India is looking into a mirror of possibilities.

The velocity with which new technologies are emerging across a myriad of sectors is shaping a forward-looking future; the last decade has seen India embrace frontier tech — cutting-edge innovations that are shaping industries, societies, and economies in transformative ways.

BVR Subrahmanyam, NITI Aayog CEO, underscores that frontier technology is capable of realising eight percent of India’s growth by creating new avenues for emerging innovation. “We are at the heart of policymaking in India. We push the envelope rather than getting caught up in the daily grind of schemes,” he pointed out.

His belief is backed by a growth story that is rapidly unfolding across the country. And co-authoring this narrative are students, innovators, doctors, civil servants, and educators — determined to bring breakthroughs from the margins to the mainstream.

Tackling malnutrition with an app

Our first stop is the Todsa Ashram School in Maharashtra’s Etapalli.

It’s break time and 222 girls queue in front of a machine that will analyse their BMI (body mass index). Relief colours their faces as the results indicate a number upward of the previous ‘malnourished’ index.

In 2022, IAS officer Shubham Gupta — then assistant collector of Etapalli — was shocked to learn that 61 of the 222 girls were malnourished. Now Managing Director of Western Maharashtra Development Corporation, Pune, Gupta recalls how the statistic compelled him to think out of the box.

The answer lay in a simple app. Each time a student displayed their plate, the app scanned it against 2,100 images and data points, pointing out anomalies. Were the bananas substandard? Were the eggs bad? Was the dal too watery? Nothing escaped its hawk vision.

Gupta says the app not only helped reduce malnutrition but also reshaped his view of AI’s power in public health. “The best part is that what once took 20 years can now be achieved in five with the help of technology.”

Even beyond the ambit of the project he pioneered, Gupta sees AI in healthcare as a breakthrough.

This view is shared by two doctors, Dr Dhruv Joshi and Dr Dileep Raman. Their healthcare tech platform, Cloudphysician, is setting a precedent for how healthcare — when combined with frontier technology — could transform the bedrock of critical care.

The ‘ICU in a box’: Embracing frontier tech in healthcare

Why is the infrastructure of critical care crumbling in rural pockets of India?

In hospitals where there are no ICU specialists or where the inflow of patients is too high, what can be done to ensure every patient receives the highest standard of care?

This is where the Smart ICU solution developed by Cloudphysician comes into play. As Dr Dhruv explains, “The command centre at Cloudphysician is connected to the hospital ICU where we partner. Patients who are in this hospital ICU are monitored 24/7 by a trained critical care team at Cloudphysician.”

This monitoring includes tracking the patient’s vitals, spotting complications, and alerting doctors on site in time if the vitals show anything unusual.

But even as these revolutions brew in healthcare, they are just one vein in a growing ebb of possibilities that spotlight the power of tech. Stories in agriculture, education, urban planning and security mirror the same success.

And is India ready to embrace this frontier technology?

Well, the only way to predict the future is to create it, as a NITI Aayog report points out.

Reasoning that India currently stands at the forefront of a technological revolution, Subrahmanyam says we must approach AI’s potential with both ambition and responsibility. “Our goal is clear: India must not only emerge as a global leader in technological innovation but also as a champion of responsible, ethical, and inclusive development. We have the talent, the resources, and with the right strategies in place, we can establish a new global standard for AI governance and deployment.”

Currently on the cusp of a technological renaissance, a steady adoption of........

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