New Delhi, February 19, 2026: Chairperson of HCL Technologies Roshni
Nadar Malhotra on Thursday (February 19) described Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a structural shift rather than a routine technology cycle, emphasising the need for India to lay thrust on Intellectual Property-led value creation.
Speaking at the India AI Impact Summit 2026, Malhotra said AI represents a defining
moment in technological history, comparable to the advent of the printing press and
the Internet.
“Artificial intelligence is no longer something we switch on and switch off. It is with us
at all times. AI is becoming an assistant, a guide, a teacher, sometimes even a
companion,” she said.
Highlighting the speed and scale of AI adoption, Malhotra emphasised that “when
knowledge becomes programmable, industries are redefined rather than merely
evolving.”
“While previous decades were defined by the dial-up modem, mobile ringtones, and
smartphone screens, the present era is shaped by the invisible hum of neural
networks,” she said.
“The competitive edge in the AI era is not computing power. It is clarity of thinking,”
Malhotra said, describing AI as “a mirror” that reflects how responsibly societies
deploy and govern the technology.
“The real question is not what AI can do, but how responsibly we will deploy it, how
inclusively we will scale it, and how wisely we will govern it,” she said.
Calling for a strategic pivot, the HCL Technologies Chairperson outlined three
priorities for India: moving from scale-led growth to IP-led value creation, shifting
from adopting technologies to building them, and treating compute as digital public
infrastructure. “Services scale with effort. IP scales infinitely,” she said.