Can India balance data protection while competing in the global AI race?

At the AI Summit, experts debated India's challenge of protecting citizens' data while keeping pace with global AI leaders. CP Gurnani stressed governance and cybersecurity, Umesh Sachdev warned against overregulation and potential "data colonisation," and Saurabh Kumar Sahu advocated human-led AI governance to ensure innovation, security, and strategic competitiveness.

At the AI Summit, industry leaders highlighted the delicate balance between data protection and India’s ambition to compete in the global AI race.

CP Gurnani, Co-Founder and Vice Chairman of AIONOS, cautioned that allowing data and machine learning to operate without governance or cybersecurity safeguards exposes the country to serious risks.

“As AI consumption has touched only 1.5% of what its total potential is, policymakers should wake up now and bring in the right guardrails,” he told India Today. Gurnani also spoke about products developed by his company, including Unistack, which governs AI agents circulating across platforms.

“For a policymaker, on one hand, my data shouldn’t be misused. Data protection for an individual is primary, and there should be a secure application,” he added.

Umesh Sachdev, CEO and Co-Founder of Uniphore -- one of the world’s largest AI-native, multimodal enterprise-class SaaS companies -- shared his perspective from Silicon Valley. “We see what is happening in the US and in close competition with China, whether in GPUs or data centres, and India wants to be in the race,” he said.

While acknowledging the importance of protecting citizens against a powerful technology, Sachdev warned against overregulation. “There is a very thin line. If we overregulate now, when we haven’t even scratched the surface, India risks being left behind in the race against the US and China. Guardrails are necessary, but architectural measures can protect information and citizens without stifling innovation,” he said.