WSL Desk
The AI By HER Global Impact Challenge, a flagship programme of the India AI Impact Summit 2026, brought together women innovators, founders, researchers and policymakers for a day-long showcase of inclusive and impact-driven artificial intelligence solutions. The event underscored the growing role of women-led innovation in shaping India’s AI landscape across education, healthcare, sustainability, security and public infrastructure.
Also Read: Women Make Up 80 Percent of Workforce at Foxconn’s New iPhone Plant Near Bengaluru
Her First Algorithm: India’s Next Breakthrough
The programme opened with a panel titled Her First Algorithm: India’s Next Breakthrough, moderated by Deepali Upadhyay, Programme Lead at the Atal Innovation Mission. Young innovators from schools in Andhra Pradesh, Greater Faridabad and Delhi presented AI-based solutions addressing artisan livelihoods, grain storage inefficiencies and chronic health conditions. The discussion highlighted how national innovation platforms are institutionalising early exposure to problem-solving and technology-led thinking among students.
From Lab to Lives: Turning Innovation into Impact
In the session From Lab to Lives: Turning Innovation into Impact, moderated by Meghna Bal, Director at the Esya Centre, speakers emphasised the importance of translating research into scalable, real-world applications. Dr Anurag Agrawal of Ashoka University, Hemendra Mathur of Bharat Innovation Fund, and Ravindra Misra of OPL Innovate discussed responsible data use, sector-specific design and leveraging India’s Digital Public Infrastructure to drive sustained impact.
Startup Playbook: Not Despite. Because of HER
Another panel, Rewriting the Startup Playbook: Not Despite. Because of HER., examined how women founders are building resilient enterprises across industries. Moderated by Rahul Matthan of Trilegal, the discussion featured Kanika Tekriwal of JetSetGo Aviation Services, Rucha Nanavati, Chief of Advanced Technologies, Farm Equipment Business, Mahindra & Mahindra and Sarita Ahlawat of BotLab Dynamics. Speakers stressed disciplined execution, strong networks and long-term resilience as key drivers of scale, according to the official release from the Ministry of Electronics & IT dated February 16, 2026.
Building Things to Transform: Breaking the Mould
The session Building Things to Transform: Breaking the Mould, moderated by Debjani Ghosh, Distinguished Fellow at NITI Aayog, focused on building infrastructure-level AI solutions. Panelists including Sunita Maheshwari of The Telerad Group, Vidur Mahajan of CARPL.ai and Dr Nagendra Nagaraja of QpiAI India Pvt Ltd highlighted the need for long-term conviction and ecosystem collaboration to translate complex technologies into scalable business models.
Startup Spotlight: Women-Led Ventures
The event also featured 12 Startup Spotlight pitches by women-led ventures across sectors such as education, climate intelligence, cybersecurity, bioprinting, manufacturing and waste management. The presentations reflected a strong emphasis on practical deployment and measurable societal outcomes.
Spotlight Ventures Included:
Spotlight 1 – Cognitii: An AI platform expanding access to special-needs education through technology-enabled, user-centric learning solutions.
Spotlight 2 – Cellverse Pvt Ltd: AI-validated 3D bioprinted disease models enabling animal-free testing for pharmaceutical and cosmetic research.
Spotlight 3 – BettrLab: An AI-powered product development platform streamlining R&D workflows and accelerating innovation cycles.
Spotlight 4 – Secure Blink (NariRaksha.AI): An AI-driven application and API security platform enabling continuous vulnerability detection and faster remediation.
Spotlight 5 – Cratic AI: A multilingual AI co-worker designed for factory floors, improving safety, execution intelligence, and operational performance.
Spotlight 6 – Baeru: An AI-first waste intelligence platform enabling real-time, traceable marine plastic recovery through voice-first data capture.
Spotlight 7 – Arghyam: A women-led foundation leveraging AI and digital public infrastructure to strengthen water governance and service delivery.
Spotlight 8 – Trupreneurs.ai: The world’s first AI platform for K-12 entrepreneurship, enabling students to learn through creation and real-world problem solving.
Spotlight 9 – Sychedelic: AI-enabled headphones reimagining personal audio through intelligent and immersive sound experiences.
Spotlight 10 – AquaAirX: AI-powered autonomous systems integrating hardware and software for real-time decision-making in complex environments.
Spotlight 11 – RoshniAI: A voice-first AI learning companion delivering personalised education in local languages through trusted women-led networks.
Spotlight 12 – ClipreAI: An AI-led climate intelligence platform proposing climate and weather risk management as digital public infrastructure, with a vision for a National Climate Intelligence System integrating hybrid forecasting, impact-detection AI, and real-time decision support to enable proactive resilience across energy, agriculture, and urban systems.
Strengthening the Ecosystem
The day concluded with a session on the role of the Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP), where Mission Director Anna Roy announced a dedicated capacity-building programme for 150 shortlisted women-led AI startups. The initiative will provide structured mentorship and networking support in collaboration with ecosystem partners, reinforcing the need for holistic support from aspiration to scale.
She also announced the Top 10 winners of the challenge—Able Credit, Aso AI, Power Lifeline, Veryfi Technologies, Project Drives, Prosigo Language, Videos HR, That Creating, Water Ultra AR and Zico AR—marking the culmination of a day that highlighted how women-led AI innovation is shaping India’s next phase of technological growth.
