Davos 2026: Ashwini Vaishnaw corrects IMF chief, says India among ‘top tier’ AI powers

Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw resolutely corrected International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva’s statement categorising India as a “second-tier” artificial intelligence (AI) power and asserted that India clearly belongs among the world’s leading AI nations, and alluded to the Stanford University rankings that put India in third place globally.

Vaishnaw’s calm and composed response to Georgieva’s remarks on Wednesday during a panel discussion titled ‘AI Power Play’ at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Davos 2026, which focused on the global impact and future trajectory of AI, is gathering eyeballs on the social media and the video of the discussion is being shared widely with comments.

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Speaking in the panel discussion, the IMF chief said countries such as the US, Denmark, and Singapore formed the top tier in AI development and placed India in the second group, describing it as a second-tier AI power that is not yet a global leader in the field, though she acknowledged India’s long-term investments in information technology.

Responding to the comment, Vaishnaw said the IMF’s assessment did not align with widely accepted global benchmarks.

“I don’t know what the IMF’s criteria are, but Stanford University ranks India third in the world in AI penetration, AI preparedness, and AI talent. It ranks second in AI talent. Therefore, your second-tier classification is incorrect. India is clearly in the first group,” Vaishnaw said.

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‘AI leadership not determined by building large models’

Vaishnaw emphasised that India’s AI strategy is firmly anchored in real-world deployment and return on investment (ROI) rather than an excessive focus on very large models. He stressed that leadership in AI is not defined solely by building large foundational models.

“Return on investment (ROI) doesn’t come from building large models. 95% of the work is done by models with 20–50 billion parameters. India has already built many such models and is deploying them in various sectors, leading to improved productivity, efficiency, and technology utilisation,” he said.

‘India advancing across all five layers of AI architecture’

The Union Minister said India is advancing across all five layers of AI architecture, the application layer, model layer, chip layer, infrastructure layer, and energy layer.

“India will become the world’s largest service provider at the application layer. Understanding the enterprise’s business and providing services through AI applications will generate the highest ROI. India’s focus is on diffusing AI on a large scale, not just on scale,” Vaishnav said.

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‘India ranks among the top three globally’

Citing a Stanford report, Vaishnav said India ranks among the top three globally in AI penetration, preparedness and talent, and second in AI talent.

He added that India is building a comprehensive semiconductor ecosystem encompassing design, fabrication, packaging, materials and equipment. Global technology firms, including Google, are expanding AI data centres in India and deepening partnerships with Indian startups.

Vaishnav said these developments reflect growing international recognition of India as a trusted AI partner, with the country focusing on the fifth Industrial Revolution, where smaller, cost-effective solutions are expected to deliver higher returns.

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‘India has developed a bouquet of efficient, cost-effective models’

He highlighted that India has already developed a bouquet of such efficient, cost-effective models, which are being deployed across sectors to enhance productivity, efficiency and effective technology use. This approach, focused on offering maximum return at low cost, reflects India’s emphasis on economically sustainable AI deployment.

The panel discussion titled “AI Power Play” was moderated by Ian Bremmer, President of Eurasia Group, also featured Brad Smith, President and Vice Chair of Microsoft, and Khalid Al-Falih, Minister of Investment, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia besides the IMF Managing Director Georgieva and Vaishnaw.