The Indian arm of the specialized services firm Deloitte has launched a new AI Institute in New Delhi which is the eighth such centre to be rolled out across the globe since the middle of last year. According to Deloitte, the organization is aiming to help to build a local bionetwork by integrating AI research and innovations for applications in various sectors, with the aim of bridging the wide tech gap among Indian organisations.

Deloitte Consulting president Romal Shetty said that AI technologies offer India the opportunity to jump the world. “There are vital strengths that India can leverage. At the moment, start-ups, research and academic organizations, and businesses themselves are heavily invested in discovering multiple new AI-based innovative solutions. The AI Institute will integrate these efforts to help organisations transform quickly with AI.”

The firm cites the huge potential of AI in large
parts of transport and logistics, retail, healthcare, education, and agricultural sectors, as well as in aiding policy-making and public administration, while the financial services,hi-tech, telecom, consumer goods, and oil & gas sectors in India are said to be already ahead of the curve in terms of acceptance. Deloitte also notes that India is one of the major developers of AI solutions across industries.

“These technologies are already in use and driving new business models,” said Deloitte partner and AI institute leader Saurabh Kumar. “We will have high-class partnerships with some of the brightest minds in the AI ecosystem. A dedicated AI team at Deloitte, along with domain and industry experts, will drive stronger outcomes. We will also bring our business lens that weighs ethical deliberations and accountability to help recognise biases or risks.”

As cited by Deloitte in its recent survey report ‘State of AI in India’, local tech industry trade body NASSCOM has contended that AI and data could add as much as US$500 billion to India’s GDP by just 2025. Yet, as it stands, barely a fifth of the organisations surveyed were assessed as having reached high levels of AI maturity. Emphasizing the local market potential however, a further 50 percent, while less mature, understood the potential benefits of AI.

In addition to partnering with academia, research groups and start-ups, the local AI institute will also be able to tap into Deloitte’s growing global system to share best practices, insights, case studies, and solutions.

First unveiled in the US in the middle of last year, the model has since expanded to eight locations, including Australia, China and Japan. Further centres have been propelled in Canada, the UK, Germany and Luxembourg.