On Friday, January 23, at 2:30 p.m. ET, the Atlantic Council hosted a conversation, an official pre-summit event of the AI Impact Summit 2026, to map out the next decade of AI skilling and examine how India’s experience can inform pathways to AI fluency across other emerging AI powers.
Global economic growth over the next ten years will be driven by emerging and developing economies, which are home to over 75 percent of the world’s population and an increasing share of global digital innovation. As these economies rapidly deploy AI across governance, healthcare, and industry, the central question is whether their talent ecosystems are prepared.
As New Delhi gears up to host the AI Impact Summit in February 2026, this event explored whether India provides a model for economies build adaptive, future-proof workforces to shape the next era of global AI leadership.
Opening remarks
Tess deBlanc-Knowles
Senior Director, Technology Programs
Atlantic Council
Ajay Kumar
Minister, (Commerce)
Embassy of India
Speakers
Martijn Rasser
Vice President, Technology Leadership Directorate
Special Competitive Studies Project
Nicole Isaac
Vice President, Global Public Policy for Government Affairs
Cisco
Peter Lovelock
Chief Consultancy & Innovation Officer
Access Partnership
Moderated by
Trisha Ray
Associate Director and Resident Fellow, GeoTech Center
Atlantic Council
Agenda
2:30–2:50 p.m. | Opening remarks
Speakers
Tess deBlanc-Knowles
Senior Director, Technology Programs
Atlantic Council
Ajay Kumar
Minister, (Commerce)
Embassy of India
2:55–3:45 p.m. | Panel discussion
Speakers
Martijn Rasser
Vice President, Technology Leadership Directorate
Special Competitive Studies Project
Nicole Isaac
Vice President, Global Public Policy for Government Affairs
Cisco
Peter Lovelock
Chief Consultancy & Innovation Officer
Access Partnership
Moderated by
Trisha Ray
Associate Director and Resident Fellow, GeoTech Center
Atlantic Council
3:45–4:00 p.m. | Q&A
Questions can be submitted through askac.org.
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