Want India to set example of how to use AI for social development: Sunil Wadhwani

India is at a risk of being left behind in the AI race if it does not rapidly start developing a very robust research and education ecosystem in AI and data science, Sunil Wadhwani, cofounder of IGATE and Mastech Digital told ET on Tuesday.

He said this after signing an MoU with Professor V Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras for an endowment of Rs 110 crore from Sunil Wadhwani towards setting up the Wadhwani School of Data Science and AI at the institute.

Wadhwani, who is an alumnus of the institute, added that India can be the global leader in showing how to use AI for social development. "We want India to set the example of how to use AI for social development, and IIT Madras will be a key part of that," he said.


"Our department at IIT Madras, will be one of the largest AI departments anywhere in the country and will have 15 full time faculty and about double the support faculty," he explained. "Within two or three years we expect it to double in size and within a year or two after that, we expect to see it triple in size."

The School will offer courses like BTech, MTech, MS and PhD Programmes as well as Joint MSc with the University of Birmingham, UK. Admissions will commence in July 2024.