AI Summit India 2026: what concrete opportunities for European tech companies?
In February 2025, France hosted the Summit for Action on AI, co-chaired by President Emmanuel Macron and Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India. A diplomatic highlight designed to lay the foundations for ethical, inclusive and sovereign artificial intelligence.
One year on, the momentum continues, but the center of gravity is shifting. On February 19 and 20, 2026, India will host the AI World Summit in New Delhi. A strong signal, both political and economic, which is part of the Franco-Indian Year of Innovation and confirms India’s growing place in the global geography of tech.
For Mike Fedida, Numeum’s Director of Membership and Marketing, the AI Summit in India comes at “a very opportune time” to provide European companies with key insights into the Indian market and its development prospects.
India, now a key digital market
The first finding shared during a webinar organized by Numeum and Business France was that India can no longer be reduced to a mere reservoir of IT talent. With a population of 1.46 billion, GDP growth of between 6% and 7% per year, and a digital economy estimated to exceed $1,000 billion by 2030, India is now the world’s fourth largest economy.
It also ranks third worldwide in terms of the digitalization of its economy, buoyed by nearly 880 million Internet users and massive adoption of digital payments. In the field of artificial intelligence, the trajectory is just as clear. India is now the world’s third most competitive country in AI, behind the USA and China.
“AI has become a national strategic priority in India. The market is progressing very rapidly, with uses already concrete in several key sectors,” sums up Marc Vial-Montpellier, head of Business France’s Industry & Tech cluster in India.
Already mature in several sectors
Far from being a mere announcement, AI is already widely deployed in the Indian economy.
Adoption rates exceed the global average of around 30%, particularly in financial services, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, public services and smart cities.
For European companies, this reality changes the nature of opportunities. It’s no longer just a question of producing or subcontracting in India, but of selling, co-developing and accessing a domestic market in high demand. Alexandre Correia, India Director at Sopra Steria, reports from Bangalore. “The level of technological maturity has risen sharply in recent years. This enables us not only to deliver value, but also to address a local market undergoing rapid transformation.”
This evolution is particularly visible in the Global Capability Centers. Long confined to IT functions, these centers have become strategic hubs integrating R&D, innovation and AI laboratories. India is now home to over 1,700 of them, making it the world’s leading destination for this type of structure. ” These centers are no longer simply service centers, but true innovation platforms,” emphasizes Marc Vial-Montpellier.
2026, a political and business opportunity to seize
The AI Summit in India is part of a high-level diplomatic sequence. The expected French presidential visit to New Delhi, the setting up of a French Pavilion and the inclusion of the summit in the Franco-Indian Year of Innovation offer exceptional visibility for French and European digital companies.
However, the challenge is not limited to presence. Experience shows that accessing the Indian market requires method, preparation and support. The webinar also addressed the intercultural dimension, an integral part of preparing for development in India. ” In India, the relationship very often precedes the transaction,” recalls Clara Dartier, communications development manager at Business France India. “Small talk, hierarchy and the time given over to negotiation are structuring elements that need to be integrated from the outset”, she continues. Identifying the real decision-makers, accepting the long view, setting limits without rigidity and maintaining the relationship over the long term are all prerequisites for making a lasting mark on the market.
What’s next?
For digital companies, the AI Summit India 2026 represents a strategic entry point into a rapidly structuring market, in a key year for Franco-Indian relations.
With this in mind, Numeum is looking into the possibility of rapidly setting up a delegation of around ten members, with a planned three- to four-day trip to New Delhi. The aim is to enable participating companies to benefit, thanks to Business France, from collective meetings with key Indian accounts, sector counterparts such as NASSCOM, as well as institutional representatives, while taking part in the official AI Summit.
Christophe Depeux, Vice-President of ip-label’s International Business Development and Chairman of Numeum’s International Community, comments: “India is fast becoming one of the world’s epicenters of artificial intelligence, both in terms of the depth of its talent and the speed of technology adoption. For European tech companies, this summit is not just a showcase, it’s a concrete opportunity to forge industrial, commercial and technological partnerships. By structuring a Numeum delegation, we want to enable our members to approach this market with method, credibility and ambition”.
Interested members are invited to come forward so that Numeum can evaluate the constitution of this delegation and specify the terms and conditions. They can contact Mike Fedida directly at mfedida@numeum.fr.
