Sunil Mittal, Chairman of Bharti Enterprises, has emphasized that artificial intelligence will profoundly benefit healthcare and medical sciences by enabling faster diagnostics, personalized treatments, predictive analytics, and improved access to care. Speaking at a high-profile industry event, he called for accelerated adoption of AI in Indian healthcare to address challenges like doctor shortages, rising chronic diseases, and equitable access, positioning AI as a key driver of innovation and affordability.
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In his address, Sunil Mittal underscored AI’s ability to revolutionize medical imaging interpretation, drug discovery, remote patient monitoring, and population health management, particularly in India where healthcare demand is surging. He highlighted successful Indian AI applications in TB screening, diabetic retinopathy detection, and telemedicine, urging greater collaboration between government, industry, and startups to build ethical, India-centric AI solutions that can scale globally while reducing costs and improving outcomes.
Sunil Mittal, the Chairman and Founder of Bharti Enterprises, delivered a compelling keynote at a major technology and healthcare forum in New Delhi on February 27, 2026, where he outlined how artificial intelligence is set to reshape healthcare and medical sciences in India and around the world. Mittal, whose conglomerate spans telecommunications, retail, and real estate, spoke passionately about AI’s potential to bridge critical gaps in India’s healthcare system from overburdened hospitals and specialist shortages to delayed diagnoses and high treatment costs.
He pointed out that AI is already demonstrating transformative impact in real-world Indian applications, including tools for rapid TB detection through chest X-ray analysis, automated screening for diabetic retinopathy to prevent blindness, predictive models for sepsis and ICU deterioration, and multilingual telemedicine platforms that extend specialist care to rural areas. Mittal praised home-grown startups and institutions for developing solutions that outperform many global models when trained on diverse Indian patient data, accounting for unique factors such as regional disease patterns, genetic variations, and socioeconomic contexts.
The Bharti Chairman stressed that AI’s true power lies in its ability to make healthcare more preventive, personalized, and accessible. He highlighted opportunities in drug discovery acceleration, virtual clinical trials, real-time chronic disease management through wearables, and AI-assisted surgical planning. Mittal also called attention to the need for ethical frameworks, robust data privacy under the DPDP Act, clinician trust through explainable AI, and bias mitigation to ensure equitable benefits across urban and rural populations.
Mittal urged stronger collaboration between government, academia, large enterprises, and startups to create a national AI healthcare ecosystem under initiatives like the IndiaAI Mission and Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission. He expressed confidence that India, with its vast clinical data, engineering talent, and massive patient volumes, is uniquely positioned to not only solve domestic challenges but also export scalable, affordable AI health solutions to the Global South and beyond.
The speech resonated strongly with attendees, reinforcing AI’s role as a force multiplier in healthcare rather than a replacement for human expertise. Mittal concluded by reaffirming the private sector’s responsibility to invest in responsible innovation that prioritizes patient outcomes, affordability, and inclusivity in India’s journey toward universal health coverage.
“AI in healthcare is not about replacing doctors it is about empowering them and reaching millions who otherwise have no access to quality care. India has the data, talent, and urgency to lead this revolution.”
By
HB Team
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