AI Appreciation Day 2025: Intelligence for a Better Future

AI is no longer a futuristic concept; it’s a present-day force accelerating progress across every sector. On AI Appreciation Day 2025, we don’t just celebrate the technology; we honour the innovators, researchers, and responsible builders driving intelligence that improves lives. From transforming diagnostics and modernizing business to combating climate change and cyber threats, AI is helping shape a smarter, safer, and more equitable world.

To mark the occasion, industry leaders across sectors shared their insights, highlighting AI’s transformative role in their fields and the critical need to balance rapid innovation with ethical responsibility, security, and long-term human impact.

Arun Kumar Parameswaran, EVP & Managing Director - Sales & Distribution (South Asia) at Salesforce

The future of work will belong to those who can harness AI not just as a tool, but as a transformative partner in progress. At Salesforce, we see AI as a force multiplier,  augmenting human intelligence, accelerating productivity, and enabling people to focus on what truly drives business and societal impact: creativity, empathy, and innovation.

But AI is only as powerful as the data that fuels it. Trusted, unified, and real-time data is the foundation for effective AI, enabling meaningful insights, smarter decisions, and responsible automation. The ability to connect and contextualize data across systems is what ultimately empowers AI to deliver value at scale.

This transformation must also be anchored in trust. The promise of AI can only be realised through transparency, accountability, and ethical use. That’s why we are embedding trusted AI into the fabric of our platform,  in the flow of work, with humans at the centre.

On AI Appreciation Day, let’s shift the narrative,  from fear of obsolescence to confidence in augmentation, from man versus machine to man with machine. Because it’s this partnership that will define the next frontier of work.”

Vasanthi Ramesh, VP- Engineering and Managing Director, NetApp India

On AI Appreciation Day, it’s essential to reflect on the transformative role AI continues to play across industries worldwide. With data volumes now far outpacing our human ability to process and respond, AI isn’t just valuable, it’s essential. With the rise of open large language models (LLMs), businesses are navigating an increasingly competitive global landscape for AI leadership. NetApp’s AI Space Race report reveals that this momentum is shared across geographies: 81% of CEO’s and IT executives surveyed highlighted that they are currently piloting or scaling AI initiatives, and 88% believe their organizations are mostly or fully prepared to sustain long-term AI transformation. 

That said, winning the AI race will require intelligent data strategies and robust infrastructures - supported by agile, secure, and scalable cloud solutions. Regardless of industry, size, or geography, organizations must invest in resilient infrastructure that enables real innovation. Because in the AI Space Race, success will be defined by the ability to turn data into lasting competitive advantage.

Deepti Nayak, Senior Director for Technology, Publicis Sapient India

Innovation is the only way to stay relevant. It is not merely about a new, flashy idea but about identifying and addressing real-world problems. There is often a temptation to adopt the most hyped AI solutions, which can result in prioritizing novelty over meaningful impact.

Today, AI is playing a pivotal role in shaping a better and sustainable future. AI empowers individuals and businesses to act more effectively and efficiently by enabling smarter decision-making through data-driven insights. In critical domains such as sustainability, AI is helping optimize energy consumption, monitor environmental changes, and support climate resilience efforts. AI is also revolutionizing healthcare by enhancing diagnostic accuracy and personalizing treatment plans. From improving healthcare diagnostics to managing climate change, AI is continuously reshaping our lives for greater efficiency and well-being.

Nataraj Kumar, Head of Software Engineering and Components, Innovation Engineering, Philips Innovation Campus

At Philips, we embrace AI with a deep sense of responsibility, recognizing its potential to transform lives through healthcare innovation. AI, for us, is more than just a powerful technological tool; it is an enabler that brings us closer to addressing some of healthcare’s most complex challenges. From enhancing diagnostic precision to enabling personalized treatment pathways, AI holds immense potential to positively transform healthcare delivery, benefiting both patients and clinicians.

Alongside celebrating these advancements, we also acknowledge the need for thoughtful integration of AI. Ethical considerations, transparency, trust, and human empathy must guide every AI-driven solution we develop. We believe that the real promise of AI lies in responsibly aligning technology with human values, focusing on improving care, reducing healthcare disparities, and empowering individuals.

Kaushik Mitra, Vice President and Head of India GTM, Celonis

AI cannot make decisions responsibly unless it understands how things work beneath the surface. That requires clarity into the process, not just access to data. Process intelligence offers the operational context AI needs to generate accurate, effective, and responsible outcomes. Without it, even the best models can deliver narrow or misplaced results. That’s why there’s no AI without PI, not as a concept, but as a fundamental constraint. Process intelligence gives organizations a way to shape change deliberately, rather than retrofitting it. And that’s what will make AI sustainable, not just scalable.

Dinesh Ajmera, Site Leader and VP Of Engineering, Confluent India

"AI’s real promise for India lies not in replacing human hands, but in extending human potential—transforming our vast talent, curiosity, and entrepreneurial spirit into unstoppable momentum. Its impact will grow when it becomes part of daily life for every worker, educator, farmer, and student. That means meaningful education, training in local languages, and real opportunities to use AI to solve problems, learn faster, and make better decisions. We must create systems that support curiosity with access and turn ambition into action. India’s strength has always been its people. When every Indian can harness AI, we don’t just automate tasks—we ignite possibility, building a future that’s not only smarter, but more inclusive, resilient, and deeply humane."

Fabio Fratucello, Field CTO World Wide, CrowdStrike

AI is lowering the barrier to entry for adversaries, allowing them to automate social engineering, misinformation campaigns, and credential harvesting at unprecedented speed and scale. CrowdStrike's 2025 Global Threat Report reveals adversaries are using large language models (LLMs) for sophisticated phishing and business email compromise attacks that closely replicate human behavior.

At the same time, AI is transforming organisations' ability to detect and respond to cyber threats. Under immense pressure from rising alert volumes, faster breakout times, and a persistent shortage of skilled analysts, security teams must leverage AI to protect their organisations and move from reactive response to proactive threat disruption. Automating time-consuming and repetitive tasks, agentic AI can be a force multiplier for security teams by enabling them to focus on understanding adversary behaviour, hunting advanced threats, and stopping breaches before they escalate.

Nishant Patel, Co-founder & CTO, Contentstack

AI has become the engine room of modern digital innovation, quietly removing friction, automating the mundane, and letting creators and developers focus on what truly moves the needle. At Contentstack, we see AI as a force multiplier that enables hyper-personalised, real-time experiences, anticipates user needs, and accelerates delivery across every digital touchpoint. For developers, it means less time on boilerplate and more time on breakthroughs. For enterprises, it means content that adapts, performs, and resonates at scale. But with this power comes a duty to wield AI ethically, ensuring that every experience is inclusive, responsible, and grounded in human values. AI Appreciation Day is a call to lead with ambition and integrity.

Diwakar Dayal, Managing Director & Area Vice President, India & SAARC at SentinelOne

On World AI Appreciation Day, we’re reminded of how AI is not just reshaping technology but transforming how we protect, innovate, and grow in the digital world. In India, where businesses are embracing rapid digitalization, AI has emerged as a force multiplier in cybersecurity, enabling organizations to detect threats faster, respond smarter, and stay resilient against increasingly sophisticated attacks.

At SentinelOne, we see AI as the core of a modern defense strategy. It's no longer about reacting to threats; it's about anticipating them, autonomously mitigating risk, and doing so at machine speed. From securing India’s critical infrastructure to supporting enterprises on their AI journeys, we believe in harnessing AI not just as a tool but as a trusted ally.

As India drives forward in its digital ambitions, responsible AI adoption guided by transparency, trust, and innovation will be key to securing the future.

Ranjeetha Raja, Chief Transformation Officer, Broadridge India

AI has rapidly evolved from experimental pilots to enterprise-wide deployment, fundamentally changing how organizations operate and compete. Increasingly, business processes and applications are becoming AI-enabled by design rather than as an afterthought. In the financial services and fintech space, AI is enabling far deeper insights on evolving market and customer trends, accelerating settlement cycles, simplifying operational processes, enabling fraud detection, and freeing up the human intellect for far more valuable outcomes. Every industry and business is exploring the whole spectrum of AI, from simple automation and RPA to machine learning to GenAI and, most recently, agentic AI frameworks. 

Srihari Bhaskara V, Tech Director - GenAI, Multimarket, Bosch Global Software Technologies’

Artificial Intelligence is transforming consumer products into smart, intuitive experiences that anticipate user needs and spark everyday delight. By enhancing human potential across product design, engineering, and supply chain optimization, AI is fuelling a new wave of innovation. From vehicles that sense emotions to ovens recommending perfect recipes and washing machines suggesting efficient cycles, AI is seamlessly becoming part of daily life. As it continues to advance, AI promises a future where products don’t just serve, they understand us, enriching the way we live, work, and connect.

Louis Mathew, Enablement Services Leader, EY Global Delivery Services

At EY GDS, we see AI as a powerful enabler that elevates the quality of our work. By taking on repetitive and time-consuming tasks, AI frees our teams to focus on what truly matters: solving complex problems, thinking creatively, and delivering meaningful impact. It’s not about replacing people—it’s about empowering them. That’s why we’re investing in the skills, tools, and support our people need to grow with AI, not around it.

Neeraj Abhyankar, VP & Practice Head – Data, Analytics & Generative AI, R Systems International

It’s not just about building AI anymore, but about building it the right way - with purpose, responsibility, and real-world impact. Today, AI is transforming how we live, work, and solve problems, from streamlining workflows to accelerating decisions. At R Systems, we focus on building AI that reduces effort by automating the mundane, while driving outcomes that matter. Whether it’s modernizing healthcare, enhancing customer experience, or empowering teams with intelligent tools, we believe AI should create value that can be measured. Because the real test of AI isn’t what it’s capable of — it’s what it delivers, consistently and responsibly, for people and business.

Naveen Bolalingappa - CEO, STL Digital

As we mark AI Appreciation Day in India, it’s important to acknowledge both the promise and the pressing challenges that define the country’s AI journey. While India is rapidly becoming a global digital powerhouse, reports indicate that over 60% of enterprises still fail to operationalize AI at scale without a future-ready enterprise solution. This challenge arises due to data silos and legacy infrastructure as key barriers. The root cause lies in the fragmented adoption approach, where AI is often treated as a one-off initiative rather than a long-term, organization-wide capability. This disjointedness not only stalls innovation but also prevents businesses from unlocking the true value of data-driven decision-making.

On this AI Appreciation Day, we urge Indian businesses to not just adopt AI but to embed it into the core of their operations. Because appreciation should lead to action, and that’s how we collectively shape a smarter, more resilient digital future for India.

Ganesh Gopalan, Co-Founder & CEO, Gnani.ai

AI isn’t just reshaping industries, it’s redefining how we connect, understand, and innovate. At Gnani.ai, we blend advanced speech technologies with local context to turn complex data into actionable insights, making businesses more agile and inclusive. By bridging human potential with machine intelligence, AI becomes more than a tool; it becomes a catalyst for transformative change, empowering societies to move faster, think smarter, and build a future limited only by imagination. The true power of AI lies in its ability to amplify human intent and creativity.

Keith Odom, Senior Vice President- Managed Services, India Operations, AHEAD

AI is becoming the lens through which infrastructure is understood. Systems are no longer just maintained. They are observed, learned from, and improved in real time. This shift helps IT teams focus on what needs attention and gives them space to plan, not just react. When infrastructure becomes self-aware, teams move with greater accuracy and less uncertainty. 

Kishan Sundar, Senior Vice President & Chief Technology Officer, Maveric Systems

It is important to recognize that generative AI has advanced from theory to a practical tool for financial institutions. The focus is shifting from basic automation to smart systems that improve decision-making, strengthen risk management, and build trust and transparency into core operations. Banks should find a balance between innovation and governance, ensuring AI is used responsibly while providing measurable benefits across digital, compliance, and customer experience areas.

Jayashree Jayabalan, Manager Software Engineering, Sabre India

Humans took centuries to develop emotional intelligence—understanding memory, empathy, and the impact of emotions on behaviour. AI, though much newer, is learning rapidly. What we grasped over generations, AI is absorbing in a fraction of the time. It’s not just performing tasks; it’s learning how we think and feel. As it evolves, AI is becoming more than a tool—it’s growing into a thoughtful companion. Just as society progressed by embracing empathy and reducing bias, AI too is moving towards emotional awareness.With time, it may become a better friend - one that supports, understands, and grows with us.

Arijit Mitra, Managing Director, BEAT, Acuity Knowledge Partners

AI Appreciation Day 2025 comes at a pivotal moment in AI. Cutting-edge models with reasoning abilities of PhDs, coding agents will make developers 50% more efficient powered by Nvidia’s $4 trillion valuation underscores drastic transformation undergoing in our society.  Across sectors, generative copilots are moving from chatbots to workflow orchestrators in finance and logistics, the FDA now lists more than 850 authorised AI-enabled medical devices in healthcare, and AI-driven climate tools like DeepMind’s cyclone predictor outpace traditional physics models. These advances reveal that AI’s real strength lies not in replacing people but in amplifying expert judgment—turning regulators, clinicians, analysts, and engineers into co-designers of safer, smarter systems that tackle high-stakes problems at unprecedented scale.

Chaitali Moitra, Regional Director, South Asia, Turnitin

Artificial intelligence is transforming how we learn, create, and solve problems. It is important to recognize AI as a collaborative ally rather than just a tool. When integrated thoughtfully, AI can support educators and students by offering new ways to explore ideas, provide feedback, and foster originality. The challenge and opportunity lie in using AI responsibly balancing innovation with transparency. By embracing AI as a partner, we encourage a future where technology enhances human creativity and integrity, helping learners develop skills that will be essential in tomorrow’s world.

Murugan Anjunan, CTO, HerKey 

A decade ago, a career break often ended a woman’s professional journey. Today, AI is rewriting that story; not by replacing human potential, but by amplifying it. We’ve built AI to engineer equity, creating personalised, human-first career paths for women. Because the future of AI isn’t just built in labs, it’s shaped by women who lead with care, intuition, and integrity. They’re not just adapting to AI, they’re giving it its conscience.

Leveraging Algorithmic Intelligence with Human Wisdom

Artificial intelligence is about impact rather than just technology as we commemorate AI Appreciation Day in 2025. AI is helping us rethink what is possible by increasing productivity and unlocking human potential. However, that authority also carries responsibility. The future of AI hinges not only on innovation but also on how carefully, safely, and morally we use it, as industry voices have correctly noted. Human values will define the next chapter of AI, not just code.

As Aveekshith Bushan, Vice President & General Manager, APJ, Aerospike, sums it up, "AI Appreciation Day 2025 isn’t just a celebration of algorithms—it’s a recognition of the silent enablers behind the scenes. From edge computing to hybrid transactional-analytical platforms, the future belongs to AI built on real-time, resilient, and scalable data systems. As we move forward, the synergy between AI intelligence and infrastructural agility will define what’s possible—for industries, societies, and individuals alike."