In October 2025, the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) Ajay Kumar Sood released three publications under the Artificial Intelligence (AI) for India 2030 initiative led by the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR) India, World Economic Forum (WEF).
- These documents, targeted at agriculture, small businesses, and AI innovation ecosystems provide detailed, actionable frameworks to scale responsible and inclusive AI across critical sectors of the Indian economy.
Exam Hints:
- What? 3 publications under AI
- AI Playbook for Agriculture: AI use cases, 3 pillars – enable, create, deliver, dynamic platform, Align with other AI programmes
- AI Playbook for MSE: Major barriers, AI use case, 3 pillars – awareness, action and recognition
- AI Sandbox ecosystem: 5 layers – Governance, Innovation, Models, Data and Infrastructure.
The Three Publications are:
Future Farming in India: AI Playbook for Agriculture
Purpose: The AI for agricultural playbook has four main purpose:
- To offer an overview of potential AI use cases and applications in agriculture and how they can be operationalized.
- To present a structured framework based on three critical pillars – enable, create and deliver – with clear guidelines and actions for stakeholders.
- To provide a call to action that leads to a dynamic platform outlining the next steps.
- To align AI strategies with ongoing initiatives in India, such as the IndiaAI Mission, Agri Stack and state-led AI programmes.
Transforming Small Businesses: An AI Playbook for India’s SMEs
Purpose: The AI playbook for MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) has five main purposes:
- To articulate and highlight the major barriers faced by MSMEs in their AI adoption journey.
- To offer an overview of major AI use case categories in the MSME ecosystem and present a framework to enable MSMEs to prioritize relevant AI use cases.
- To inspire MSMEs to use the transformative power of AI by showcasing real-world case studies.
- To present a structured framework based on three critical pillars – awareness, action and recognition – to accelerate AI adoption in MSMEs.
- To provide a call to action as well as a detailed implementation roadmap delineating the role of different stakeholders.
Shaping the AI Sandbox Ecosystem for the Intelligent Age: White Paper
Purpose: To establish an AI sandbox ecosystem that catalyses responsible innovation, enhances the ease of doing AI research and development, and positions India as a global leader in artificial intelligence by 2030.
Layers: The framework is structured across five interdependent layers of the AI ecosystem: Governance, Innovation, Models, Data and Infrastructure.
- Each layer identifies a set of enablers to support experimentation and growth and guardrails to ensure compliance, security and trustworthiness.
About World Economic Forum (WEF)
President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) – Borge Brende (Norway)
Headquarters – Cologny, Switzerland
Founded – 1971
