The India AI Impact Summit 2026 has emerged as a major confluence of government, startups, creators and global stakeholders, with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting placing startup led innovation at the centre of India’s AI driven creative economy.
The Summit, which commenced on 16 February 2026 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, marks the first international Artificial Intelligence summit hosted in the Global South. Positioned around the principles of People, Progress and Planet, the event underscores India’s intent to build responsible, indigenous and scalable AI capabilities across sectors.
At the heart of this convergence is the dedicated MIB Pavilion, which is showcasing India’s expanding AI startup ecosystem across media, entertainment, gaming and creative technologies. Through the WAVES Creators Corner, the Pavilion has created a structured platform for live demonstrations, panels, masterclasses, fireside conversations and startup showcases, enabling direct engagement between founders, policymakers, investors, creators and international delegates.
A total of 51 startups from the AVGC XR and Media Tech sectors are presenting market ready AI powered solutions spanning content creation, immersive experiences, multilingual tools, adaptive gameplay engines and digital storytelling platforms. Their participation reflects the growing operational maturity of India’s AI startup ecosystem within the creative economy.
The Summit builds on the broader policy momentum reflected in the Union Budget 2026–27, which recognises the creative or Orange economy as a strategic driver of growth, employment and innovation. The Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics sector has received focused attention, including support for the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies in Mumbai to establish AVGC Content Creator Labs in 15,000 secondary schools and 500 colleges. With projections indicating demand for nearly 2 million professionals in the AVGC sector by 2030, AI integration is being positioned as a major employment and value multiplier.
India’s media and entertainment sector, valued at approximately ₹2.5 trillion in 2024 and projected to reach ₹3.067 trillion by 2027, forms the economic backdrop to the Pavilion’s showcases. Digital media revenues stood at ₹802 billion in 2024 and are projected to rise to ₹1,104 billion by 2027. Filmed entertainment generated ₹187 billion in 2024, while animation and VFX contributed around ₹103 billion, expected to scale to ₹147 billion by 2027. Online gaming generated ₹232 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach ₹316 billion by 2027.
Within this expanding landscape, startups are demonstrating AI assisted filmmaking, virtual production systems, automated editing, multilingual dubbing, voice synthesis, AI avatars and scalable digital storytelling tools. Gaming and immersive technology demonstrations include generative AI for game asset development, real time commentary systems, adaptive gameplay engines and immersive interactive environments.
A key highlight of the MIB Pavilion is the WAVES Creators Corner, which is serving as the primary platform for founder led narratives and market ready solutions. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, in partnership with Adobe, is showcasing Kathāvatār, a curated collection of five Made in India AI short films titled Language of Birds, Migoi, Uttarayan, The Barber’s Secret and Yappasauras. These films are being screened at the AI Theatre within the WAVES Creators Corner. Adobe is also hosting a thematic session titled The Future of Film AI Creativity and Craft, alongside a Content Creation Hub demonstrating AI enabled video production workflows.
Renowned film director Shekhar Kapur is leading a masterclass on AI powered storytelling and the evolving grammar of cinema in the age of generative tools. Additional demonstrations at the Pavilion include the Zero Touch Autonomous Newsroom, Bhasha Wall featuring multilingual dubbing and AI sign language avatars, Samvad Setu, The Director’s Chair, an AI podcast studio, conversational humanoid robots and voice cloning technologies. Winners of the Bhashasetu and Kalaasetu challenges are presenting AI tools designed for cultural preservation and linguistic accessibility.
The AI Immersive Theatre, featuring 270 degree projection and spatial design, is screening curated AI films and CinemAI Hackathon finalists from the International Film Festival of India. Scheduled sessions are also featuring innovations from LTM BlueVerse, AWS, Google with Evergent, Sony Research India, PurpleTalk, Dashverse, Pocket FM, Kuku FM and Lumikai, contributing to knowledge exchange and policy dialogue around responsible AI in creative services.
Five Indian startups in the gaming and interactive technology category are presenting specialised AI driven solutions. Yesgnome is showcasing Sketly AI, an art generation platform for game studios enabling production ready asset creation and scalable workflows. Metasports Hitwicket is demonstrating a generative AI powered live commentary engine integrated within its multiplayer cricket platform, delivering contextual voice enabled narration in real time. Koyozo is presenting an integrated hardware software ecosystem that transforms smartphones into console grade gaming devices through intelligent mapping and performance analytics. Youth Buzz Ourcadium is introducing Man vs GPT, an adaptive interactive format where human participants compete against evolving AI agents. Evivve is debuting its Enterprise Cognitive AI Readiness Tool based on the AFERR Model, evaluating organisational preparedness for AI adoption.
A special panel titled The New Gold Rush Investing in India’s AI Powered Gaming Future, curated in collaboration with the Game Developers Association of India, is examining investment trends, AI enabled production models, skilling initiatives and policy frameworks required to scale India’s gaming ecosystem globally.
The India AI Impact Expo 2026 features over 300 curated pavilions and live demonstrations, bringing together more than 600 startups and 13 country delegations. Participation from organisations representing over 100 countries is facilitating benchmarking, co creation, investment dialogue and cross border collaboration across animation, gaming, immersive media and AI enabled content platforms.
The MIB Pavilion stands out as a concentrated showcase of India’s AI native creative capabilities. By combining startup innovation, policy alignment, industry collaboration and global engagement, it demonstrates how Artificial Intelligence is moving from experimental use to market ready deployment across media, gaming and immersive technologies. The convergence at Bharat Mandapam reflects a broader national ambition to position India as a leading contributor to the global AI and creative economy from the Global South.
