Hyderabad, September 25, 2026: India’s AI ambitions are beginning to extend beyond large language models, with data centres, high-density computing, semiconductor capacity, cybersecurity and reliable green power emerging as critical pieces of the country’s digital infrastructure story.
That was the central theme at the inaugural Digital Infrastructure Summit 2026 hosted by the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC) in Hyderabad on Friday, which brought together more than 100 business, technology and policy leaders.
Organised by the IACC’s Andhra Pradesh & Telangana branch, with CtrlS Datacenters as the presenting partner, the summit brought industry, government and finance representatives together to discuss the infrastructure required to support India’s next phase of digital and AI growth.
Opening the summit, IACC Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Chairperson Dr. Sreedevi Devireddy said, “India is on the cusp of an unprecedented digital revolution, where next-generation infrastructure will act as the ultimate catalyst for hyper-scale innovation.”
India’s AI Opportunity Moves Beyond LLMs at IACC Summit
She pointed to data centres, Global Capability Centres (GCCs), cybersecurity and AI-ready technologies as key areas shaping this growth.
Addressing the IACC Summit, Ms. Laura Williams said that Mission 500, COMPACT, TRUST, and Pax Silica are not abstract frameworks — they are direct opportunities for investment, supply-chain partnership, and market access, especially here in Telangana and across South India.
As Ambassador Gor said: Our two countries have always built the strongest relationship from the ground up through entrepreneurs, engineers, and manufacturers who see opportunities in partnership rather than competition.
The summit also brought a strong India-US dimension to the discussion. U.S. Consul General Laura Williams highlighted Mission 500, COMPACT, TRUST and Pax Silica as opportunities for investment, supply-chain partnerships and market access in Telangana and across South India.
The infrastructure challenge was further underlined by Chandra Shekhar Sarma G, CISO and Director of Compliance at CtrlS Datacenters. “India’s digital transformation is entering a defining phase, with digital infrastructure evolving from an enabler to the foundation of the digital economy,” he said.
The business sessions examined both the technology and capital required to scale this ecosystem. Discussions covered India’s AI and cloud landscape, venture capital, local scaling and the growing demand for data-centre capacity.
Two panel discussions focused on the broader infrastructure equation, one examining capital and ecosystem enablers for AI and digital infrastructure, and another looking at resilience, cybersecurity, sustainability and reliable power for hyperscale data centres.
Across the sessions, the focus was less on AI models alone and more on the physical and financial infrastructure needed to support them. For India, the next stage of the AI opportunity is increasingly tied to the ability to build computing capacity, secure energy, attract investment and create resilient digital infrastructure at scale.
Experts at the IACC Summit in Hyderabad highlighted the growing opportunity for India to build an AI ecosystem beyond frontier large language models, with industry-specific applications, digital public infrastructure and affordable access to computing emerging as key drivers. Shyam Menon, co-founder of Bharat Innovation Fund and Infuse Ventures, said Indian startups can build vertical AI solutions using proprietary industry data and specialised smaller language models, while government-backed digital infrastructure could provide the computing foundation for innovation.
Data-centre expert Rahul Dhar, who heads global data-centre operations at CtrlS, said the rapid adoption of AI is driving exponential demand for computing infrastructure, power and advanced cooling, placing data centres at the centre of India’s AI growth story.
Established in 1968, IACC is a bilateral chamber focused on strengthening India-US economic and trade ties, with more than 1,500 members across Indian and US industries.
