25/08/2026
𝗔𝗜 𝗜𝗦 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗝𝗨𝗦𝗧 𝗔 𝗦𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗢𝗥—𝗜𝗧 𝗜𝗦 𝗕𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗦𝗬𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗠 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗢𝗠𝗬
𝗟𝗲𝘁 𝗨𝘀 𝗥𝗲-𝘃𝗶𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗘𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲
The global economy is expected to grow by around 3% in 2026, while India is likely to remain among the fastest-growing major economies, with growth of approximately 6.4%.
These numbers are encouraging—but GDP growth alone does not tell us where tomorrow’s economic power will come from.
The next big divide may not be between developed and developing countries. It may be between countries that simply use foreign AI tools and those that build and own AI infrastructure, intellectual property, datasets, models and scalable AI businesses.
𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗠𝗨𝗖𝗛 𝗗𝗢𝗘𝗦 𝗔𝗜 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗕𝗨𝗧𝗘 𝗧𝗢𝗗𝗔𝗬?
There is no universally accepted figure showing AI’s present share of global GDP. AI investment, AI-company revenue, business adoption and AI-generated productivity are different measurements. Combining them into one attractive “AI contribution pie” would be misleading.
But the direction is clear:
• AI adoption among organisations has reached 88% globally.
• Corporate AI investment reached approximately $581.7 billion in 2025.
• NITI Aayog estimates that AI could generate $17–26 trillion in global economic value during the next decade.
• In India, around 87% of enterprises reportedly use AI, but only 26% have achieved mature deployment at scale.
This reveals India’s real challenge: we are not short of AI experiments. We are short of AI ex*****on at economic scale.
𝗪𝗛𝗬 𝗥𝗘𝗧𝗔𝗜𝗟 𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦
Retail is where production, employment, logistics, marketing, finance and household consumption finally meet.
India’s retail sector contributes more than 10% to GDP and nearly 8% to employment. Its estimated market size reached approximately $1.09 trillion in 2025.
This makes retail one of the most powerful laboratories for AI.
AI can improve demand forecasting, pricing, inventory replenishment, fraud control, personalised promotions, customer service and hyperlocal product selection.
However, retail sales should not be treated as retail’s GDP contribution. GDP counts the value added by retailers—not the full value of everything sold. This distinction is essential when discussing economic scale.
𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗨𝗠𝗣𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗜𝗦 𝗔𝗟𝗦𝗢 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗜𝗡𝗚
Industrial customers may increasingly pay for uptime, productivity and assured output instead of merely purchasing machines. Predictive maintenance will reduce breakdowns, spare-parts inventories and operating costs.
Food consumption will become more personalised, health-conscious, traceable and convenience-driven. AI will influence what consumers discover, which pack size they purchase, when retailers reorder and even which new products companies develop.
Consumer buying behaviour may shift from “search, compare and purchase” to “ask my AI assistant to select and purchase.”
That is a fundamental change. Influence could gradually move away from brands, advertisements and retailers towards the algorithms making recommendations.
Marketing will move from mass communication to millions of personalised, real-time decisions.
Salespeople who only repeat product features will become replaceable. Sales professionals who understand customer economics, negotiation, relationships and complex problem-solving will become more valuable.
𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗔’𝗦 𝟳𝗦 𝗔𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗔 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗔𝗜
• Strategy: Build sector-specific AI missions—not fashionable chatbot projects.
• Structure: Connect government, industry, universities, startups and MSMEs.
• Systems: Develop trusted datasets, affordable computing infrastructure and measurable AI governance.
• Skills: Combine AI knowledge with domain, commercial and analytical capabilities.
• Staff: Reskill employees before AI redesigns their roles.
• Style: Make AI transformation the responsibility of leadership—not merely the IT department.
• Shared Values: Protect privacy, inclusion, Indian languages and human accountability.
India has clear strengths: talent, entrepreneurship, digital public infrastructure and enormous market scale.
But we must honestly recognise our weaknesses—dependence on imported computing technology, inconsistent data quality, limited original research and a persistent gap between announcement and ex*****on.
Our opportunities lie in agriculture, manufacturing, healthcare, retail, logistics, education and financial inclusion. Our threats include job polarisation, deepfakes, algorithmic bias and excessive dependence on foreign AI platforms.
𝗠𝗬 𝗠𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗔𝗚𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗚𝗘𝗡 𝗭
Learning a few prompts is not a long-term career strategy. AI tools will change faster than academic courses or online certifications.
Build a stronger combination:
𝗗𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲 + 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 + 𝗔𝗜 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 + 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗝𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁
The future will not belong to AI alone.
It will belong to people, businesses and nations that can convert AI into higher productivity, better employment, responsible consumption and broadly shared economic value.
