MUMBAI: Mukesh Ambani, the Chairman of Reliance Industries, has expressed his vision for the conglomerate to lead the way in developing artificial intelligence (AI) solutions to address critical issues in India, including healthcare, education, agriculture, and employment. The 66-year-old billionaire emphasized the need for Reliance to embrace data and leverage AI as a catalyst to achieve a significant leap in productivity and efficiency.
As Reliance undergoes a transformative journey to position itself as a new-age technology company, Mukesh Ambani has played a pivotal role in steering the shift from a traditional energy and material business to a technology-driven enterprise. This transformation has unfolded over the past decade, marked by the launch of telecom and digital services.
Founded by Mukesh’s father, Dhirubhai Ambani, in 1957, Reliance now operates in various sectors, including telecoms, digital services, retail, oil and gas, and new energy, boasting a market value exceeding US$200 billion.
To bolster its AI initiatives, Reliance inked a deal in September with US chip firm Nvidia. The collaboration aims to develop cloud infrastructure, language models, and generative applications, aligning with the company’s commitment to advancing AI capabilities.
In a year-end address to employees, Mukesh Ambani urged them to lead the AI-driven transformation across key growth sectors such as digital services, retail, oil and chemical business, as well as health and life sciences. The ambitious goal is to realize this transformation by the year 2024.
In a related development, Reliance’s competitor, the Adani Group, announced on the same day that it has entered into a joint venture with a unit of Abu Dhabi-based International Holding Co (IHC). The collaboration aims to deploy AI, Internet of Things (IoT), and blockchain products, tapping into the significant digitization opportunity estimated at US$175 billion in India.