Artificial intelligence is forcing a structural rethink of India’s technology growth model, with HCL Technologies chairperson Roshni Nadar Malhotra on Thursday calling for a decisive transition from services-led expansion to intellectual property creation to remain globally competitive.
Addressing the AI Impact Summit 2026, Malhotra said the next phase of economic value creation will depend on ownership of platforms, products and models rather than scale-driven delivery services that defined India’s IT rise over decades, PTI reported.
“India must move from being a tech services-led nation to an IP-led nation; services scale with effort. IP scales infinitely,” she said.
She noted that companies deploying technology alone would struggle to capture long-term value as artificial intelligence restructures global business economics.
“In the AI economy, value accrues to those who build and own platforms, models and products, not just those who deploy them. That shift is not only economic, it is transformative,” she added.
Malhotra said AI presents a dual impact — lowering operational costs through automation while simultaneously opening new markets and opportunities – making strategic repositioning essential for both companies and nations.
Outlining priorities for India, she said leadership in the AI economy would require three shifts: moving from scale to IP creation, transitioning from adoption to innovation, and building a national AI infrastructure capable of democratising access to computing power.
“Compute can unlock innovation across startups, universities, enterprises and institutions. When compute is accessible, innovation decentralizes.
When innovation decentralizes, IP multiplies. That is how an IP nation is built — not by one champion, but by an ecosystem but ambition without purpose is incomplete,” she said.
Describing AI as a broader leadership moment rather than merely a technological transition, Malhotra said every industrial revolution reshapes human roles, and artificial intelligence raises questions about what responsibilities should remain uniquely human as machines increasingly handle analytical and predictive tasks.
She added that HCL Tech is itself adapting to this transformation by moving away from a traditional people-centric delivery framework towards a combined system of software products, intelligent agents and human expertise.
“We are evolving from a people-centric delivery model to an integrated system of software products, intelligent agents and human expertise, delivering outcomes at scale. This is more than just a business shift.
It reflects a broader national ambition to build intellectual property that creates enduring, compounding value,” the chairperson said.
Highlighting governance risks, Malhotra warned that unchecked technological acceleration could erode trust, stressing that AI must develop alongside responsible oversight.
She compared AI’s disruptive impact to a power hitter in T20 cricket, saying outcomes depend on how strategically leaders respond to change.
“AI will define this decade, but what the world would remember for centuries is the leadership who shaped it responsibly, wisely and with clarity,” she added.
