AI Impact Summit: How The AI Revolution Will Reach Rural India

With the AI Impact Summit in full swing in India, panels are providing a critical understanding of who enables AI and how it can be used for the public good.

India’s economy is estimated to gain nearly $450–500 billion in GDP contributions from AI between 2025 and 2030. However, this herculean task will not be achieved if development remains nuclearised in cities. The roadmap to this AI economy lies in the inclusion of students, educators, and schools in rural and border districts.

With over 250 million school-going children and a majority of the nation’s population residing in rural areas, centralising AI classroom policies in metropolitan cities would constrain the potential of AI for rural demographics.

AI is no longer an additional privileged lesson in the classroom, but rather a critical foundational tool that students — both urban and rural alike — must gain literacy in. With over nine million teachers across India, educators form the single largest institutional layer for equitable AI adoption.

In a call for the integration of rural and border districts into the AI ecosystem, a panel comprising Arun Poddar, Director of Operations at Piramal Foundation; Chaula Diwanji, CSR Head at BMC Software; Meenakshi Uberoi, Director of De Pedagogics LLP; and other experts convened to discuss the issue.

The ‘Advancing Rural AI Access and Ethical AI Governance’ panel came together to answer one pertinent question: How do we provide equitable access to AI?

Uberoi noted that the ground reality of rural educators’ needs differs from what policies outline. She said, “We want to know what problems they want to solve. By and large, what we hear are simple problems; they are not the big words in the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020 or NCF. We hear queries such as, ‘I want to engage my classroom’ or ‘I want to explain a complex topic in a very simple manner.’ These small queries are common.”

She emphasised that purpose-driven learning is essential to understanding the actual problems rural educators and students need to be solved.

Using the example of Microsoft Copilot, Uberoi illustrated that AI use extends beyond generating lesson plans or question papers to aligning with the NEP’s focus on learning outcomes. Copilot, she explained, has developed modules preloaded with NCERT learning outcomes. Additionally, these learning outcomes can incorporate regional contextual understanding and adapt to a teacher’s personal style.

She called for a revision in the language of educational policy, arguing that it must be simplified into actionable items.

However, the foundational structure for implementing AI in rural classrooms remains a challenge.

Illustrating this, Poddar argued that in border schools, basic infrastructure — running water, toilets, and even classrooms with four walls — is often missing. In such an environment, adopting AI is a difficult step, though a necessary one.

He stated, “If these rural teachers are given a slight nudge and a helping hand, they will happily take it. They are ready and hungry for this knowledge. If we can tap into these aspects, we will see a lot of positive change in these schools.”

However, the implementation of AI must occur without fear of replacement, positioning it instead as a tool of assistance.

Highlighting the role of responsible CSR, Diwanji stressed that rural projects require careful mapping of local economic needs and conditions. She spoke about how ethical AI can assist in calibrating meaningful outcomes.

“We measure success using certain criteria, such as how many students attended a program. Ethical AI, however, would ask how many female students attended the same program. Thus, ethical AI forces educational systems to ask deeper questions.”

With the strong turnout at the India AI Summit, there is little doubt that AI will shape the future economy. The question remains: will rural communities join India on this AI revolution?