Indian Innovators Dominate TIME's 2026 AI Influential List

30 SEC SUMMARY

In 2026, TIME's 100 most influential people in AI list features 10 Indians and people of Indian origin. These innovators span founders, researchers, CEOs, and policymakers working across foundational AI, enterprise technology, semiconductors, healthcare, and AI governance.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction
2. The Influential List
3. Building from India
4. The Diaspora
5. Across the AI Stack
6. Key Highlights
7. FAQ Section
8. Conclusion
9. Call-to-Action

Introduction

In 2026, TIME released its fourth edition of the TIME100 AI list, recognizing 100 individuals across four categories: Leaders, Innovators, Shapers, and Thinkers. Among them, ten individuals of Indian origin have made significant contributions to the global AI ecosystem.

The Influential List

TIME's list showcases the growing Indian imprint on global AI advancements. The 100 individuals are categorized based on their influence and contributions to AI. The list includes:

• Sarvam AI co-founder Vivek Raghavan
• Adalat AI co-founder Utkarsh Saxena
• IBM Chairman and CEO Arvind Krishna
• Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra
• Caltech professor Anima Anandkumar

Building from India

Vivek Raghavan

Vivek Raghavan, co-founder of Bengaluru-based Sarvam AI, is listed under Innovators. Raghavan spent over a decade working on Aadhaar before transitioning to AI. He co-founded Sarvam in August 2023 with Pratyush Kumar after both worked on open-source Indian-language AI at AI4Bharat, the research lab at IIT Madras. TIME's profile focuses on his case for AI sovereignty. Raghavan has argued that Indians are exporting data and importing intelligence, a trade he compares to the country exporting cotton and importing cloth a century ago. Sarvam released its 30B and 105B open-weight models in March, and introduced Sarvam Vision, a vision language model covering 22 Indian languages, in February. In August, Nvidia joined an extension that completed Sarvam’s $300 million Series B, which valued the company at about $1.5 billion.

Utkarsh Saxena

Utkarsh Saxena, co-founder and CEO of Adalat AI, is also listed under Innovators. Adalat AI builds speech and language tools for Indian courtrooms, working on the transcription and case-management bottlenecks that slow the judicial system.

The Diaspora

Arvind Krishna

Arvind Krishna, Chairman and CEO of IBM, appears under Leaders and is one of 17 listmakers on TIME's worldwide cover. Born in Andhra Pradesh and an IIT Kanpur graduate, Krishna has led IBM since 2020.

Arvind Raman

Arvind Raman is listed under Leaders as acting head of the US Center for AI Standards and Innovation and director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, placing him at the centre of American AI standards-setting.

Anima Anandkumar

Anima Anandkumar, Bren Professor of Computing and Mathematical Sciences at Caltech, is under Innovators. An IIT Madras alumna with a PhD from Cornell, she previously served as senior director of machine learning research at Nvidia.

Suchi Saria

Suchi Saria, Founder and CEO of Bayesian Health, is under Innovators for her work applying machine learning to clinical decision-making and patient deterioration prediction.

Sanjay Mehrotra

Sanjay Mehrotra, Chairman, President and CEO of Micron Technology, is under Innovators. Micron's high-bandwidth memory has become one of the constrained inputs in the AI hardware supply chain.

Across the AI Stack

The 10 names span a wide cross-section of the AI economy. Raghavan is building foundational models, Saxena is applying AI to the justice system, Krishna and Ravi Kumar lead global technology companies, and Mehrotra operates in the semiconductor layer underpinning the AI boom. Anandkumar and Saria represent research and healthcare applications, while Raman, Gandhi, and Jain are working on standards, policy, and questions around how AI should be governed.

Key Highlights

• TIME's 2026 list features 10 Indians and people of Indian origin in AI.
• The list includes leaders, innovators, shapers, and thinkers.
• Sarvam AI and Adalat AI are among the startups making significant strides.

FAQ Section

What does AI sovereignty mean?

AI sovereignty refers to the concept of controlling and managing one's own AI data and intelligence, rather than exporting data and importing processed intelligence.

Who are the leaders on the list?

Arvind Krishna (IBM) and Arvind Raman (US Center for AI Standards and Innovation) are among the leaders on the list.

What role does Micron Technology play in AI?

Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO of Micron Technology, is recognized for his contributions to the semiconductor industry, which is a critical component in the AI hardware supply chain.

Conclusion

The inclusion of these 10 individuals on TIME's 2026 AI influential list highlights the growing impact of Indian innovators in the global AI landscape. Their contributions span foundational models, enterprise technology, semiconductors, healthcare, and AI governance, showcasing the diverse and dynamic nature of the AI ecosystem.

Call-to-Action

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