MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (Diya TV) — With artificial intelligence becoming a major focal point for corporations and governments alike, the Indian Consulate in San Francisco hosted the AI Impact Pre-Summit Conference, the official curtain raiser to India’s flagship AI Impact Summit set for New Delhi in February 2026.

The event brought together tech giants, venture capitalists, and policymakers from both sides of the Pacific, centered on what the future of artificial intelligence means for the world, and how U.S.-India collaboration could shape it.

India’s Consul General in San Francisco, Dr. Srikar Reddy, highlighted the role of the Indian diaspora in building that bridge between Silicon Valley and India.

“We are huge, Indian diaspora here. They are strong in, tech domain, especially including we have a lot of a founders, CEOs of companies and also senior leadership of the Indian. We want to connect the Indian diaspora also back home with India,” Reddy said.

The pre-summit agenda spanned the AI ecosystem, from human-centric innovation and responsible AI investing to sustainable intelligence and the global push for “AI for all.” The program opened with a keynote from investor Vinod Khosla, followed by senior global officials and technology leaders from NVIDIA, Microsoft, Salesforce, Google, and major venture funds.

As AI races ahead, speakers also pointed to growing public concern about automation and its impact on jobs. Reddy referenced forecasts that have intensified the debate across economies.

“So it predicted job loss, maybe 40% in developed countries and 30% in developing countries,” he said.

In response, conference discussions also turned to readiness, including the infrastructure and workforce preparation needed for an AI-driven economy.

A panel on “Investing in Responsible AI,” moderated by Indiaspora founder M.R. Rangaswami, focused on both the speed of the technology and the scale of change it could bring.

“Technology’s evolving and moving so quickly nobody knows where it’s going to go… But I think that it’s going to make fundamental shifts in reshaping economies, reshaping countries, reshaping companies, and impact our daily lives profoundly in the next 5 to 10 years,” Rangaswami said.

At the startup expo, founders emphasized a persistent challenge: access to data and capital, particularly for early-stage teams. Ram Reddy, co-founder of Evolve Silicon Valley, pointed to how concentrated funding remains.

“About 20% of the funded companies by number are in the Silicon Valley. But about 60% of the money that goes in is to this 20%,” he said.

Still, Ram Reddy argued optimism remains strong about the U.S.-India AI corridor, even amid global political and economic shifts.

“These are the two countries that could work together and take on the whole world in a different way because we have complementary competencies… and can be a significant force,” he said.

With the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi next on the calendar, organizers say these cross-Pacific conversations are only beginning. Rangaswami framed the moment as one where near-term excitement may be loud, but long-term consequences will be even bigger.

“I would say, much like, Bill gates said a long time ago, the hype in the short term is going to be high, but the impact is going to be long term, and that’s going to be higher than we thought it would be,” he said.

The official curtain raiser to India’s flagship AI Impact Summit set for New Delhi in February 2026.