Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to address developers, technologists in Bengaluru

Executives from Microsoft Corp and Alphabet Inc will visit India next week in a bid to attract the country’s millions of programmers and support the adoption of artificial intelligence services in key markets.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella will deliver a speech on “Discovering New Opportunities in Artificial Intelligence” to developers and technology experts during a visit to the country’s technology hub Bangalore next week.

He will also be in Mumbai to discuss the opportunities and challenges of next-generation artificial intelligence with industry leaders.

Elsewhere, Google Chief Scientist Jeff Dean will discuss the next frontiers of artificial intelligence with Bangalore-based researchers, developers and startups, before participating in a fireside chat to discuss India’s role in driving massive social impact from artificial intelligence.

The showdown highlights India’s importance to both companies and the broader AI field. With more than 5 million programmers, India is becoming one of the largest AI talent pools for startups and global enterprises, at a time when demand for AI talent often exceeds supply. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said during his visit to India last year that India could become the world’s largest exporter of artificial intelligence expertise.

Nandan Nilekani, chairman of Infosys Ltd., Asia’s second-largest technology services company, said: “In the next five to 10 years, there will be a global shift towards artificial intelligence, and Indian developers “Which AI stack will dominate,” Nilekani added, referring to the different layers of technology that make up competing AI systems.

Both Nadella and Google CEO Sundar Pichai grew up in India and studied engineering there before going to the United States for graduate school. For both men, the push for artificial intelligence could be career-defining. Pichai called the shift to artificial intelligence “bigger than the internet,” and Nadella described it as “Microsoft’s moment.”

Ahmed Mazhari, president of Microsoft Asia, pointed out that developer activity on GitHub, Microsoft’s developer platform, shows India’s growing influence in the field of artificial intelligence. “Today, a quarter of AI projects on GitHub originate from India,” Mazhari said in a statement. “By 2026, India will surpass the United States. India is in a very unique position to be able to scale domestic and international markets Employ artificial intelligence.”

Microsoft recently announced that it will train 100,000 developers in India on the latest artificial intelligence technologies and tools. Last year, Nasscom, the Indian technology industry trade body, counted nearly 500,000 developers specializing in artificial intelligence and data science.

“It is reasonable to expect more top AI companies to enter India,” said Sangeeta Gupta, senior vice-president at Nasscom. She said Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys Large technology service companies such as AI are advancing the field of artificial intelligence at full speed and training hundreds of thousands of engineers. “Enterprises want to adopt AI, and developers can accelerate the transition,” she said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)