New Delhi, June 10 -- India has the firepower to become an AI powerhouse, but winning the global race means skipping the foundation model sprint and doubling down on frugal innovation and vertical AI. That was the dominant message on Day 1 of the 5th India Global Innovation Connect 2026, which opened in New Delhi today under the theme "India in the Age of AI".

Organised by Smadja & Smadja Strategic Advisory, the two-day summit brought together policymakers, technologists and investors to map India's strategic choices. With over US$20 billion committed to AI, nearly 2,200 Global Capability Centres employing 2.5 million professionals, and advanced digital public infrastructure, the foundations are in place. The bottleneck now is procuremen...