India’s AI ecosystem is entering a defining decade - marked by impactful solutions, wide diffusion, and a growing ambition to lead the Global South.

When Silicon Meets the Soil: India’s AI Revolution is an annual flagship publication jointly developed by Reliance Foundation, the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) and the United Nations, to be launched in New York during UNGA in September 2026. The publication brings out how AI is being applied to address development challenges across India, bringing together a diverse set of AI initiatives across sectors, institutions and geographies. The focus is not on AI as technology alone, but on how AI is being translated into practical, human-centred solutions that improve access, decision-making, efficiency, inclusion and outcomes.

The publication reflects India's emerging approach to AI for development, where innovation is combined with scale, affordability, inclusion, multilingual access, responsible deployment and human oversight. The initiatives featured demonstrate that AI is increasingly moving beyond experimentation and technology centres to address challenges faced by communities, frontline workers, public institutions and development organisations.