IBM India pitches ‘digital swaraj’ with country-specific tools for sovereign AI

IBM is developing India-specific tools and application programming interface (API) connectors to integrate its sovereign AI software platform with local systems, as it seeks to help enterprises and governments retain greater control over their data, technology and AI operations.

At its Think 2026 event in Mumbai on Tuesday, Sandip Patel, Managing Director, IBM India and South Asia, described the approach as “digital swaraj”, arguing that sovereignty need not come at the cost of innovation.

“Sovereignty is not a choice between control and innovation. It is what gives enterprises the confidence to innovate at scale while remaining in control,” Mr. Patel said.

IBM’s Bharat Core comprises India-specific tools and API connectors built to work with its Sovereign Core software platform. Sovereign Core enables organisations to run cloud-like services on their own or partners’ infrastructure while retaining control over data, operations and AI workloads.

Bharat Core consists of around 20–25 tools and connectors designed to address Indian requirements, including integration with systems such as Aadhaar, Mr. Patel said during a press meet.

He cited three examples of IBM’s collaborations with Indian technology partners. IBM’s watsonx Orchestrate platform is available on Yotta’s Shakti Cloud, enabling organisations to deploy and govern AI agents while keeping data, operations and governance controls within India. IBM’s Sovereign Core has also been installed on NxtGen’s infrastructure to deliver secure, governed AI inference services in the country.

IBM’s collaboration with Indian AI company Sarvam combines Sovereign Core with Sarvam’s language, voice and reasoning capabilities, targeting government, public-sector and regulated applications.

Mr. Patel said sovereignty was gaining importance as enterprises and governments assessed how changing regulations and geopolitical developments could affect the infrastructure on which their operations depend.

“Sovereignty is not about building walls. It’s about controlling your keys,” said Hans Dekkers, General Manager, IBM Asia Pacific. Sovereign infrastructure, he said, involves equipping existing infrastructure with software and technology that allows organisations to retain control within India.

IBM’s approach centres on enabling organisations to run and manage AI on infrastructure they control, rather than requiring them to move all their workloads to public cloud platforms.

Separately, IBM on October 12 signed a memorandum of understanding with MeitY Startup Hub, an initiative of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, to support India’s deep-tech startup ecosystem.

Under the agreement, startups will gain access to IBM’s enterprise technologies, technical guidance, mentorship, skilling programmes and opportunities to engage with enterprises and investors.

The collaboration will cover enterprise AI, hybrid cloud, quantum computing, sovereign AI and open-source ecosystem development, with a focus on startups from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. IBM and MeitY Startup Hub will also explore enterprise proof-of-concept projects to help startups validate and commercialise their technologies.

(The writer was in Mumbai at the invitation of the company)