MUMBAI: A high-level roundtable on Artificial Intelligence in education, jointly hosted by Reliance Foundation and Central Square Foundation at Jio Institute, Navi Mumbai, has called for an urgent reimagining of education systems in the AI era. The event served as an official pre-summit dialogue ahead of the India AI Impact Summit 2026.
The discussion brought together more than 50 leaders from philanthropy, academia, EdTech and industry to explore how AI-enabled tools can deliver equitable and measurable learning outcomes at scale. The insights generated will feed into national and global deliberations at the upcoming summit.
Participants emphasised the need for cross-sector collaboration, noting that AI in education must integrate with government systems rather than exist as standalone tools. The focus, they said, must shift from technology adoption alone to real learning impact—particularly in multilingual and low-resource contexts.
Key Themes & Insights
Speakers underscored the importance of:
- aligning AI with learning science
- ensuring equity and inclusion
- prioritising learning outcomes over mere reach
- supporting teachers and parents as central to learning
Delivering the keynote address, Dr. Shailesh Kumar, Chief Data Scientist, Jio and Dean, Jio Institute, said education must be reimagined for a digital- and AI-first world. He stressed the need to move away from “one-size-fits-all” models to personalised, mastery-based learning enabled by AI.
Role of Philanthropy
The roundtable highlighted philanthropy as a crucial catalyst in the AI-EdTech ecosystem—helping to:
- de-risk early innovation
- generate long-term evidence
- build institutional capability
- convene diverse partners
Insights from the LiftEd EdTech Accelerator, which has reached more than three million children, showed how context-driven design and evidence-based approaches can scale quality learning solutions responsibly.
Scaling Up AI for Education
Participants agreed that scaling impactful AI solutions requires system-wide alignment across:
- policy
- pedagogy
- technology infrastructure
- delivery models
They stressed the need for multilingual content, low-bandwidth access, offline compatibility and integration with state curricula, especially for underserved communities.
Looking Ahead
The dialogue reaffirmed that AI should act as a force multiplier for equity, not efficiency alone. The outcomes of the roundtable will contribute to shaping the education agenda at the India AI Impact Summit 2026.
