World Economic Forum’s C4IR India, in collaboration with the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India and the Ministry of Electronics and IT launched two publications under its AI for India 2030 initiative — the AI Playbook for Agriculture and the AI Playbook for SMEs — along with a white paper on shaping the AI Sandbox ecosystem.
Developed with support from professional services partner BCG X, these publications offer actionable frameworks, sectoral roadmaps, and ecosystem models to harness AI responsibly, inclusively, and at scale in India.
Designed through extensive consultations, site visits, field workshops and analysing a multitude of on-ground pilot projects with entrepreneurs, policymakers, industry leaders, technology providers, and academic institutions, the playbooks highlight AI’s potential to improve productivity, unlock finance, and enhance market access.
World Economic Forum’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR) India, in collaboration with the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India (PSA to GOI) and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), today announced the release of two publications under its AI for India 2030 initiative:
* Future Farming in India: AI Playbook for Agriculture
* Transforming Small Businesses: An AI Playbook for India’s SMEs
Along with a white paper on Shaping the AI Sandbox Ecosystem for the Intelligent Age. These are developed with support from professional services partner BCG X.
Together, the three publications lay out practical roadmaps and frameworks that can help India harness AI responsibly and inclusively in key sectors, while driving innovation at speed and scale.
“India’s AI journey must be defined by how deeply it transforms lives at the last mile. From empowering farmers with data-driven insights to enabling small enterprises to compete globally, the true promise of AI will be realized only when innovation translates into widespread adoption. The AI Playbooks highlight how government, industry, and academia can work together to ensure that every breakthrough delivers real impact — for our economy, our communities, and our citizens.”- Prof. Ajay Sood, Principal Scientific Advisor.
India's drive to integrate AI into agriculture and small business is a significant opportunity for economic transformation. These playbooks provide the crucial framework to turn potential into action, uniting government, industry, and innovators. Together, we can ensure AI becomes a tool for empowerment, closing divides and creating a future where technology serves humanity at scale - Jeremy Jurgens, Managing Director, World Economic Forum.
“AI delivers impact when it is usable, affordable, and trusted. Together, these reports chart a clear path for India from pilots to scaled adoption — with playbooks that empower farmers to make smarter decisions, enable MSMEs to boost productivity and competitiveness, and a sandbox framework that ensures innovation is safe, validated, and responsible. The result is broad-based, inclusive growth — where every farmer, entrepreneur, and innovator can benefit from AI’s potential to strengthen India’s economy, ensure inclusive growth, and drive global competitiveness. - Gaurav Jindal, Managing Director & Partner, BCG.
AI Playbook for Agriculture- Future Farming
World Economic Forum’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR) India, in collaboration with the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India (PSA to GOI) and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), today announced the release of two publications under its AI for India 2030 initiative:
* Future Farming in India: AI Playbook for Agriculture
* Transforming Small Businesses: An AI Playbook for India’s SMEs
Along with a white paper on Shaping the AI Sandbox Ecosystem for the Intelligent Age. These are developed with support from professional services partner BCG X.
Together, the three publications lay out practical roadmaps and frameworks that can help India harness AI responsibly and inclusively in key sectors, while driving innovation at speed and scale.
“India’s AI journey must be defined by how deeply it transforms lives at the last mile. From empowering farmers with data-driven insights to enabling small enterprises to compete globally, the true promise of AI will be realized only when innovation translates into widespread adoption. The AI Playbooks highlight how government, industry, and academia can work together to ensure that every breakthrough delivers real impact — for our economy, our communities, and our citizens.”- Prof. Ajay Sood, Principal Scientific Advisor.
India's drive to integrate AI into agriculture and small business is a significant opportunity for economic transformation. These playbooks provide the crucial framework to turn potential into action, uniting government, industry, and innovators. Together, we can ensure AI becomes a tool for empowerment, closing divides and creating a future where technology serves humanity at scale - Jeremy Jurgens, Managing Director, World Economic Forum.
“AI delivers impact when it is usable, affordable, and trusted. Together, these reports chart a clear path for India from pilots to scaled adoption — with playbooks that empower farmers to make smarter decisions, enable MSMEs to boost productivity and competitiveness, and a sandbox framework that ensures innovation is safe, validated, and responsible. The result is broad-based, inclusive growth — where every farmer, entrepreneur, and innovator can benefit from AI’s potential to strengthen India’s economy, ensure inclusive growth, and drive global competitiveness. - Gaurav Jindal, Managing Director & Partner, BCG.
AI Playbook for Agriculture- Future Farming
The "Future Farming in India" playbook provides an actionable roadmap to bridge the gap between AI's potential and real-world impact for millions of farmers. It introduces a comprehensive strategy for scaling artificial intelligence to enhance crop yields, mitigate climate and pest risks, and improve market access.
Central to the playbook is the IMPACT AI framework, a three-pillar model designed to guide collaborative action among governments, industry, start-ups, and academia:
* Enable: Spearheaded by governments, this pillar focuses on creating the foundation for AI adoption. This includes developing supportive policies, robust digital public infrastructure (like data exchanges), and responsible AI governance to foster a conducive ecosystem.
* Create: Driven by industry and start-ups, this pillar is the engine of innovation. It focuses on co-developing and validating scalable, context-aware AI solutions through sandboxes and partnerships with research institutions.
* Deliver: Ensuring solutions reach the last mile, this pillar empowers front-line extension systems and farmers. It involves deploying an AI marketplace for easy access to tools and establishing robust feedback loops to continuously refine AI advisory based on ground realities.
The implementation strategy prioritizes regional languages and equipping existing, trusted network of agricultural extension officers, Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), and Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) leveraging AI tools and interpret data-driven advice and actionable steps—delivered via SMS, voice-based apps, or community workshops—that integrate seamlessly into a farmer's daily decisions
AI Playbook to for SMEs- Transforming small businesses
The implementation strategy prioritizes regional languages and equipping existing, trusted network of agricultural extension officers, Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), and Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) leveraging AI tools and interpret data-driven advice and actionable steps—delivered via SMS, voice-based apps, or community workshops—that integrate seamlessly into a farmer's daily decisions
AI Playbook to for SMEs- Transforming small businesses
Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) form the backbone of India's economy, contributing 30% to GDP, employing over 230 million people, and accounting for nearly half of the country's exports. This playbook, Transforming Small Businesses, provides a strategic roadmap to address key challenges of productivity, access to formal credit, and market reach by democratizing AI. It introduces a structured, cluster-based approach to adoption, featuring real-world case studies and a clear framework for implementation.
Central to the playbook is the IMPACT AI framework, a three-pillar model designed to guide SMEs from curiosity to capability:
* Awareness: Building foundational knowledge and trust through AI experience centres and sandboxes in industrial clusters, coupled with workshops and peer-learning networks to demystify AI.
* Action: Equipping SMEs with tools to take the next step, including an AI maturity index for self-assessment, a curated AI solutions marketplace for discovering vetted tools, and identifying alternative financing models to overcome cost barriers.
* Recognition: Accelerating ecosystem-wide adoption by showcasing and celebrating SME AI pioneers, creating a network of role models to inspire confidence and demonstrate tangible success.
* Awareness: Building foundational knowledge and trust through AI experience centres and sandboxes in industrial clusters, coupled with workshops and peer-learning networks to demystify AI.
* Action: Equipping SMEs with tools to take the next step, including an AI maturity index for self-assessment, a curated AI solutions marketplace for discovering vetted tools, and identifying alternative financing models to overcome cost barriers.
* Recognition: Accelerating ecosystem-wide adoption by showcasing and celebrating SME AI pioneers, creating a network of role models to inspire confidence and demonstrate tangible success.
AI Sandbox White Paper
India is at a pivotal moment in shaping the future of AI innovation—one that requires balancing speed, scale, and responsibility. The AI Sandbox White Paper presents a two-part framework – strategic and operational to be actioned through a collaborative structure of Government, Industry and Start Up ecosystem to establish secure, controlled environments for developing and testing AI solutions. Sandboxes address critical gaps in data access, compute infrastructure, model validation, and market pathways de-risking adoption for both developers and end users.
Next Steps:
Next Steps:
C4IR India in collaboration with Government, Industry, Startups and Research institutions would be focusing on three key roles:
* Building Implementation Coalitions: Convening state governments, Agritech companies, and financiers to turn the playbook's roadmaps into funded, on-ground projects.
* Establishing Impact Metrics: A robust monitoring mechanism will be established to track KPIs, such as AI-enabled advisories, input cost reduction, yield enhancement, and improved price realization.
* Facilitating Knowledge Exchange: Enable repository of learnings and best practices to continuously refine the AI ecosystem based on real-world feedback.
Disclaimer: This is a press-release.