Last-Mile Impact and Digital Public Infrastructure
Underscoring the need to translate AI investments into citizen-level outcomes, Prakash Kumar, CEO of the Wadhwani Centre for Government Digital Transformation, said India’s AI success would ultimately be judged by its impact at the last mile.
“While the government has made strong progress in building core AI infrastructure, Budget 2026 is an opportunity to invest in what turns infrastructure into outcomes stronger Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and deeper citizen engagement at the grassroots,” Kumar said.
He said government spending should prioritise interoperable systems, digital literacy and skilling, and the scaling of AI in Indian languages. Taking proven pilots into statewide and national rollouts through shared platforms, standard reference architectures, and sustained operational funding, not just one-time project grants, should be the focus, he added.
“This is what will move AI from isolated success stories to a dependable part of everyday governance, delivering consistent, measurable improvements in service delivery and improved policymaking,” Kumar said.
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