaped by human experience, like
            to  strengthen  collaboration.  These   Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)   Shared research        communication,  emotional  intel-
            observations set the stage for deeper   Kanpur.  “What  the  American  gov-  infrastructure           ligence,  creativity,  and  craftsman-
            discussions with researchers actively   ernment did was connect eight U.S.   Both  experts  stress  the  impor-  ship, will remain valuable. Certain
            shaping U.S.-India AI initiatives.   universities to help build IIT Kanpur.   tance  of  moving  beyond  conversa-  trade  skills,  including  plumbing,
                State of collaboration        Those universities might never have   tions  toward  shared  research  plat-  carpentry,  and  physical  craftsman-
               “In  fact,  U.S.-India  collabora-  known where Kanpur was, but they   forms.  “Move  from  conversations   ship, may also grow in importance
            tion in AI is very high,” says Rajesh   made the connections,” he says.  to  shared  collaboration  infrastruc-  because they rely on complex abil-
                                                                                ture—common problem statements,  ities that machines still struggle to
            Gupta , distinguished professor and   Today, emerging AI institutions   benchmark  datasets,  and  repro-  replicate.
            dean  of  the  School  of  Computing,  in  India  could  benefit  from  similar   ducible  testbeds—so  results  travel   Rather  than  replacing  jobs,  AI
            Information and Data Science at the   partnerships.  “Several  Indian  insti-  across  institutions,”  Barua  explains.  is likely to enhance productivity. “AI
            University of California San Diego .  tutes,  including  IIT  Palakkad,  IIT
            “Part of the reason I know this is be-  Ropar, and IIT Guwahati, now have   Impact  also  accelerates  when  na-  will  likely  increase  the  productivi-
                                                                                tional agencies set “challenge agen-
                                                                                                                  ty of software engineers. Instead of
            cause I am involved in building six AI   schools  focused  on  AI.  Connecting   das” in areas like health access, ag-  replacing them, it may enable them
            schools in India, and foundations in   these  institutions  with  U.S.  part-
            the United States support them.”  ners could accelerate collaboration,”   riculture,  and  cybersecurity.  These   to do the work of several people and
                                                                                                                  create  entirely  new  products  and
                                                                                ensure  research  drives  measurable
                Building on this perspective, Ra-  Gupta  notes.  He  adds  that  collabo-
            jeev  Barua  ,  professor  of  electrical   ration often begins at the grassroots   benefits for communities while also   services,” Gupta explains.
                                                                                                                      He predicts the next wave of in-
                                                                                boosting productivity and the econ-
            and  computer  engineering  at  the   level.  “People  think  collaboration   omy.                    novation will include highly person-
            University of Maryland , notes that   means  a  big  budget  or  a  high-level   “The  bridge  from  lab  to  citizen   alized  products  spanning  medicine
            collaboration is becoming more stra-  agreement. But really, it starts at the
            tegic and institutional. “The comple-  ground  level,”  he  explains.  “If  high   benefit  requires  entrepreneurship:   to digital services.
                                                                                more  joint  pilots,  innovation  sand-
                                                                                                                      Looking forward, Barua outlines
            mentarity  is  clear:  the  U.S.  contrib-  school  and  undergraduate  students   boxes, and incentives for companies
            utes  depth  in  frontier  research  and   start  learning  these  new  subjects,                     three foundations for leadership in
            global product ecosystems, while In-  they  become  the  talent  source  for   to  co-develop  and  adopt  research   the coming decade: shared research
                                                                                outputs,”  says  Barua.  Stronger  in-
            dia contributes exceptional talent at   tomorrow, just like the IITs became.”  dustry  participation  improves  real-  infrastructure, shared standards for
            scale and diverse real-world deploy-  Barua highlights practical mech-                                trustworthy  AI,  and  strong  talent
            ment  contexts,”  he  says.  “The  big-  anisms  to  strengthen  talent  pipe-  ism  by  providing  data,  constraints,   pipelines. Gupta adds that while AI
                                                                                and  deployment  feedback,  helping
            gest  shared  opportunity  is  building   lines  and  collaboration.  “Bilateral   ensure results become products and   technology may currently score only
            reliable,  safe,  and  cost-effective  AI   programs  that  support  binational   services rather than just papers.  three or four out of ten in maturity,
            systems that can be adopted across   teams and emphasize translation to                               its  potential  is  vast.  “The  future  is
            sectors.”                         real-world impact are particularly ef-  Impact and potential        bright,”  he  says.  “With  thoughtful
                Barua  highlighted  three  key   fective,” he explains. “Successful col-  The rise of AI also raises ques-  policy and collaboration, the oppor-
            takeaways from the workshop: build-  laborations  share  three  traits.  They   tions  about  how  society  guides  au-  tunities ahead are immense.”

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