India Emerging as Leader in Agentic AI Deployment, Says Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella

Microsoft Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella has underlined India’s growing leadership in artificial intelligence, particularly in the rapid deployment of agentic AI applications. Speaking in Bengaluru during his AI Tour of India, he said the country is witnessing strong momentum across developers, enterprises, and institutions, positioning India as a major global hub for next-generation AI innovation.

India’s Rising Role in the Global AI Ecosystem

Addressing developers, AI experts, and technocrats, Nadella said India is on track to become the world’s largest GitHub developer community by 2030. He praised the scale and quality of projects emerging from Bengaluru and other Indian technology hubs. According to him, Microsoft is building GitHub as an “Agent HQ”, an integrated platform designed to host and coordinate multiple AI agents that can work together across software development and enterprise workflows.

Shift Towards an AI-Driven Development Lifecycle

Nadella emphasised that agentic AI requires a fundamental change in how developers think about building software. He said the traditional software development life cycle must evolve into an AI-driven SDLC, where intelligent agents assist in coding, testing, deployment, and optimisation. The goal, he noted, is to empower builders to innovate at scale, assign complex tasks to AI agents, and generate actionable insights that translate into real-world outcomes.

Major Investment and Focus on Infrastructure

Highlighting Microsoft’s long-term commitment to India, Nadella reiterated the company’s announcement of a $17.5 billion investment, its largest in Asia to date. He said the investment would focus on building robust digital and AI infrastructure in the country. This, he added, would help improve customer experience, employee productivity, and operational efficiency across organisations adopting Microsoft’s AI platforms.

Exam Oriented Facts

• Agentic AI refers to AI systems that can act autonomously to perform tasks.
• GitHub is owned by Microsoft and is a major global developer platform.
• Microsoft announced a $17.5 billion investment in India in 2025.
• AI-driven SDLC integrates artificial intelligence into software development stages.

Cyber Resilience and Agent Factories

Nadella also highlighted cyber resilience as a key aspect of digital sovereignty, noting that cybersecurity depends on global threat intelligence. He explained that Microsoft processes trillions of security signals daily to strengthen defences across Azure and Windows. He further outlined Microsoft’s vision of “agent factories” under its IQ factory framework, including work IQ, fabric IQ, and foundry IQ, enabling organisations to create, deploy, and manage AI agents tailored for specific business functions.