Sikka’s Vianai Systems has reduced thousands of lines of AI code to a few dozen.

Ex-Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka believes India can become the Artificial Intelligence (AI) capital of the world. But there’s a big if.

“…if we are able to bring AI education, ability to build AI systems to India at a very large scale, and I’m talking about a billion-plus people, then India can really leapfrog and become the world’s leader in Artificial Intelligence, in AI skill and AI talent,” says Sikka.

Sikka: Education sector is the key

At a NITI Aayog presentation in August Sikka suggested bringing AI education to the masses through countrywide digital classrooms. However, that would require building the infrastructure across educational and other institutions.

AI could be a massive disruptor in India over the next 20-25 years, says Sikka. Automation and job losses would only be the tip of this iceberg.

Instead, India could seize the initiative and turn the disruption into an opportunity by putting together educational programs.

The AI drive could also alleviate the critical shortage of AI-skilled talent in the country.

Ex-Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka and Vianai Systems

Sikka launched Vianai Systems, an educational AI platform that can improve AI’s accessibility to people. The prototype explains AI concepts and allows experimentation.

Sikka has already managed to raise $50 million in seed funding for Vianai.

The objective: A platform that is “completely agnostic, completely open and yet makes it dramatically simpler, and more efficient and more exploratory to build an AI system.”