Why He Walked Away From Microsoft To Build India's AI | Rishi Bal, BharatGen CEO

Why He Walked Away From Microsoft To Build India's AI | Rishi Bal, BharatGen CEO

Most Indians, when they get a job at Microsoft in Seattle, never look back. Rishi Bal did look back. He left a comfortable engineering career in the US — at one of the world's most valuable tech companies — and came home to build something India doesn't yet have: its own AI. Today, Rishi is the CEO of BharatGen — India's first government-funded sovereign AI initiative, anchored at IIT Bombay, supported by the Department of Science & Technology. Under his leadership, the team has just released Param 2 — a 17 billion parameter foundation model, built "from first byte to final model," entirely in India, across 22 Indian languages. This is a Swades story. For the AI age. In this conversation with Roshan Cariappa on Bharatvaarta, Rishi unpacks why sovereign AI isn't a buzzword — it's the difference between India having control over its own digital future, or being shut off by a foreign company tomorrow. What we cover: - Why he walked away from Microsoft and came home - What "sovereign AI" really means — the 3 layers nobody explains - The engine-and-steering-wheel metaphor for AI - The aircraft analogy: application layer vs ground floor - BharatGen, Param 2, and the 22-language project - Why India stands the most to lose from AI disruption - The "free isn't really free" problem with foreign AI - Why the biggest bottleneck is talent, not technology - India's "find the India model" approach ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Introduction: Why India Could Lose the AI Race 00:35 Meet Rishi Bal: Building India’s Sovereign AI 01:07 What Does AI Sovereignty Actually Mean? 02:47 Why India Cannot Depend on Foreign AI Forever 04:02 Should India Build Its Own AI Stack? 07:00 Building AI vs Just Using AI 08:00 USA Model vs China Model vs India Model 10:14 India’s Biggest AI Opportunity 12:52 The Hidden Challenge: AI Doesn’t Understand India 14:29 Inside India’s Sovereign AI Mission 16:38 Can India Really Build World-Class AI? 18:15 AI Will Transform Education, Law & Healthcare 21:24 The Hardest Problem in Indian AI 22:39 India’s Biggest AI Bottleneck: Talent 24:07 Advice for Every Student Entering the AI Era 25:24 The Real Cost of Free Technology 27:30 Can Indian AI Compete With OpenAI? 29:18 The UPI Playbook for AI 31:50 Why Ecosystems Matter More Than Startups 33:00 Digitising India’s Knowledge & Manuscripts 34:02 Brain Drain: Why Talent Still Leaves India 35:50 How Governments Are Preparing For AI 37:49 What Rishi Learned Moving From Microsoft To Government 39:15 Why Global Talent Is Looking At India Again 41:00 India’s AI Future: Optimism vs Reality 43:30 What Happens If India Misses This AI Moment? 46:50 Why India Must Become an AI Creator, Not Just a User 47:21 How You Can Contribute To India’s AI Mission 48:15 Final Thoughts 🎙️ ABOUT THE GUEST Rishi Bal is the CEO of BharatGen — India's first government-funded sovereign AI initiative. Before returning to India, he spent years at Microsoft in Seattle, building enterprise AI and software infrastructure. BharatGen is anchored under the Technology Innovation Hub (TIH) at IIT Bombay, supported by the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS) and the Department of Science & Technology. The team has released Param 2 — a 17 billion parameter foundation model built entirely in India, across 22 Indian languages. 🌐 Website: https://bharatgen.com 💼 Rishi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rishibal/ 💼 BharatGen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bharatgen 🐦 X / Twitter: @BharatGen_Com 📸 Instagram: @bharatgen_com 🎬 YouTube: @BharatGenOfficial 📘 Facebook: BharatGen 📺 ABOUT BHARATVAARTA Bharatvaarta hosts long-form conversations on India that matter. Founders, policymakers, diplomats, technologists and thinkers — discussing what's actually happening in the country, not the version on primetime television. 🔔 SUBSCRIBE for more. 🌐 https://www.bharatvaarta.in 🐦 X / Twitter: @bharatvaarta 📸 Instagram: @bharatvaarta 🎙️ This is the third episode in our series on India's AI future. If you haven't watched our earlier conversations with Vivek Raghavan (Sarvam AI) and Shashi Shekhar Vempati (AI4India), check those out too. #RishiBal #BharatGen #Bharatvaarta #SovereignAI #IndiaAI #Param2 #IITBombay #IndianAI #IndiaChatGPT #MadeInIndia #DigitalIndia #DeepTech #ViksitBharat #IndianTech #AIRevolution Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfBfBd-1kvCOPxVll8tBJ9Q/join

A Former Ambassador Reveals What Happens Inside India's Toughest Global Negotiations | Mohan Kumar

The post-WW2 world order is dead. The UN doesn't work. The WTO can't function. Multilateralism has collapsed. And the world is now in a dangerous "interregnum" — a period of fragmentation, conflict, and competing alliances where every country is fighting to shape what comes next. So what does this mean for India? In this conversation with Roshan Cariappa, Ambassador Dr. Mohan Kumar — Former Indian Ambassador to France and Bahrain, India's lead negotiator at the WTO/GATT for nearly a decade, Professor of Diplomatic Practice at OP Jindal Global University, and Chairman of RIS — takes us inside the rooms where India's biggest global negotiations actually happen. This is not theory. This is a 40-year practitioner explaining how it really works. We cover: - Why the liberal world order has "certainly ended" - The non-polar world and India's multi-alignment strategy - "No light at the end of the tunnel" — his honest diagnosis - Can India be a Vishwa Guru? The truth about DPI and AI - The Poverty Veto — why 800M on dole holds India back - What really happens behind closed doors in negotiations - His toughest negotiations: TRIPS Doha and Paris climate - The Nvidia comparison — India's economy = one company - Why India can't have a confrontation with China - Trump-XI "bilateral strategic stability" and India - Jaishankar's "three mutuals" approach with China ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Cold open: The world order is dead 00:54 Are we witnessing the collapse of the post-Cold War order? 02:13 "The liberal international order has certainly ended" 03:42 What changed about globalization 05:05 Was it Trump — or structural factors? 07:00 The "non-polar" world explained 08:13 India's multi-alignment strategy 11:04 Fragmentation of the world order 12:08 "I've never seen this deficit of cooperation in 40 years" 13:25 "There is no light at the end of the tunnel" 14:39 Can India step up as Vishwa Guru? 16:27 "800 million on dole is dragging India down" 17:52 India's 1991 redux moment — bite the bullet 20:26 Multilateralism has collapsed — UN and WTO 21:11 The huge gap between US, China and the rest 23:36 What actually happens behind closed doors 25:35 The brief, the non-negotiables, the tradeables 27:21 The Poverty Veto — Mohan's original concept 31:37 The toughest negotiation: TRIPS in Doha (2001) 33:25 The Paris climate accords — India's red lines 36:20 Is there bipartisan consensus on foreign policy? 38:14 Pranab Mukherjee's all-party meeting idea 40:08 What makes an effective negotiator? 44:33 Why "anyone can become Ambassador overnight" is wrong 45:07 Should India look beyond the IFS cadre? 49:00 Why India can't have a Jared Kushner 49:26 40 years of negotiation — how India's leverage has grown 51:32 India = the size of Nvidia ($4 trillion comparison) 53:00 "9-10% growth for 10 years — the world will be at your feet" 58:43 The final question — US-China dynamics 1:00:00 Trump-XI "bilateral strategic stability" 1:01:44 Why India can't have a confrontation with China 1:02:13 Jaishankar's "three mutuals" with China 1:03:13 Closing thoughts 📚 AMBASSADOR MOHAN KUMAR'S BOOK India's Moment: Changing Power Equations around the World (HarperCollins, 2023) — launched by Dr. S. Jaishankar. Amazon India: https://www.amazon.in/Indias-Moment-Changing-Equations-around/dp/935699952X Amazon (US): https://www.amazon.com/Indias-Moment-Changing-Equations-around/dp/935699952X Kindle: https://www.amazon.in/Indias-Moment-Changing-Equations-around-ebook/dp/B0CKP8DSJX Also: Negotiation Dynamics of the WTO (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018). 🎙️ ABOUT THE GUEST Ambassador Dr. Mohan Kumar served 36 years in the Indian Foreign Service, retiring as India's Ambassador to France. He was previously India's Ambassador to Bahrain. He was India's lead negotiator at GATT and the WTO for nearly a decade, including the WTO Ministerial Conferences in Marrakesh (1994), Seattle (1999) and Doha (2001). He played a key role in the Paris climate change accords. Today he is Dean, Office of International Affairs at OP Jindal Global University, Professor of Diplomatic Practice, and Chairman of RIS — the Delhi-based think tank on trade and development. PhD from Sciences Po Paris. MBA from Delhi University. 🌐 https://ambmokumar.com 📺 ABOUT BHARATVAARTA Long-form conversations on India that matter. Founders, policymakers, diplomats, technologists and thinkers — discussing what's actually happening in the country. 🔔 SUBSCRIBE for more. 🌐 https://www.bharatvaarta.in 🐦 X/Twitter: @bharatvaarta 📸 Instagram: @bharatvaarta #MohanKumar #Bharatvaarta #IndianDiplomacy #IndiaForeignPolicy #IndiaUS #IndiaChina #IndianAmbassador #WTO #Geopolitics #IndiaNegotiations #IFS #IndianPodcast #ViksitBharat #IndiaPolicy Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfBfBd-1kvCOPxVll8tBJ9Q/join

"India Has 25 Years To Grow Rich Before It Grows Old " — Neelkanth Mishra, EAC-PM | Bharatvaarta

India has 20–25 years. After that, the demographic window closes. That is the central claim of this conversation. India is racing to do in 50–60 years what the West did in 150–200. To grow rich before it grows old. To become a developed economy while still a democracy — something almost no large country has ever managed. In this Bharatvaarta conversation, Roshan Cariappa sits down with Neelkanth Mishra — Member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, Chief Economist at Axis Bank, and one of India's most respected voices on the economy — to ask the question that very few people are asking honestly: Can India actually pull this off? Neelkanth walks us through the real economics of India's next 25 years. The petrol-dollar problem. Why India's inequality is rising — and why that is not the same as repression. Why most countries that grew rich first were not democracies. Why the next leg of India's growth must happen at the state and district level, not at the Centre. Why cities matter more than anyone admits. Why fixing education and healthcare is politically thankless but economically essential. This isn't political commentary. It's an economist's view of what's at stake. We discuss: - Why the Prime Minister's recent remarks on petrol, diesel and foreign travel matter more than they sound - The "grow rich before growing old" framework — and how much time India actually has - Why most countries that got rich first were autocracies — and what that means for democratic India - The land–labour–capital–entrepreneurship lens, and which two are stuck - Why states (not the Centre) hold the keys to India's next leg of growth - The "optimal crisis" theory — why nations don't reform without one - Why inequality is rising, and when it becomes dangerous - Funding cities, urbanisation, and the silent reform India keeps postponing - AI, productivity, and India's race against demographic time ═══════════════════════════════ ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS (ALL IMPORTANT CHAPTERS) ═══════════════════════════════ 00:00 – India's race against the demographic clock 🇮🇳 01:00 – Why the PM's remarks on petrol & foreign travel matter 03:00 – The petrol-dollar problem 👉 Why energy prices reshape the rupee 05:30 – Fiscal cushioning vs market prices 👉 What the government can and can't absorb 08:00 – The real meaning of "grow rich before grow old" 10:30 – Why every nation that grew rich went through pain 👉 Or did they? 13:00 – Inequality vs repression 👉 The line democracies must not cross 16:00 – Why labour is surplus and capital is short — and why that matters 19:00 – The China comparison 👉 Why they raced ahead and where they got stuck 25:00 – Education and healthcare 👉 The reforms nobody wants to do 28:00 – Why India must do in 60 years what the West did in 200 36:00 – The land–labour–capital–entrepreneurship lens 40:00 – Why the centre can't fix what only the states can 👉 The federal reality 44:00 – Healthy competition between Indian states 👉 The Edward Luttwak insight 48:00 – The "optimal crisis" theory 👉 Why nations only reform under pressure 52:00 – The funding of Indian cities 👉 The silent reform India keeps postponing 56:00 – Urbanisation, productivity, and dense cities 👉 Why cities are economic engines 1:00:00 – AI, productivity, and the race against demographic time 1:05:00 – What India must build before the window closes 1:10:00 – The cost of capital today 👉 Why India's financing ladder has never been better 1:15:00 – Reforms that don't need a crisis 👉 The GST lesson 1:20:00 – Where will India be by 2047? 1:25:00 – Closing thoughts: a generation's responsibility ═══════════════ 🎙️ ABOUT THE GUEST ═══════════════ Neelkanth Mishra is a Member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) and Chief Economist at Axis Bank. Earlier, he spent two decades at Credit Suisse, serving as Co-Head of Equity Strategy for Asia Pacific and India Strategist, where he was consistently ranked among India’s top analysts by Institutional Investor and Asia Money. He has also advised the 15th & 16th Finance Commissions, India Semiconductor Mission, the GST RNR Committee, and the FRBM Review Committee, and is a member of Confederation of Indian Industry’s Economic Affairs Council. 🐦 X/Twitter: @neelkanthmishra 🌐 EAC-PM: eacpm.gov.in 💼 Axis Bank Chief Economist ═══════════════════ 📺 ABOUT BHARATVAARTA ═══════════════════ Bharatvaarta hosts long-form conversations on India that matter. Founders, policymakers, economists, technologists, and thinkers — discussing what's actually happening in the country, not the version on primetime television. 🔔 SUBSCRIBE: [channel link] 🌐 Website: https://www.bharatvaarta.in 🐦 Twitter/X: @bharatvaarta 📸 Instagram: @bharatvaarta #NeelkanthMishra #Bharatvaarta #IndiaEconomy #IndianEconomy #EACPM #IndiaGrowth #India2047 #IndiaPolicy #AxisBank #IndianGDP #IndiaAI Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfBfBd-1kvCOPxVll8tBJ9Q/join

🤯How PM Modi Won, Deepfake Politics & India's AI Race 🚨| Shashi Shekhar Vempati

This is about How BJP Pulled Off The Biggest Political Comeback Of Our Generation! Behind the historic BJP victory wasn't just a charismatic leader — it was a small group of professionals who quietly built India's first real digital election machine. Shashi Shekhar Vempati was one of them. A decade later, he became the first non-bureaucrat CEO of Prasar Bharati, took on India's biggest media reform challenge, and is now one of the most important voices on India's AI future — co-founding AI4India and recently appointed Chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). This isn't a political conversation. It's a conversation about power — how it's won, how it's lost, and what it'll take for India to hold its own in the next decade. In this conversation with Roshan Cariappa on Bharatvaarta, Shashi takes us inside the digital war room that helped propel PM Modi to power in 2014 —We cover: - How a small group of techies helped BJP win 2014 - Why digital became the new battleground for elections - The dark side of social media — deepfakes, algorithms, influence operations - Why India has no BBC or Al-Jazeera equivalent - The "lost decade" inside Indian bureaucracy (2004-2014) - Why we don't have an Indian ChatGPT (yet) - AI for India: language, voice, sovereignty - The "lag and leap" theory of Indian tech - Modi as a leader — what makes him different - Advice for young Indians who want to contribute 🎙️Podcast recorded on 17th March, 2026 ═══════════════════════════════ ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS (ALL IMPORTANT CHAPTERS) ═══════════════════════════════ 00:00 – The digital revolution that started in 2014 🚨 01:00 – Meet Shashi Shekhar Vempati: the man behind Modi's 2014 digital strategy 02:00 – The genesis: why professionals got involved in politics 👉 The 2009 wake-up call 04:00 – How Niti Digital & India 272 changed Indian elections forever 06:00 – From 60 million to 600 million internet users 👉 What's actually changed since 2014 08:00 – Why elections got "presidential" 👉 Mass messaging vs. targeted messaging 11:00 – AI, Deepfakes & The Future Of Elections 🚨 The biggest challenge for every democracy 13:00 – How fake videos created entire political narratives in 2024 16:00 – Why India's social media platforms have failed (Koo, Sharechat & more) 18:00 – Becoming the first non-bureaucrat CEO of Prasar Bharati 👉 The shock of government 20:00 – The Lost Decade: 2004-2014 👉 Prasar Bharati was running 1980s ops in 2014 22:00 – The 7-year delay 👉 Why no government wanted to give up control of media 24:00 – Why everything in Indian bureaucracy is litigated to death 👉 The legacy problem 27:00 – How does government actually work? 👉 Sprint planning vs political priorities 32:00 – Modi's biggest bureaucratic reform 👉 Opening up Joint Secretary positions 36:00 – Can private sector folks fix government? 👉 The honest answer 40:00 – Why India has no BBC or Al-Jazeera 👉 The full story 42:00 – The HR disaster inside Prasar Bharati 👉 An entire generation of creative talent lost 46:00 – Anti-India narratives in Western media 👉 Who's funding them? 48:00 – Strategic communication, influence operations & China's playbook 54:00 – AI4India: Why he co-founded it 👉 The compute & data problem 57:00 – AI for languages: the lowest hanging fruit for India 👉 Mann ki Baat as training data 1:00:00 – The "Lag and Leap" theory of Indian tech adoption 1:08:00 – The AI jobs crisis👉 Why this could be catastrophic at India's scale 1:15:00 – What makes PM Modi different as a leader 👉 An insider's view 1:20:00 – Advice for every young Indian 👉 More than one skill 1:24:00 – Closing thoughts ═══════════════ 🎙️ ABOUT THE GUEST ═══════════════ Shashi Shekhar Vempati is one of the most quietly influential figures in India's tech and policy landscape. He helped engineer BJP's 2014 digital campaign through Niti Digital and India 272. From 2017 to 2022, he served as the first non-bureaucrat CEO of Prasar Bharati, leading its full-scale digital transformation. He's the Co-Founder of AI4India.org, a Board Member of BharatGen, and was recently appointed Chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). An IIT Bombay alumnus and Infosys veteran, he's also an author and columnist. 🌐 AI4India: https://ai4india.org 🐦 X/Twitter: @shashidigital 💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/shashivempati ═══════════════════ 📺 ABOUT BHARATVAARTA ═══════════════════ Bharatvaarta is a podcast on politics, policy, and culture focused on India. We bring together founders, policymakers, technologists, writers, and thinkers to have long-form conversations about what's happening around us. 🔔 SUBSCRIBE for more: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfBfBd-1kvCOPxVll8tBJ9Q/join 🌐 Website: https://www.bharatvaarta.in 🐦 Twitter/X: @bharatvaarta 📸 Instagram: @bharatvaarta 📘 Facebook: facebook.com/bharatvaarta.in #Bharatvaarta #BJP #ModiDigital #IndiaAI #Deepfakes #SovereignAI #IndianElections #DigitalIndia #IndiaPolitics #IndianTech #DeepTech #BigTech

India's Middle Class is breaking | ft. Saurabh Mukherjea

India is growing. But why does the average Indian still feel stuck? In this conversation with Saurabh Mukherjea, we break down what’s really happening to India’s middle class — from stagnant incomes and rising debt to job uncertainty and changing financial behaviour. Based on real data, field research, and on-ground stories, this episode explores: - Why people earning ₹5 lakh to ₹1 crore feel stuck - How automation is silently reducing salaries - Why India’s middle class is taking on more debt than ever before - The hidden impact of UPI and easy credit - Why people are taking loans for vacations, phones, and even concerts - The rise of risky investing and massive retail losses - How social media is reshaping aspirations and spending habits - And what this means for your financial future This is not just an economic discussion. It’s a reality check. 👉 If you’re working, earning, and still feel like you’re not moving ahead — this episode is for you. TIMESTAMPS (ALL IMPORTANT CHAPTERS) 00:00 – India’s biggest contradiction 👉 Poor country, highest debt 01:00 – What changed after COVID? 👉 Why the middle class is now under pressure 02:50 – Real stories: jobs lost, salaries reduced 👉 Automation impact on families 05:00 – The middle class crisis explained 👉 Jobs, wages, debt, and social media 07:20 – Who is the “middle class” really? 👉 ₹5L to ₹1Cr definition 10:00 – 5 lakh vs 1 crore: same problem 👉 Income stagnation across levels 11:00 – Why even high earners are struggling 👉 Low savings, financial pressure 12:05 – The white-collar job crisis 👉 Jobs aren’t growing, salaries under pressure 14:00 – India’s exploding debt problem vs the world (shock data) 👉 Poor country, highest debt ratio 17:00 – Why even “creditworthy” people default 👉 CIBIL gap explained 19:00 – Why Indians are taking loans 👉 Holidays, phones, concerts 20:50 – The 3 factors changing India’s middle class 👉 Tech is killing job growth, UPI & easy credit trap, investing behavior 24:00 – Crazy F&O & retail losses 👉 ₹1 lakh crore lost every year 26:50 – Entrepreneurship is no longer optional 👉 Problems → business opportunities 27:30 – India’s future: selling products, not just tech 👉 Shift from services → manufacturing/export 28:30 – Why entrepreneurship is easier for some 👉 Conditioning, exposure, family background 29:30 – The mindset shift India needs 👉 From job security → risk-taking 33:00 – Good things AI brings 👉 Productivity + opportunity + Geopolitical +Power game for nations 38:10 – Dependency problem 👉 Semiconductor & chips reality! Are we moving fast enough? 41:30 – Market vs policy gap vs Land Problem 👉 Big, BIG Execution issue 48:00 – UPI moment for India 👉 Can we replicate success? 50:20 – “Rupees toh jayega” 👉 Cost inevitability 55:30 – Why working capital is so high 👉 Interest burden on businesses 1:15:00 – GST reality check 👉 Reform happened… impact limited 1:18:00 – Request to policymakers 👉 Simplify, reduce friction, Tax structure problems Solution 1:26:00 – Final takeaway 👉 What should India do next? ⸻ 👉 If you found this conversation valuable, subscribe to Bharatvaarta. We bring you serious, long-form discussions on history, power, civilisation, and the ideas shaping India’s future. Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfBfBd-1kvCOPxVll8tBJ9Q/join 🎧 Listen & Subscribe Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/6tqY8tbgQ6nGb4ZQwjX6NH Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/bharatvaarta/id1636240449 X → https://x.com/bharatvaarta Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/bharatvaarta/ ⸻ 👤 Guest — Saurabh Mukherjea Author | Breakpoint: The Crisis of the Middle Class and the Future of Work (2026) Buy the book now- https://amzn.in/d/0fEHOTQy ⸻ 👤 Host — Roshan Cariappa X → https://x.com/RoshanCariappa Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/carygottheblues/ #IndianEconomy #MiddleClass#SaurabhMukherjea # RoshanCariappa #IndiaGrowth #Career #India #RupeesFalling #bharatvaarta