Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is on India tour. The company is calling it Microsoft AI Tour. Nadella had addressed an event in Bengaluru on January 7 and a similar event was organized by the company in New Delhi today. We were present at the event where the company leader announced its AI efforts in India, its partnerships with Indian companies and its major investments in AI in the country. One of the many announcements was an important partnership that Microsoft announced in collaboration with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), in which the company aims to skill 5,00,000 students and teachers in AI in India by 2026.

Key initiatives under the partnership include not only skilling 500,000 individuals – students, teachers, developers, government officials and women entrepreneurs – by 2026, but also creating an AI accelerator to boost rural AI innovation and support 100,000 AI developers. This also includes the establishment of a Center of AI Excellence named. , and promote community-driven solutions. Additionally, 20 AI Productivity Labs will be set up at National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs) and NIELIT centers in 10 states to train 20,000 teachers in AI fundamentals.

This collaboration will focus on building AI solutions for critical sectors such as healthcare, education, outreach and agriculture tailored to India’s unique challenges. This also includes developing foundational AI models with Indic language support and enabling research through Microsoft Research (MSR) India. Eligible AI startups will receive access to Microsoft’s Founders Hub program, which provides technology, mentorship, and business resources.

At the event, Nadella also reiterated that Microsoft will invest $3 billion in India over the next 2 years. He made this announcement at the Microsoft AI Tour event in Bengaluru on Tuesday.

Additionally, the company has also shared its plans to invest in new data centers to enhance its AI infrastructure. Through its ADVANTA(I)GE India initiative, the company aims to equip 10 million Indians with AI skills by 2030.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella also announced that new data centers opening in India will feature waterless cooling systems and rely on renewable energy, contributing to the company’s goal of being carbon negative by 2030.

AI is clearly a major focus for Microsoft moving forward. During the event, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and company president Punit Chandhok repeatedly called AI the “guardian angel” of the future for consumers. Microsoft envisions a future where consumers will fully embrace AI while developers and companies will rely on Microsoft’s technology to create AI-powered solutions for users.

Nadella sees significant potential for this approach in India. In a separate fireside chat at the event, he highlighted how AI is not only being discussed in India but is also being actively implemented. They believe this leads to a faster pace of spread and impact. According to Nadella, India serves as an ideal base for AI use case study and implementation. He also stressed the need for India to focus on frontier AI work and use it to develop tools that support local languages. “India should take the lead in AI and use it to develop more local language tools,” Nadella said.