Use AI for transformation, says IBM research VP Sriram Raghavan

CHENNAI: Sriram Raghavan, vice president at IBM Research for AI, urged businesses and governments to treat artificial intelligence not as a tech experiment but as a full-scale transformation effort. Speaking at the “Demystifying the AI Revolution” seminar organised by the Chennai International Centre, Raghavan outlined key challenges and opportunities in India’s AI journey.

When questioned, is India’s AI future being misunderstood as a tech add-on? Raghavan said, “Don’t treat AI like a toy or a side pilot. You must approach it as a business transformation.” He noted that many AI deployments stall because organisations fail to integrate them meaningfully into their core strategy.

He added that AI systems, especially generative models, do not possess a “world model.” “AI doesn’t know what is right or wrong. It just knows what is likely,” he said, warning against blind trust in outputs without oversight.

On regulations to keep pace with AI’s growth, he said, “Regulation is not a question of if, but how,” and stressed that India must develop its governance frameworks. “Copying EU or US models won’t work. Our approach must reflect Indian priorities and risks,” he added.

He said domain-specific guardrails, especially in healthcare, finance, and education, are critical in building trustworthy AI systems. He flagged risks around fairness, authorship, and accountability in automated systems, especially with the growing use in citizen services.

Raghavan further noted that there’s a real risk of data gaps reinforcing disparities. AI systems trained on skewed or incomplete data can worsen exclusion, especially for underserved communities and low-resource languages, he said, adding that disparity will worsen if we don’t course-correct.

According to him, this is where the public sector must lead with deep domain insight and inclusive data-building efforts. “It’s not about flashy chatbot projects. It’s about applying AI meaningfully to climate, agriculture, and health,” he said.

As guidance to students and professionals, he said, “Don’t chase trends. Prompt engineers will come and go.” Raghavan urged students to build deep expertise in a domain of their choice, from law to healthcare to climate, and then explore how AI can augment that space.

“Extreme specialists are always in danger. Learn broadly, but don’t skip depth,” he advised.