Artificial intelligence is often hailed as transformative, but its benefits rarely reach rural India. JAN AI wants to change that by building “AI-first villages” across the country. Its focus is inclusivity—uplifting farmers, artisans, and rural entrepreneurs, not just urban innovators.
The initiative aims to bridge the digital divide. It plans to deliver AI literacy in local languages and help people apply it to practical, everyday use. A farmer diagnosing crop disease with an AI app, or a homemaker selling crafts online, are the kinds of outcomes it envisions. The mission is bold: reach 10,000 villages, train 10 million citizens, and enable 100,000 rural AI entrepreneurs.
The vision was laid out by Madan Padaki, managing trustee of JAN AI and head of the Head Held High Foundation, at Cypher 2025 in Bengaluru. “It’s not just making AI in India. I think this is also about making AI work for India,” Padaki said.
Rethinking AI for Bharat
Padaki questioned why AI should serve only metros and tech hubs. “Why should the internet or a metaverse or AI first work in Koramangala rather than Koppal?” he asked. To test this idea, JAN AI ran literacy pilots in villages in North Karnataka. Students identified everyday problems where AI could make a difference.
The results showed early sparks of innovation. Farmers tried disease detection apps. Women entrepreneurs explored AI tools to expand their businesses. Padaki was clear on the metric that matters: “If you are unable to put a thousand rupees more in their pockets every month, the tech is useless.”
The foundation also launched training with UN Women, turning women in ITIs into AI trainers for peers. Rural youth are learning not just to use AI, but to imagine new careers and enterprises built on it. “In India, we need jobs. We need AI to create more jobs in the long run,” Padaki said.
He added that the foundation is working with initiatives like Bhashini and the IndiaAI Mission to advance its goals.
Building AI-First Villages
JAN AI’s model rests on four pillars: awareness and learning, rural innovation, entrepreneurship, and community ownership of data. The goal is to democratise AI as earlier waves of technology were—PCOs in the telecom era or internet cafés in the early days of the web.
Padaki imagines local AI centres in every village. Trained youth would act as advisors, offering context-specific solutions for crops in Dharwad or crafts in Koppal.
To scale, the foundation is working with universities, government bodies, and global organisations. Partnerships with Google.org, the Asian Development Bank, and state institutions have already trained hundreds in Kalyan Karnataka. Another partnership with the Karnataka Digital Economy Mission is aiming to create 1,000 AI entrepreneurs in a year. The first cohort has begun in Kalburgi.
Padaki calls the model an “A-I-D-E-A-L” village. In this vision, thousands are AI aware, many know how to safeguard against misuse, some run income-generating projects, entrepreneurs offer trusted solutions, and cooperatives ensure shared benefits from community-owned data.
“Can we create 10,000 AI-first villages, 100,000 AI entrepreneurs, and a play store of a thousand proven solutions that truly put money in the hands of our rural brethren?” Padaki asked.
For him, the success of AI in India will not be judged by shiny labs or global rankings. It will be measured in resilient villages that thrive in the digital age.
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