'AI For All' Capability Builder: Amitabh Nag, CEO, Bhashini A key turning point in his leadership was deciding to take Bhashini's research and offerings to the market

The technology industry comes with its own set of challenges as well as eureka moments. Largely, AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) are in the English language, sidelining 96.71 per cent of the Indian language-speaking population. Recognizing the gap for local LLMs, Amitabh Nag, CEO, Bhashini is making the internet and digital services accessible in Indian languages.

Bhashini, an initiative by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and Digital India Corporation (DIC), is working towards empowering developers to build Indic language models using open-source resources to streamline the communication between two or more Indian languages.

Its 'BhashaDaan' initiative crowdsources language inputs to create an open repository to engage citizens through Bolo India, Likho India, and Suno India. Nag acknowledges evaluating one's stance and outlook as and when needed. "I am consultative in my leadership approach and I have evolved into this over a period of time. Perhaps I was a bit authoritarian earlier. But now it is a situation where I have started picking up people's views before deciding."

A key turning point in his leadership was deciding to take Bhashini's research and offerings to the market. "The world of AI improves only by usage. And if you wait for things to mature or completely become error-free, perhaps you would miss the bus," said the seasoned tech leader. This decision paid off with the market embracing Bhashini. One of its powered innovations is the SignAssistive, an app designed to support seamless communication and access to information for the Deaf community.

Looking ahead, Nag aims to strengthen Bhashini's foundations, accelerate time to market, focus on Research and Development (R&D), and explore new opportunities in the next five years.