Our visit to the IndiaAI program was both energising and highly meaningful for the next phase of
RootsGoods. From the very beginning, the experience felt focused on real-world
collaboration-bringing together startups, industry leaders, researchers, policymakers, and investors
under one roof. For a company like ours-building AI for farmers and maize-focused supply
chains-this mix of perspectives was extremely valuable.
A highlight of the program was the time we spent engaging with fellow startups in the IndiaAI
ecosystem and international startups, especially from Hall 2 (here we had our POD) and Hall 14.
These conversations were practical and founder-to-founder: what’s working, what’s not, how teams
are handling deployment constraints, and where partnerships can unlock faster growth. We came
back with new ideas, new contacts, and a stronger understanding of the wider AI ecosystem that is
forming around IndiaAI.
Equally important was listening to industry-leading companies from India and across the world,
along with policy leaders shaping the future of AI. The sessions and discussions were a refreshing
balance of ambition and realism-covering scale, trust, standards, and what it will take to deploy AI
responsibly at national and global levels. We’re grateful to the organisers for creating such a well-
run program and a welcoming platform for meaningful dialogue.
We were also honoured to be a special invite for the inauguration function. Hearing voices from
Airtel, Google, Anthropic, and Adobe, along with researchers working on sovereign AI, brought sharp
clarity on where the world is heading. The presence and remarks from Mr Emmanuel Macron, the
president of France and Hon’ble PM of India Narendra Modi added weight to the larger message: AI
is not only a technology wave-it’s also about capability-building, strategic independence, and long-
term societal value.
Another key takeaway for us was understanding the stance of VCs in India on deep-tech scale. The
discussions around energy consumption, compute access, and the operational handling capacity
needed for AI systems were especially relevant. The discussion reinforced our belief that agriculture
is not a “data center-first” environment but it is rural-first. Many times the connectivity can be
inconsistent, devices vary widely, power reliability is not guaranteed, yet decisions must be accurate,
timely, and affordable.
This visit helped us sharpen our roadmap. For RootsGoods, the path forward is to build energy-
aware, efficient AI that works under rural constraints, lightweight models and agents, offline-first
workflows, and localised intelligence that performs reliably on basic devices. If AI is to truly
empower farmers and strengthen agri supply chains, it must be practical, resilient, and designed for
the field. IndiaAI reinforced our belief that this is not only possible it is necessary, and RootsGoods is
committed to leading it.