Bengaluru: The Third India–France AI Policy Roundtable was held today at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, bringing together top policymakers, technologists, and industry leaders from both nations to advance collaboration on artificial intelligence (AI) policy, innovation, and governance.
The event was organised jointly by the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (OPSA) to the Government of India, the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), and the Consulate General of France in Bengaluru as part of the pre-summit activities for the AI Impact Summit 2026, to be hosted by India.
The roundtable continued the Track 1.5 dialogue series on AI policy cooperation between India and France, building on earlier sessions held in Bengaluru and Paris this year. Discussions focused on AI infrastructure development, industrial partnerships, research collaboration, and responsible AI governance, in line with both nations’ shared vision of equitable access to AI resources and inclusive innovation.
The session was co-chaired by Her Excellency Ms. Anne Bouverot, Special Envoy of the President of France for Artificial Intelligence, and Shri Amit A. Shukla, Joint Secretary, Cyber Diplomacy Division, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. Both leaders underscored the need to strengthen bilateral cooperation in emerging technologies to ensure human-centric and sustainable AI development.
Highlighting India’s expanding AI ecosystem, the discussions noted its strong foundation in digital public infrastructure, a growing startup network, and robust academic and research institutions, which collectively present a scalable platform for co-innovation with French partners. The French delegation reaffirmed its commitment to advancing responsible and ethical AI practices and deepening industrial collaboration to enhance AI resource sharing and compute capacity.
The session was co-moderated by Professor Chiranjib Bhattacharyya from IISc’s Department of Computer Science and Automation and Professor Francis Rousseaux from ETI Expertise France and iSPIRT Foundation.
The roundtable saw participation from senior representatives of government, academia, and industry, including Dr. Preeti Banzal (OPSA), Mr. Marc Lamy (Consul General of France, Bengaluru), Ms. Kavita Bhatia (MeitY), Mr. Emilien Coquard (The Scalers), Mr. Ankush Sabharwal (CoRover & BharatGPT), Mr. Alexandre Correia (Sopra Steria, French Tech India), Mr. Rajgopal A. S. (NxtGen Cloud Technologies), Mr. Ashish Tewari (Infosys), Dr. Jyoti Joshi (Kroop.ai), and several other experts and officials from both countries.
The outcomes of the deliberations will inform policy recommendations and collaborative frameworks for the AI Impact Summit 2026 and contribute to initiatives under the India–France Year of Innovation 2026, aimed at fostering joint innovation, ethical governance, and equitable access to emerging AI technologies.
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