The digital sector is already vital to driving our economic growth, improving governance, and solving societal challenges: Jeet Adani

At the IIT Bombay Techfest, Jeet Adani (Director, Adani Airport Holdings Ltd.) said, Thank you for inviting me. I am thrilled to be here at one of India’s most reputed tech  institutions, in the company of some of the brightest young minds in the country,  young minds that will shape both technology and its uses in the years ahead. 

IIT Bombay has given the world some of the finest minds across industries – from  Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, the late Manohar Parrikar, ISRO Chairman Dr  K Sivan, computer scientists Pranav Mistry and Sarita Adve, Bhavish Aggarwal of Ola,  former CEO of Twitter Parag Agrawal to the late physicist Dr Rohini Godbole who  championed the cause of women in science and technology. 

Looking at the range of your illustrious alumni, I wonder: how would you accurately  define technology? What exactly do you mean by technology?  

The general understanding today is that technology is the application of scientific  knowledge and tools to solve problems and improve processes. Even our new  intelligent friends – ChatGPT, Gemini and Grok – will tell you pretty much the same. 

But is that really how you would define it? Does technology really have an exact  meaning, especially when it means so many different things to so many different  people? For instance, how an aerospace engineer or an accountant or a cricket coach  looks at technology will be quite different from what technology means to a farmer or  a bitcoin miner or a student.  

So, as students of technology at one of the world’s top institutions, how would you  define or view technology? 

I don’t know what the essence of technology is to each one of you – but I can tell you  what I think: I see technology as the way forward – the only way forward.  

Today, living without technology is like standing still while the rest of the world zooms  past you. Barely a week ago, Google unveiled a new quantum computing chip called  Willow – and it is incredibly powerful. In fact, its computational architecture is more  advanced and, also, more powerful than anything we know or have seen in the world  of computing. Sundar Pichai said it took under five minutes to solve a complex  mathematical problem that would take a leading supercomputer over 10^25 years, or  ten septillion years, which he said is far beyond the age of the universe. With all  respect,I think this calculation is a massive understatement.In fact, 10 septillion years  is about 725 trillion times the age of the universe, which is only 13.8 billion years. 

What is incredible here is not the breakthrough itself. It is what you can do with that  kind of power. Google said that the new quantum chip can reduce errors exponentially,  a problem the world has been trying to crack for 30 years. This newfound computing  power opens up a new frontier in calculation-heavy areas – like drug discovery, fusion  energy and battery design – as well as in the scientific simulation of complex  equations, like weapons design and weather forecasting. In other words, you can put  it to good use or bad use – the choice is yours.  

In sector after sector, technology is driving progress and transforming the world at an  unprecedented pace, improving lives across geographies. In healthcare,  breakthroughs in AI and telemedicine are enabling earlier and more accurate  diagnoses and, also, better access to care, while renewable energy technologies are  revolutionising the fight against climate change by making clean energy more efficient  and affordable. Education is being democratised with digital learning platforms  breaking barriers of distance and cost, and in agriculture, precision farming tools are  boosting yields while conserving resources. These advancements through the beneficial use of technology, coupled with the rise of connected devices and data driven solutions, are shaping a more inclusive and sustainable society. 

On a lighter note, the likes of ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini are helping to settle  arguments much faster and in a conclusive manner, as compared to earlier when you  had to embark on a long-winded internet search. 

Across the world, governments, companies, groups and people are already leveraging  technology for the greater good – by committing fully to the beneficial use of  technology. Estonia is an example of digital governance, making governance more  efficient and transparent. It introduced i-voting in 2005 as part of a drive to push e government and digital services at all levels of society, meaning you can open a bank  account, sign documents, file taxes or even get a prescription – all of it online, never  having to go anywhere in person. Singapore has implemented cutting-edge smart city  technologies, using data to optimize traffic, energy usage and healthcare, while  improving overall urban living. South Korea’s investment in 5G networks and AI driven innovations is shaping a future where citizens benefit from high-speed internet,  automated services and personalized healthcare solutions. 

India too is in overdrive in many sectors. UPI, which we are all familiar with, is such a  hit that other nations are coming to us asking for our advice. India does about 180  billion cashless transactions a year – and this is a far bigger number than every advanced economy out there, whether it is the US or the UK or Singapore or any of the  developed countries in Europe. 

For a developing nation like ours, harnessing the power of technology is crucial to  driving inclusive growth, improving governance and tackling the long-standing  challenges in areas like education, healthcare and financial inclusion, ensuring that  technology benefits all segments of society. India has already made significant strides  in digital services with initiatives like Digital India, which promotes internet  connectivity, online services and digital literacy across the country – and these  achievements are all rooted in the beneficial use of technology. 

Last Thursday, Indian prodigy Gukesh Dommaraju became the youngest-ever world  champion in classical chess. Like him, several young Indian grandmasters have been  wowing the chess world with their moves. Names like R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun  Erigaisi and Vidit Gujarati are now known to the whole world. When Praggnanandhaa  visited us earlier this year, he told my father how technology was transforming the  analytical depth of the game. He said that it was getting harder and harder to beat top ranked foreign players. When my father asked him why, Pragg said they are using very  expensive, custom-built computers in their match preparations – and these are  extremely powerful machines built with hundreds of cores and stacks of GPUs to run  super-strong chess engines like Stockfish and Leela. My father told him: “You too  should have it. Take advantage of technology. Don’t wait.” 

This advice is something I get a lot from my father and the elders in my family. There  is a reason why they talk to me when it comes to technology – and that’s because one  of the things I manage for the Adani Group is ‘all things digital’.  

I will readily admit that, at Adani, our digital transformation did not keep pace with  our business transformation. The good news is that we are now catching up – and,  today, whatever we do in whichever industry, we place digital first.  

Our insistence of taking advantage of technology is paying off really well. Let me give  you a few examples of the beneficial use of technology.  

In the ports and logistics sector, where we are one of the world’s largest players, we  use simulation-based training for complex roles – like crane operators and wharf  checkers – to exponentially enhance workplace safety and operational efficiency.  

In the airports sector, where we manage seven international airports and are building  a new international airport in Navi Mumbai, we have placed our bets on technology to  help us plan better and also improve operational efficiency all around.  

• Digital first airports: revolutionising air travel in India by efficiently and securely  managing complex airport operations.
• Focussed on improving the travel experience in full compliance with privacy  regulations. 
• DigiYatra, self-baggage-drop and eGates are just some of the technologies that  passengers experience. 
• Rolled out ‘aviio’ – an app that will enhance passenger journeys by making the  right information available to the right people at the right time for improved  situational awareness and informed decision making by airport stakeholders.  • Adani One is for enhancing the passengers’ experience.  

Let me give you one example from the energy sector too.  

In 2016, we completed the 648 MW Kamuthi solar plant in Tamil Nadu – and it was  then the world’s largest single-site solar power project. It was built in a record time of  just 8 months. That means we were adding around 2.7 MW every day! Today, we are  building another renewable energy plant – in Khavda, in western Gujarat. If you  thought Kamuthi was big, this is super-massive, to say the least! It is more than 5 times  the size of Paris – and when completed, it will generate 30 GW of clean energy, making  it the world’s largest manmade source of power – bigger than thermal, bigger than  nuclear, bigger than even hydropower. And, in Khavda, the beneficial use of  technology is letting us add around 25 MW every single day – that is almost 10 times  what we were adding every day in Kamuthi – that is like building a Kamuthi every  month!  

Technology is assisting our social work too. The Adani Skill Development Centre runs  Saksham, a great example of leveraging technology for social good. Using advanced  training methods by integrating AI, Virtual Reality and simulation-based learning,  Saksham provides access to high-quality skill development, allowing thousands of  Indians from very diverse socio-economic backgrounds to achieve their aspirations. 

Another example is Taranga – a part of the Aravalli hills in north Gujarat – where we  have undertaken the challenge of greening 1,500 hectares. The Adani Foundation is  using advanced technology to make it happen. We use satellite-based monitoring to  keep track of drone-based seeding, plant health, vegetation density, soil moisture, and  carbon and nutrient content. 

In another project called SuPoshan, a mobile based application is used to input  screening data of children, adolescents and women. The app helps the village level  health volunteers to identify the status of undernutrition among the targeted  beneficiaries and supports us in planning the course of action, helping track data in  real time, remotely.  

All these instances show that the beneficial use of technology can truly be a powerful  force for societal upliftment and economic growth. 

Unfortunately, we are also seeing technology being applied to the wrong causes – increasingly. Fake news, fake photos, fake videos, fake money, online scams, spoofing,  phishing, phone fraud, cyber-crime – the list is endless and always growing. As the  scope and power of technology grows, we must be careful not to let the harmful use of  technology overshadow the beneficial use of technology. 

In other words, technology is only as good as the benefit it provides. And that brings  up the question – how should we make use of it to benefit this generation, the next  generation and our nation? 

As our world enters a new era of rapid digital transformation, technology stands at the  very forefront of shaping global development. While physical infrastructure remains  essential for developing countries like India, the digital realm is already key to  advancing our economic growth, enhancing governance and solving societal  challenges.  

In a recent podcast, Eric Schmidt, Google’s former CEO, admitted that this growth is  happening much, much faster than he anticipated – and he is one of the best computer  engineers in the world, advising government bodies and chairing international  forums! 

What is most interesting in the podcast is his perspective on what he calls “innovation  power”. We all know that, historically, a nation’s power came from military prowess  as well as scientific progress. Schmidt says that AI is shaping the next era of humanity. Inventing new things and bringing scale into new tech is how countries and humanity  will become powerful and remain powerful. 

In 2014, India’s GDP was $1.85 trillion – and it had been built up over 66 years of  independence. In the past decade, that number has more than doubled. While this  growth is great news and we are also building the basic infrastructure India needs, the  power-up our nation desperately needs to catch up with the developed world is high 

end technology. Already, the superpowers of the world are racing to own the new  gamechanger – AI. Its powers of assimilation are already mind-boggling – and you  can well imagine what AI will be capable of doing as LLMs and computing power  expand.  

Imagine a future where Generative AI converges with quantum computing – and this  cannot be too far ahead. I believe it would unlock possibilities that are difficult to  imagine with today’s tools. Generative AI, powered by the probabilistic and  combinatorial computing power of quantum systems to process vast data sets  exponentially faster would enable us to solve many of the world’s problems in real 

time, whether it is optimizing global supply chains or addressing climate change  scenarios or even building unimaginably destructive nuclear weapons of the future. 

Clearly, the future of technology is both scary and exciting. But be it scary or exciting,  we cannot afford to ignore technology or even go slow in our use of technology – either  as a nation or as its citizens. India cannot stay out of this global race. Our generation  will have to be its driver – and there is a lot of catching up to do. Our generation needs  to build capabilities to lead India into this new technological era if we want to stay at  the top of our game and realise our dream of Viksit Bharat – to become a $26 trillion  economy by 2047. 

As we stand on the brink of a new AI-empowered world, we must all ask ourselves how  to ensure that the vast potential of technology is harnessed for good. There is no limit  to where technology can go or lead us, but it is our generation’s responsibility to guide  its journey.  

For that, each one of us needs to look beyond the classical definition of technology as  a tool – and start looking at technology as a means to fulfil a purpose – the larger  purpose of meeting our society’s needs. Already, our generation is surrounded by – and also submerged in – technology. Chasing the new wave of technology mindlessly,  without a larger purpose won’t do us any good. Our purpose must be the anchor – technology itself can be your purpose if you channel your abilities towards making it  work for the larger good.  

Today you are here – and tomorrow you may find yourself, like I do, in a position of  influence. As educated youngsters with ability and agency, we must focus on the  sanctity and responsibility of our actions, at work and even outside. Technology itself  is not the end – it is the means to an end – and that end we must define for ourselves  as we make our journeys.  

We should try our very best to develop and encourage the beneficial use of technology, by advancing technological solutions that uplift humanity, foster inclusivity and drive  progress for all. At the same time, we must also remain vigilant against its misuse and  ensure that technology serves as a purpose-driven force for positive change – for our  people, for our nation, and for the world.