'India's heartbeat lives in Tier-2, 3 & rural areas'

India's digital economy hinges on small enterprises, farmers, and rural workers in Tier-2, Tier-3, and rural regions, according to Google India's MD Preeti Lobana. Speaking at the ET World Leaders Forum 2026, Lobana emphasized that artificial intelligence should not be confined to large corporations or a select group of users. Instead, it must permeate the "torso and the long tail" of the Indian economy.

She stated that India's core of small enterprises, farmers, and workers are vital to powering the country's $1 trillion digital economy.

Lobana acknowledged that while Google focuses on large enterprises due to their scale, capabilities, and financial resources, the greater opportunity lies in using AI to empower India's broader economic base and ensure its benefits are widely distributed. She stressed that the most critical aspect is widespread AI adoption, benefiting everyone, not just select individuals.

Currently, demand among India's large enterprises is robust, with companies moving from experimentation to actual AI deployment. Google cited Tata Steel as an example of a company deploying 300 specialized AI agents in nine months for applications such as shop-floor safety and invoicing. AI's adoption extends to retail, manufacturing, and financial services.

For AI to translate into a significant economic impact, India requires substantial compute capacity, security protocols, foundational models, application layers, and advanced infrastructure. Lobana highlighted cybersecurity as an area where AI can serve as a "force multiplier." She explained that while a malicious actor needs to succeed only once to breach an individual or enterprise, defenders must be correct all the time to safeguard critical data and users.

Google addresses this challenge through three areas - users, enterprises, and the open web. Their Android platform utilizes AI to prevent billions of potentially harmful outreach attempts, and their enterprise solutions enable secure, disconnected environments for sensitive documents.

As AI infrastructure expands, sovereignty becomes increasingly important for India, according to Lobana. Indian companies and technology infrastructure providers, along with the government's focus on building future AI capabilities through the India AI Mission, are investing in this area. She concluded by emphasizing that the larger challenge is ensuring AI capabilities reach India's broader economic base, not just benefiting a select few.