India well positioned to scale globally through AI adoption: Top AI expert at WEF

India appears to be on the right trajectory in artificial intelligence, with the technology offering significant potential for Indian companies to scale to global levels, according to Jack Hidary, CEO of SandboxAQ, PTI reported from the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting.

Hidary leads SandboxAQ, a company that originated as a moonshot research unit within Google’s parent Alphabet Inc in 2016 before being spun off as an independent entity in 2022. The company counts former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, now chairman of SandboxAQ, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and T Rowe Price among its investors, PTI reported.

SandboxAQ derives its name from the concept of a sandbox, a secure live testing environment that allows experimentation without real-world consequences. Now operating as a B2B enterprise, the company focuses on solutions that converge artificial intelligence and quantum technologies to support corporations and governments in areas such as drug discovery, materials science, navigation and cybersecurity.

Speaking to PTI at the World Economic Forum, Hidary outlined his AI or Die thesis, which is also the title of his forthcoming book aimed at highlighting the urgency of AI adoption beyond consumer-facing content creation tools. He stated that companies that adopt AI are positioned to grow, while those that fail to do so risk becoming obsolete.

Hidary described the current period as a major inflection point across industries, stating that AI is no longer a desirable addition but essential for business survival. He informed that AI is already enabling faster drug discovery for diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s, compared with traditional development timelines of around 15 years.

In the energy sector, he stated that companies using AI-powered catalysts to convert oil and gas into new energy products are likely to succeed. Referring to education, Hidary informed that India’s population of around 1.4 billion makes AI adoption critical if the country is to remain globally competitive.

On cybersecurity, which the World Economic Forum has identified as one of the most immediate risks facing India, Hidary stated that cyber security is fundamental to national security at both federal and state levels, particularly as Indian states are larger than many countries. He added that critical infrastructure such as banking, telecommunications and public utilities are potential targets.

Hidary further stated that Indian technology companies including Infosys, Wipro and TCS hold vast amounts of customer data and operate globally, making immediate cybersecurity implementation essential, adding that governments face similar challenges. He informed that while AI brings substantial benefits, it also introduces new vulnerabilities, making AI-driven security solutions necessary, and added that SandboxAQ’s solutions are already being used by banks, companies and governments worldwide, including in the United States.

In the Indian context, Hidary stated that around 80 per cent of the economy operates in the physical world, spanning sectors such as railways, energy, telecom and infrastructure, and that SandboxAQ’s AI solutions are designed to directly impact these areas. He said the company aims to promote the development of intellectual property within India.

Giving examples, he stated that while Indian pharmaceutical companies such as Dr Reddy’s develop new medicines, many firms are largely engaged in manufacturing drugs whose intellectual property is owned elsewhere. He informed that there is an opportunity for a paradigm shift towards creating intellectual property domestically, with SandboxAQ’s AI-driven molecular design software enabling India to transition from an IP consumer to an IP creator.

Hidary identified life sciences as a key sector for transformation and noted that while many AI tools currently focus on creating documents, images and videos in the digital world, SandboxAQ prioritises AI applications grounded in physics, mathematics, chemistry, medicine, materials and catalysts.

He reiterated that since the majority of India’s economy exists in the physical rather than the digital world, SandboxAQ’s work is particularly relevant, and stated that the company aims to support this transformation through collaboration with both industry and governments.