Gujarat Taps IBM, IAIRO to establish Industrial AI Centre of Excellence

The Gujarat government, the Indian AI Research Organisation (IAIRO), and IBM plan to establish an Industrial Artificial Intelligence Centre of Excellence (Industrial AI CoE) in Gujarat to accelerate Industrial AI innovation, build AI talent, and strengthen India's sovereign AI ecosystem.

The proposed CoE will focus on advancing the application of AI across asset-intensive industries such as manufacturing, energy, utilities, and supply chains. Envisioned as a ‘living lab’, the Industrial AI CoE will support the development, testing, and adoption of industrial AI applications while promoting indigenous sovereign AI technologies.

The initiative aligns with Gujarat's ambition to position itself as a leading destination for Industrial AI by fostering innovation, research, and industry collaboration.

Beyond technology development, the Industrial AI CoE is expected to develop the ecosystem through pilot projects, technology demonstrations, workshops, conferences, and stakeholder engagements connecting industry, academia, startups, and government.

The Centre will also focus on developing AI talent through academic collaborations, research initiatives, hackathons, certification programmes, and training in emerging AI technologies. 

Additionally, it aims to contribute to the development of AI frameworks, reference architectures, standards, and best practices to support responsible and scalable AI adoption across industries.

As part of the collaboration, IBM and IAIRO will serve as technical and strategic advisors to the Department of Science and Technology in the Gujarat government. 

Their role will include providing expertise in industrial AI, sovereign AI technologies, enterprise asset management platforms, and best practices to accelerate AI adoption across industrial sectors.

Highlighting the importance of combining research with industrial deployment, Amit Sheth, Founding Director, Indian AI Research Organisation, said in a statement, “The next generation of industrial systems will require AI that combines learning with domain knowledge, human expertise, and trust. Translating these capabilities into real-world impact requires an ecosystem where research, policy, and enterprise innovation evolve together, and Gujarat's industrial leadership provides a strong foundation for that transformation. This initiative will help advance indigenous innovation, nurture world-class talent, and translate frontier research into real-world impact, strengthening India's leadership in trustworthy Industrial AI in collaboration with the Government of Gujarat and IBM."

Emphasising the need for enterprise-ready AI infrastructure, Sriram Raghavan, General Manager, IBM Software, India and Software Innovation Lab, said, "Realising this opportunity requires not only advanced AI models, but also access to real-time and historical data, enterprise-ready platforms, governance, and ecosystem partnerships. We look forward to collaborating with the Government of Gujarat and IAIRO to help create a platform that fosters innovation, develops skills, and accelerates the adoption of sovereign AI technologies."

The announcement comes as Indian states increasingly invest in AI infrastructure and innovation ecosystems to drive industrial competitiveness, support digital transformation, and position themselves as global hubs for next-generation technologies.