From government-led adoption to questions of data, governance, equity, and evaluation, the conversation focuses on what it truly takes for AI to deliver public value in agriculture.
📅 February 16, 2026
⏰ 1:30–2:25 PM
📍 L1 Meeting Room No. 19, Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi

This panel brings together practitioners, researchers, and policymakers to unpack why some AI initiatives scale through public systems, while many never move past pilots.

If you’re thinking seriously about AI beyond experimentation, join us: impact.indiaai.gov.in/registration

What does responsible scale really look like? Who benefits? And what kind of evidence do policymakers and practitioners actually need?

A timely, honest exchange on moving from AI experimentation to real public value in agriculture. Stay tuned for more updates!

The reality: hundreds of solutions exist, but very few have moved meaningfully beyond pilot stages.

The panel also leaned into tougher questions — digital access, trust, institutional readiness, and the equity implications of AI-led transformation in agriculture.

From yield prediction and early pest detection to decision-support tools for farmers, the discussion explored where AI is showing productivity gains and where evidence on income, food security, and sustained adoption remains thin.

We also acknowledge the continued support of colleagues from MeitY and partners at NISG, including Veerraju Naidu and Shaik Rasheed Basha, in advancing this effort.

Be part of this milestone conversation on enabling AI-ready MSMEs across India.

This work has been guided by the leadership of the
India AI Mission, including Abhishek Singh, Kavita Bhatia, and Mohammed Y Safirulla K, whose direction has been central to shaping the #MSME #AI readiness agenda.

Shri Subhas Chandra Lal Das, IAS, Secretary,
Ministry of MSME, Government of India, alongside senior leadership including Mr. Bhuvnesh Kumar, CEO, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) & National Institute for Smart Government (NISG)...

This flagship study marks an important step in shaping how India’s manufacturing MSMEs prepare for and adopt AI at scale — moving the conversation from awareness to implementation across sectors.

Drop by at our stalls to explore how thoughtful methodology shapes stronger, more meaningful evidence.
📍 13 February 2026 | Lady Irwin College, New Delhi

At the EvalFest 2026 Innovation Bazaar, Athena Infonomics will showcase interactive methods drawn from multi-country work across South and Southeast Asia—spanning survivor-driven engagement in anti-trafficking research and child-centred storytelling approaches.

Featuring Stewart Collis (Gates Foundation), and led by Michael Minkoff (Athena Infonomics), alongside David Bergvinson and Sophie Barrowman (DevGlobal), the session is designed as a practical bridge between vision & implementation.

#AIForImpact #AIForGood

Session focus:

▪️what the ecosystem must learn to scale AI advisory responsibly,
▪️how benchmarking, data foundations & evaluation shape real-world outcomes
▪️where collaboration is most urgent to ensure equity, relevance, and sustainability by design.

🔗https://impact.indiaai.gov.in/registration

This is where applied, context-aware AI pathways matter. Not as standalone innovations, but as part of agricultural systems designed to work at scale, for the Global Majority.

As conversations around AI scale up across India, particularly on how AI can strengthen public systems and development outcomes – the question of how data-driven insights travel from models to real-world decisions becomes increasingly central.

Athena’s work in #AI and #agriculture focuses on the translation layer, bringing together remote sensing, household insights & market signals to support real decisions on the ground.

The emphasis is on operational readiness: tools that fit workflows, reflect local realities & enable faster action.