Transform - Siemens Innovation Day 2026 demystifies industrial AI for Viksit Bharat

The morning after India’s T20 squad notched a thrilling win over England in the T20 World Cup semi-final on March 5, nearly 400 CXOs gathered at Fairmont Mumbai. Echoing the triumph of the glorious win, at the sixth Transform - Siemens India Innovation Day, leaders made a case for a practical and visionary economic future, unpacking how industrial artificial intelligence (AI) can fuel the nation’s $30-trillion Viksit-Bharat ambition by 2047.

Indu Sharma, Vice President of Communications at Siemens Limited, set the tone: “Believe me, whatever energy you throw in, we will throw it back at you.” She framed the day as a deep dive into industrial AI’s real-world pivot, transitioning from textbook concepts to business realities, featuring a keynote by CTO Dr Peter Koerte, expert sessions by Dr Dirk Didascalou, Head of Foundational Technologies at Siemens AG, Dr Kolja Zakrzewski, Head of Electronics & Semiconductors at Siemens AG, and Robert H.K. Demann, Head of Smart Infrastructure, Siemens Limited, on future technologies, plus vertical spotlights on AI factories, simulations, and infrastructure, all supported by live exhibits.

A VUCA world now amplified
Sunil Mathur, MD and CEO of Siemens Limited, recalled how six years ago, at Transform’s launch, discussions on manufacturing, infrastructure, and mobility flowed against the backdrop of a “nascent VUCA world”. A few years ago, the conversations at each edition of Transform centred on manufacturing, infrastructure, and mobility, and on India’s need to move up the value curve to realise the ambitions outlined for the country. “Technology was a critical component at that point in time, but in the last six years, a lot has changed,” Mathur said.


While leaders often spoke about operating in a VUCA world, Mathur noted, the last few years have made that reality unmistakably clear. At the same time, in the last couple of years, AI has become real in the industrial manufacturing space, across the infrastructure, and in our day-to-day lives. “So effectively, the world has changed at a pace that it has never changed before in the last five to six years,” Mathur said.

India, a “stable oasis”, grows amid global volatility
Against this backdrop, Mathur affirmed that India stands as a “stable oasis” with 7-7.5% gross domestic product (GDP) growth, explaining that few nations worldwide have sustained this growth rate over the past five years like India.

“When you look at the developments that India has done, primarily first in the area of infrastructure, but also moving into the area of manufacturing, we have, for example, in the last seven years, electrified 37,000 kilometres of rail network. That is equivalent to the entire network of Germany,” remarked Mathur.

He listed the key advances the nation has made, spanning infrastructure, such as electrifying 37,000 km of rail in seven years, rivalling Germany’s full network, and hailed India’s manufacturing momentum, while praising its renewable energy leap from under 50GW to nearly 250GW, with AI-led connectivity soaring and India likely to be the globe’s cheapest compute power.

“We’re looking at AI and connectivity reaching a completely different level. We’re probably the lowest cost in terms of compute power in the world right now,” he added.

Together, these leaps signal the promises to deliver on the vision of the Viksit Bharat mission, to achieve 8-10% annual growth for a $30-trillion economy.

Performance in the past five years
Unlike past announcements, Mathur noted, the past five years have marked real delivery on these initiatives. Mathur spotlighted four Viksit Bharat growth levers: innovation via R&D spend rising from 0.6% to 3% of GDP (a developed-economy baseline for manufacturing/infrastructure leadership); AI-driven data centers scaling from 1.5GW to over 8GW; aviation surging with 70 airports launched in the past 10 years and 50 more planned, equating to 1-2 openings biweekly for enhanced logistics; and industrial corridors growing from 4 to 11 for efficiency, logistics, and massive capex infusion.

Sustainability emerged as another central theme as Mathur spotlighted its significance, along the lines of COP26’s 500GW non-fossil pledge at the 2021 Glasgow commitment, with 250-300GW renewables already online, targeting 500-700GW. These developments are projected to double generation and transmission in five-to-seven years for grid stability amid intermittency, per National Electricity Plan goals. The National Green Hydrogen Mission 2023, pegged at Rs 19,744 crore, complements this leap through 5MMT annual production by 2030, decarbonising steel and fertilisers through renewable electrolysis, key for capex without emissions spikes.

Businesses must pull levers for productivity, volatility-proof flexibility, expected quality, scalable sustainability, and security, juggling customer demands via tech alone. As the day progressed, industrial AI, digital twins, autonomous buildings, digital substations, and advanced grids, alongside secure platforms, emerged as the cornerstone of new technologies.

Koerte’s keynote: Data powers industrial AI
Dr Peter Koerte, Member of the Managing Board, Chief Technology Officer & Chief Strategy Officer, Siemens AG, opened the keynote amid cheers on the ‘men in blue’ winning a close semi-final over England at the T20 World Cup: “I was rooting for you!” Koerte proclaimed, followed by a prescient “You will have a good day on Sunday!”

He traced the evolution from digital trends to metaverse to industrial AI, addressing physical realms, spanning mobility (trains vital in India), factories, life sciences, semiconductors, grids, and buildings, amid India’s rare 7% GDP growth.

Data is AI’s lifeblood: 20 billion smart devices yield terabytes hourly, with 80% remaining unused today, fuelling connected gear, edge intelligence, digital twins, and real-time simulations. Dr Koerte emphasised, “AI without data is nothing”.

Dr Koerte cited the examples of Audi spot-welding via cameras on the industrial edge for accuracy and cost savings through software-defined automation; water utilities halving 60% leak losses with 100m-radius sensor detection; Comfort AI cutting buildings’ 30% global energy draw, where 90% time is spent.

India stands uniquely poised to reap competitiveness, resilience, and sustainability gains from this revolution.

Industrial simulation spotlight
Following the keynote, Dr Dirk Didascalou took the stage for the first expert session, delving into industrial simulation’s role in predictive operations, building upon Dr Koerte’s data emphasis to share actionable foresight.
Dr Didascalou stressed real-time modelling to cut factory downtime by preempting failures, tying into India’s manufacturing capex surge, echoing Dr Koerte’s future projection of “everything you’re going to see from Siemens... will be somehow connected... build digital twins”.

Future tech horizons
Dr Kolja and Robert HK Demann co-presented on emerging frontiers such as AI-driven factories and next-gen infrastructure.

While Dr Kolja highlighted vertical integrations for tomorrow’s manufacturing, Robert Demann spoke on the necessity for secure platforms. Their session mapped industrial AI to Viksit Bharat scale needs, with ecosystem demos from NVIDIA partners and Adani Technologies customers.

Their sessions progressed to sector-specific applications, with AI in mobility echoing India’s rail electrification bid from Mathur’s session earlier in the day, life sciences for semiconductors, and intelligent infrastructure such as digital substations.
Mathur set the context earlier: “Industrial AI technologies, digital twins, autonomous buildings, next-level grids... you’ll see it in action here.”

Closing momentum
Sharma wrapped with high energy, reiterating Transform – Innovation Day’s evolution: “AI, which was a textbook word... has become a reality for businesses.” From exhibits allowing hands-on exploration to keynotes and deep dives blending policy ambition with tech demos for India’s sustainability, Siemens’ Transform – Innovation Day 2026 outlined the blueprint for India’s AI-powered growth path.