India AI Impact Summit Session Emphasises Evidence-Based AI Adoption in Governance
As part of the second day of the India AI Impact Summit 2026, the session “AI in Governance: Revolutionising Government Efficiency” brought together global researchers and senior policymakers to examine how artificial intelligence can strengthen public service delivery at scale. The discussion focused on moving beyond pilots and promise toward measurable impact, emphasizing rigorous evaluation, responsible deployment and systems-level readiness across government.
The session opened with a research presentation by Dean Karlan on the use of machine learning to improve targeting of public service delivery in Togo. The study demonstrated measurable improvements in food security, mental health and socio-economic indicators when AI-supported targeting was applied. At the same time, it revealed important limitations: phone metadata alone failed to capture treatment effects, exposing model drift and the challenges of predicting short-term vulnerability.
Assessing the current landscape Mohammed Y. Safirulla, Director, IndiaAI Mission, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) pointed to areas such as banking and financial systems, including tax analytics and expenditure tracking, where AI adoption has advanced due to the availability of high-quality, structured data.
The session underscored a central takeaway that AI can significantly enhance government efficiency and service delivery, but only when grounded in robust data, scientific validation and responsible governance frameworks.(updated on 17th Feb 2026)
