• La French Tech India AI Summit 2025 held in Bangalore, with over 250 leaders from India and France, focused on fostering AI collaboration for societal good and ethical development.
• Speakers included Clara Chappaz (Minister of State for Digital Affairs, France) and Ajay Krishnan (Vice President, Karnataka Digital Economy Mission), who discussed AI's potential in solving real-world problems through international cooperation.
• The summit emphasized AI's role in shaping human-centric solutions, featuring panels on trust, regulation, and the role of media in framing AI narratives.

The La French Tech India AI Summit 2025, organized in Bangalore, convened more than 250 government, industry, startup, and academic leaders from India and France to explore and exchange common approaches to artificial intelligence (AI). Hosted by La French Tech India in association with IFCCI, Business France, the Consulate General of France in Bangalore, and CCEF, the event brought to focus increased cooperation between the two countries as preparations gain momentum for the India-France Year of Innovation 2026. The summit focused on inclusive AI development, technology for the common good, and international cooperation.

The conference began with a video address from Clara Chappaz, Minister of State for Digital Affairs in France, who was followed by Marc Lamy, Consul General of France in Bengaluru, and Ajay Krishnan, Vice President, Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM). They collectively laid the background for the event on AI for the benefit of society as a whole.

The event highlighted how France's deep tech strengths, advanced research, and ethical regulation of AI can pair with India's large digital infrastructure, scale, and pool of talent to create a new AI development model for the world. Sharad Sharma, Co-founder of iSPIRT, gave the keynote speech, inviting India and France to drive AI development that meets both technological advancement with global and local responsibilities.

This was followed by a panel discussion with key experts like Dr Gaurav Aggarwal from Jio Reliance, Partha Rao, CEO and Co-founder of Prints.AI, Amit Pingle from Michelin Innovation Lab, and Umakant Soni from AI Foundry. The panel discussed how the two nations can work together on scalable AI solutions that solve actual issues. 

The latter part of the summit concentrated on the ethics of AI. Hari Subramanian, NitiAI and iSPIRT Fellow, spoke about essential principles for establishing public trust in new technologies. Mehak Kasbekar from Brut India also delivered a keynote on the media's role in framing AI storytelling. A panel discussion was led by Rajesh Desai of Lyra India, discussing how AI systems can be developed with human values and safeguard the interests of society. Panelists included Olivier Flous from Thales, Astha Kapoor from Aapti Institute, Shiv Kumar DVS from OVH, and Sachin Kumar, VP of AI Solutions at QpiAi.

Souad Tenfiche, CEO of Link Innovations and Co-Chair of La French Tech India, remarked, “AI is set to define the future. The crucial question is: who shapes AI? India and France are moving together to provide a response rooted in openness, trust, and the public good. This summit reflects our shared commitment to ensuring that AI serves human rights and world challenges. To French businesses creating meaningful AI solutions, India is not only a market it's a strategic growth partner.

Charlotte de Beauregard, Director, Capgemini, and Co-Chair, La French Tech India, further added, "Today's technology leadership is all about developing new solutions and steering their appropriate use. During this summit, we witnessed a common vision from both France and India to develop AI systems that would embody shared values and pragmatic requirements". La French Tech wants to link the French and Indian tech ecosystems together, making this vision a reality in terms of collaborative projects that enable individuals, foster enterprises, and enable AI to develop in a manner that is good for society".

The meeting concluded on a vow to increase India-France collaboration in innovation and technology. With AI being the driver of the next stage of digital transformation globally, the meeting underscored the immense value in creating frameworks that are pragmatic as well as centered on human-centric solutions. The collaborations and discussions from the meeting are projected to further inform future bilateral efforts and policy discourses.

Now positioned as the third country in the world for AI research and training, France boasts more than 1,000 AI startups as well as global leaders such as Mistral AI, Hugging Face, and Dataiku. The summit further establishes India and France as pivotal designers of a new model for AI that focuses on openness, ethics, and scalability.

La French Tech India is the official French Tech community in India, which was established in 2019. It bridges more than 600 members, such as startups, investors, and technology professionals, via events, lobbying, and cross-country collaboration. A member of the La French Tech International Communities, La French Tech India works on encouraging France's innovation ecosystem internationally, facilitating the international development of French startups, and enhancing links between French and local tech stakeholders. With the support of French embassies, consulates, and institutional partners, La French Tech India builds meaningful events and initiatives to promote innovation and collaboration.

Read More News :

India's AI Preparedness Under Review as MeitY, UNESCO Launch Assessment

India Set to Lead Global AI Race: OpenAI's Jason Kwon