If global tech summits were theatre, then the AI Impact Summit would qualify as a full-scale opening night — bright lights, big promises, a distinguished audience, and... er, just the faintest hint that something backstage may have required a touch of improvisation.

While the spotlights tracked ministers, bureaucrats, investors, and marquee names, something quieter and far more stirring was unfolding in the wings. Founders from towns better known for railway junctions than research labs, engineers who had coded more often under tube lights than studio lights, and small teams with improbable ideas suddenly found themselves presenting to the world. For them, this was not merely a summit — it was a threshold moment.

Here’s a list of the interesting AI start-ups I came across; I have also thrown in a few that my friends and circles on X found interesting.

Agriculture

Agrograde

AI-powered optical sorting and grading machines for fruits and vegetables (such as potatoes and onions) that analyse size, colour, shape and defects in real time to reduce post-harvest losses and improve marketability.

Global potential: Scalable to smallholder farmers in developing countries facing high produce wastage; proven in 12-plus Indian States with partnerships such as Bosch and Nvidia; suitable for export-oriented agricultural markets in Africa and Southeast Asia.

Hanunnotech

AI- and IoT-driven analytics for dairy, agriculture and animal husbandry, including wearable sensors such as the ‘Cow Necklace’ for monitoring vital signs, predicting yield and managing heat stress.

Global potential: Supports food security in dairy-dependent regions like South Asia and Africa; low-power machine learning enables affordable deployment for small farmers globally.

Aalgorix

Precision agriculture AI for yield optimisation, crop monitoring and resource management.

Global potential: Improves productivity for small farmers in climate-vulnerable regions such as South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

Health

BigOHealth

AI-powered health monitoring wearables and platforms for real-time patient data analysis and preventive care.

Global potential: Affordable remote monitoring suited to bridging rural and urban healthcare gaps in developing countries; integrates with telemedicine ecosystems.

A I V E d a

AI platform integrating Vedic wellness principles with modern health insights to provide personalised recommendations and holistic care.

Global potential: Appeals to expanding wellness markets across Asia and diaspora populations; blends traditional knowledge with scalable technology.

Eka Care

Digital health platform with AI tools such as EkaScribe for automating prescriptions, patient histories and records, enabling rural doctors to serve more patients efficiently.

Global potential: Keyboard-free AI scribes can transform primary care in resource-limited health systems, similar to those in India, Africa and Southeast Asia.

Carenow Healthcare

AI-driven patient triage, care coordination and monitoring systems that streamline hospital and clinic workflows.

Global potential: Reduces overload in public health systems; scalable for emerging markets with high patient volumes and limited staff.

Ottobots

Autonomous robots for hospital logistics to deliver medicines and navigate complex environments independently.

Global potential: Reduces staff workload in overstretched healthcare facilities; adaptable to hospitals in emerging economies.

Education

A I Planet

Community-driven AI platforms and tools for education, skill development and collaborative AI building.

Global potential: Expands access to AI learning for students and developers in emerging economies, encouraging grassroots innovation worldwide.

The STEM Practice Company

Interactive AI platforms for STEM education, featuring hands-on simulations and personalised curricula.

Global potential: Addresses educational gaps in under-resourced schools; scalable for global STEM equity initiatives.

Avinyaa EdTech (Kreativespace)

Immersive AI-powered learning experiences and interactive edtech tools designed to increase student engagement.

Global potential: Strengthens digital education outcomes across developing countries with infrastructure constraints.

Sustainability

Clean Water Generator

AI-optimised atmospheric water generation and purification systems using sensors to produce clean water efficiently in water-scarce regions.

Global potential: Highly relevant for arid regions in Africa, West Asia and South Asia; low-energy AI supports global water-access goals.

Mankomb

AI-native kitchen appliance called Chewie, which converts wet waste, including bones and meat, into nutrient-rich soil within hours using real-time sensors.

Global potential: Addresses household waste and soil health in urban and rural environments; promotes circular economy adoption worldwide.

Multilingual access

Bolna AI

Multilingual voice AI for customer engagement, conversational agents and accessibility solutions.

Global potential: Designed for linguistically diverse societies like India and applicable to multilingual regions in Africa and Southeast Asia.

Rootle Voconv

Voice conversion and synthesis technology enabling real-time translation, accessibility tools and multilingual content creation.

Global potential: Reduces language barriers in education, media and customer service; valuable for diverse, low-literacy populations globally.

Awaaz Labs

Voice AI focused on multilingual content generation, speech-to-text and audio processing tools.

Global potential: Enables inclusive digital ecosystems in markets where English is not the dominant language.

Sarvam AI

Full-stack generative AI platform with offline multilingual capabilities, including Kaze smart glasses for real-time visual and audio explanation and translation in local languages.

Global potential: Offline edge AI supports low-connectivity regions; positions India as a leader in population-scale, inclusive AI solutions for the Global South.

Global South use cases

Taiyo.AI

Vertical AI platform for construction and infrastructure, which aggregates global project data for tender analysis, risk intelligence, market forecasting and ESG benchmarking.

Global potential: Enables architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) firms in emerging economies to plan sustainable infrastructure; datasets support urban development across Asia, Africa and Latin America amid rapid urbanisation.

Invincible Ocean

Hybrid blockchain and AI platform for secure, compliant enterprise applications in regulated sectors, with custom models for data-intensive use cases such as mobility and video analytics.

Global potential: Strengthens trust in AI-blockchain deployments for finance, logistics and governance in markets that prioritise transparency and data sovereignty.

Wadhwani AI

Non-profit organisation building AI solutions for social impact, including tools for healthcare diagnostics, education personalisation and agricultural advisory in underserved communities.

Global potential: Open-source models adaptable to low-resource environments worldwide, with demonstrated pilots in education and health across the Global South.

If India is serious about turning moments like this into a movement, the next step is obvious: Take the summit off the usual circuit and into cities where ambition already exists but access does not. And if the occasional flourish of chaos accompanies the expansion, well... that may simply be proof that something genuinely alive is happening.

(Shubho Sengupta is a digital marketer with an analogue past)

More Like This

Published on February 23, 2026