Vizag to operate India’s first AI CoE

Visakhapatnam: The Tech Bharat Research Foundation, a social enterprise advancing real-world AI solutions for public governance and citizen-centric innovation, is collaborating with Google Cloud to set up India’s first AI Centre of Excellence (CoE) which will operate from Visakhapatnam.

The foundation aims to harness the power of AI to address citizen challenges in governance aligned with India’s vision for responsible and inclusive AI.

The TechBharat Research Foundation, an initiative of Hyderabad-based ParadigmIT, a technology solutions leader empowering enterprise through digital transformation and Quantela, a global smart technology company pioneering data-driven urban governance and sustainability solutions.

Google Cloud will support the initiative by fortifying systems, capacity, and national-scale impact, ensuring the CoE becomes a hub of innovation and real-world applications in the public sector.

“With TechBharat, we’re bringing our best technologies and talent to help resolve real-world public sector challenges and create opportunities for innovation. Google Cloud in collaboration with TechBharat will help shape scalable solutions built in India to create a powerful ecosystem that combines our cloud capabilities to deliver AI for Public Good at national scale,” said Ashish Wattal, director, Public Sector, Google Cloud India.

The TechBharat AI fellowship, a 120-day national programme is nurturing India’s brightest young minds, to solve real-world public sector challenges using AI.

Google Cloud’s support to TechBharat encompasses access to Google Cloud’s AI development platforms, Gemini APIs, cloud credits, mentorship support from Google’s teams and domain experts to build enterprise-grade AI solutions and help from Google’s GTM teams to take proven solutions to governments across India and the Global South.

Speaking on the occasion, Sridhar Gadhi, founder, TechBharat Research Foundation, said, “At ParadigmIT and Quantela, we are immensely proud to be part of this mission, shaping AI that matters not just for businesses, but for citizens, governance, and India’s AI future.

Google’s collaboration provides tremendous impetus to create systems, partnerships, and national-scale solutions that will transform public services into citizen-friendly experiences.”