- India, as a country, has organized gargantuan and monumental events of international repute quite successfully, earning laurels in the bargain. We are also known for extending laudatory and emulation-worthy hospitality, going out of the way to ensure the visiting guests feel comfortable and completely at home. Furthermore, we have also organized mammoth sporting/other events and will be aiming to host no less than the ultimate extravaganza like the Olympics in the future. This being the case, it begs questions as to how and why the most important event, like the AI Summit 2026, had to endure embarrassment on the first day, courtesy of an apparent oversight by the organizers, failing to undertake due diligence while browsing through the nitty-gritties.
PC: News18
- As reported extensively, the AI Summit hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons, most amazingly, the organizers’ shortsightedness in overlooking simple adherence to SOPs. Mind you, running a smooth global event isn’t rocket science. However, the reputational costs of embarrassment can be really high. The focus should have been on Sarvam AI to bask in LLM glory, but the buzz was stolen by a private university and its Chinese robot dog. What the Galgotias team did isn’t surprising, in hindsight. Right from kindergarten, schools commend and reward children for projects polished by parents and paid artists. Five-year-olds are scored on the finesse of thermocalsolar systems. Genuine rough-edged effort never finishes on the podium.
PC: Outlook India
- Team Galgotias merely followed old instincts in choosing a store-bought celebrity. That it did so at the world’s largest AI summit is really the organisers’ fault, for they should have carefully vettedevery entry. Let’s get this straight, this AI summit isn’t any old mela. It’s drawn tech royalty, global media attention follows, and there will be a guiding declaration at the end. That’s the template set by Britain in 2023 and followed by S Korea and France in 2024 and 2025. India agreed to host this year’s summit last Feb, so it had a full year to get everything right. Instead, we’ve faced some serious embarrassment. Day 1 was chaotic to say the least. People struggled to enter the venue. There were complaints about the registration system and digital payments. Both were missed opportunities. Here was our chance to show the world we’re first-rate, tech-enabled organisers.
PC: Fortune India
- Also, it was a chance to sell UPI to the West, but weak connectivity made it a cash-only outing. Some participants complained about stolen exhibits, and then the Chinese robot scandal spoiled the effect on Day 2. Of course, the IT minister has apologized for the first day’s mess, but did we really need to make this summit a carnival? By now, India has decades of event management experience. Major shows, like the Auto Expo, have separate business and public days, and that should have been the format of this summit too. That way, all the good stuff that happened over the past three days wouldn’t have been overshadowed by bad press. Sarvam’s a prime example. Here’s an AI that beats the likes of ChatGPT hands down, but disorganization spoiled it big time.
