India’s AI usage concentrated in tech-heavy states: Anthropic executive Elizabeth Kelly

Anthropic executive Elizabeth Kelly, head of beneficial deployments at the AI firm, said in a panel discussion at the AI Summit 2026 that in India, the use of the technology is concentrated in tech-heavy states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Delhi.

“India ranks second globally in overall Claude usage. However, per capita, it ranks 101st out of 116 countries. Usage is concentrated in tech-heavy states — similar to early mobile internet adoption,” Kelly said on Tuesday.

She was speaking during a panel discussion on ‘AI in work: Humans, AI or both?’, which also featured Shankar Maruwada, cofounder and CEO of EkStep Foundation, and Becky Faith, senior research fellow, foreign, commonwealth, and development office, London.


While the opportunity AI presents is significant, Kelly said the challenge is ensuring the benefits are widely shared, improving health outcomes, closing education gaps, advancing life sciences, and managing workforce transitions responsibly.

“Benefits will only be widely shared if AI fluency and access extends beyond a narrow segment. If adoption remains concentrated, gains will be as well,” she noted.

The panel discussed how AI tools are used to improve the efficiency of teachers in schools by reducing their administrative workload.

EkStep Foundation’s Maruwala said, “AI can remove long-standing barriers of language, access, and device limitations. When these frictions disappear, progress depends largely on individual motivation.”

The panel also discussed how AI could help create jobs instead of replacing human workers.

Asked whether AI-enabled automation could replace hiring, Maruwala said, “I don’t see that happening in India for the next 10–15 years, especially for small businesses. Most cannot heavily invest in automation.”

The India AI Impact Summit 2026 hosted by the union government is taking place between February 16-20. Global tech leaders like Bill Gates, Sundar Pichai, OpenAI's Sam Altman, and Anthropic's Dario Amodei are attending the event, along with policy makers and political leaders.