India's AI Edge: Application Layer, Not Foundation Models, Say Industry Leaders

• India's competitive advantage in AI lies in its application and orchestration layer, not in developing trillion-parameter foundation models.
• Experts advocate for a strategic shift, leveraging India's strengths in cost-effective engineering, systems integration, and diverse market deployment.
• Unlike costly foundation models, AI applications create tangible value for end-users, driving business efficiency and revenue growth.
• India can apply its 'frugal innovation' model, similar to its Mars mission, to build smaller, domain-specific AI models at a fraction of global costs.
• The Indian AI ecosystem is shifting from experimentation to implementation, with SMEs and a people-centric approach driving widespread adoption.