For Singh, the worth of an award lies not within the ceremony, however within the aftermath. Tasked with some of the formidable digital mandates on this planet—democratising AI for a inhabitants of 1.4 billion—he views the ET AI Awards 2025 not merely as a contest however as an important discovery mechanism for options that may rework governance, agriculture, healthcare, and schooling throughout the nation.
Singh’s strategy to judging is rooted within the sensible realities of administration and scale. Whereas technical novelty is essential, his main curiosity lies within the “sustainability” and “adoptability” of the answer. He explains that for AI to matter in India, it should work outdoors the laboratory, within the mud and warmth of the actual world.
ET ParticularConstructing on this philosophy, the awards turn into a discovery mechanism for applied sciences which might be prepared for actual‑world deployment. For innovators who’ve already made it into the fray, being evaluated by a jury that features nationwide policymakers equivalent to Singh is an opportunity to indicate that their work can stand as much as the calls for of India’s digital public infrastructure.
The multiplier impact of credibility
One of many central challenges in deploying know-how throughout the authorities sector is the friction of discovery and belief. How does an administrator in a distant Northeast district know {that a} startup in Bengaluru has solved the precise downside they’re going through? Singh sees the ET AI Awards as a bridge throughout this data hole.
He explains that whereas getting recognised or profitable an award helps in “sustainability”, it additionally helps in “getting the answer adopted”. He sees the platform as a conduit between these constructing options and people chargeable for implementing them, particularly in districts and departments the place bandwidth for scouting innovation is restricted. When an answer earns recognition on a stage backed by a rigorous analysis course of and a nationally seen jury, it carries a credibility that may meaningfully speed up conversations on adoption.
This credibility, he believes, creates a multiplier impact. “If an answer is recognised and if anyone else is in search of an identical resolution in an identical sector, then it does deliver some credibility to doing that, and getting it recognised by an establishment like The Financial Occasions has its personal worth.” An answer validated on the ET AI Awards stage turns into simpler for directors, policymakers and enterprise patrons to champion internally as a result of it has already handed by a structured, impartial evaluation and peer scrutiny.
He presents a tangible instance of how this replication engine works in observe. “For instance, if an answer utilizing AI to assist farmers is developed and rewarded by ET, then anybody in search of an identical resolution in Haryana or Tamil Nadu, or the Northeast can have a look at the answer, and get it adopted and deployed.”
Robustness as a key criterion
When evaluating submissions, Singh will probably be making use of a rigorous set of parameters designed to check the maturity of the answer. It’s not sufficient for an AI mannequin to carry out effectively on a check dataset; it should be resilient.
“A key parameter for choosing one thing for an award would be the influence the answer is creating, which sector it’s influencing, how sturdy the answer is, and the way scalable the answer is,” he states.
Past this, he carefully examines the sector the answer is influencing, the robustness of the underlying know-how and the scalability of the general implementation. In a rustic as various as India—linguistically, geographically and infrastructurally—he would pay particular consideration to how an answer handles noise, edge instances and connectivity constraints.
Equally essential is the social dimension of the work. He explicitly mentions in search of “what segments of social problem it’s addressing”. This aligns with the broader objectives of the IndiaAI Mission, which prioritises excessive‑influence use instances. Moreover, Singh is eager to search for options that may straight contribute to nationwide priorities equivalent to monetary inclusion, studying outcomes, crop resilience or illness surveillance. Entrants that may reveal measurable, repeatable influence on such issues are more likely to resonate strongly together with his lens.
The place analysis and jury rigour are available in
The aggressive panorama for AI in India has exploded, making the duty of choice each tough and crucial. Singh acknowledges the sheer quantity of innovation occurring throughout the nation. “It’s essential to decide on the most effective of the most effective as a result of this can be a rising area, and we now have a lot of Indian corporations, lots of Indian startups, Indian researchers constructing such options,” he observes.
To make sure rigour, equity and belief, the ET AI Awards 2025 comply with a structured, multi‑stage evaluation course of, with EY as Information Associate, that strikes from preliminary screening to deep area analysis and, lastly, to collective jury deliberation. Singh’s standards don’t exist in isolation; they sit inside a broader jury and analysis structure designed to make sure consistency and equity. He speaks to the rigour of the method, noting the collective experience of the panel: “Sitting with my fellow jurists, who’re very eminent, succesful folks, and attempting to battle by, attempting to establish that are those that must be rewarded, that are those that must be recognised.”
For individuals, this implies their work isn’t just being assessed on narrative or promise, however in opposition to clearly outlined parameters and proof, first by EY’s analysis framework after which by the jury’s collective deliberations. By the point an answer seems earlier than Singh and his fellow jurors, it has already been stress‑examined for high quality and relevance, permitting the panel to deal with questions of sturdiness, scale and ecosystem match.
The ET AI Awards 2025 journey will culminate on a grand stage amidst formidable AI visionaries and leaders on 26 February 2026 in Bengaluru.
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