THEBUSINESSBYTES BUREAU

MUMBAI, JANUARY 13, 2026

As Artificial Intelligence rapidly reshapes global industries, India’s education ecosystem must undergo a fundamental reset to remain future-ready, industry leaders and policymakers asserted at a high-level AI in Education dialogue hosted by Reliance Foundation in partnership with Central Square Foundation. Held at Jio Institute, Navi Mumbai, the roundtable served as an official pre-summit event of the India AI Impact Summit 2026 and brought together over 50 leaders from philanthropy, EdTech, academia and the private sector.

The half-day deliberations focused on how AI-enabled education technologies can move beyond innovation pilots to deliver measurable, inclusive and scalable learning outcomes. Participants emphasised that while AI is transforming classrooms worldwide, better technology alone does not guarantee better learning. Instead, the dialogue stressed the need for deep collaboration between governments, businesses, innovators and funders to integrate AI meaningfully into education systems at scale, particularly in low-resource and multilingual environments.

Setting the tone, Dr Shailesh Kumar, Chief Data Scientist at Jio and Dean of Jio Institute, highlighted the urgency of reimagining education for a digital- and AI-first world. He called for a decisive shift away from one-size-fits-all education models towards personalised, student-centric learning systems that build mastery and critical thinking skills. Emphasising AI’s transformative potential, he noted that personalised education at scale is no longer aspirational but achievable.

Discussions explored emerging business and innovation opportunities across personalised instruction, teacher support, assessment and early childhood learning. Experts also examined the operational realities of scaling AI in education, including cost structures, multilingual content development, data infrastructure, and adoption within government and community-based systems.

A key business insight from the dialogue was the catalytic role of philanthropy in shaping sustainable AI and EdTech markets. Participants underscored that philanthropy’s value extends beyond funding innovation to de-risking early-stage solutions, generating long-term evidence and strengthening organisational capacity. The LiftEd EdTech Accelerator was cited as a successful example of this approach, having reached over three million children through sustained, evidence-led support. Backed by leading philanthropic institutions including Reliance Foundation, the initiative demonstrated how responsible AI integration can deliver credible learning impact at scale.

Dr Vanita Sharma, Advisor – Strategic Initiatives at Reliance Foundation, highlighted that building AI-driven education solutions requires deep understanding of classroom and community realities. She noted that contextualised design and evidence-based implementation are essential to ensure technology translates into meaningful learning outcomes.

The dialogue also addressed the next growth phase for the EdTech sector — system-wide scale. Participants agreed that scaling proven solutions is a complex systems challenge requiring alignment across policy, pedagogy, delivery models and ecosystem partnerships. Designing for India’s diversity, including shared-device usage, low-bandwidth access and alignment with state curricula, was identified as critical for long-term success.

Gouri Gupta, Senior Project Director, EdTech at Central Square Foundation, remarked that the future of the sector lies not merely in innovation, but in embedding effective solutions within government systems and community adoption frameworks to drive outcomes at scale.

As the discussions concluded, a clear consensus emerged: AI and EdTech must function as force multipliers for equity, not just efficiency. Teachers and parents, participants reiterated, remain central to the learning process, with AI acting as a powerful enabler through personalisation, feedback and data-driven insights.

With India positioning itself as a global hub for AI-led social impact, the insights from this dialogue are expected to shape policy and investment conversations at the India AI Impact Summit 2026, signalling a pivotal moment for the business of learning in the AI era.