Whalesbook
India's digital economy is built on extensive public infrastructure, including systems like Aadhaar and UPI. While this connectivity fuels growth, it also expands the potential targets for cybercriminals and state-backed attackers. Navin Kumar Singh, speaking at the Ficci-organized CyberComm 2026 event, declared that using "AI to fight AI" is the "pressing need of the hour." He called for closer cooperation between government and private industry, along with real-time sharing of threat intelligence, to strengthen India's defenses.
Singh observed a dramatic improvement in AI's capacity for both cyber offense and defense. He cautioned that within six to nine months, open-source AI models, potentially rivaling the capabilities of systems like GPT-5.5, could become publicly accessible. Over the last decade, India has seen its internet penetration triple, and per capita data consumption has surged roughly 400 times. The country's unique approach to Digital Public Infrastructure, merging public platforms with private innovation, is now being studied globally.