Dr Priti Adani urges graduates to pursue ‘physical AI’, build India’s research ecosystem

Dr Priti Adani, chairperson of the Adani Foundation and president of Adani University, has called on graduates to look beyond familiarity with artificial intelligence and develop the scientific judgement needed to question, verify and challenge AI-generated answers. Speaking at the university’s third convocation, Adani said the next frontier of technology would be the movement of intelligence from the digital world into the physical world.

“In the coming times, the skills that will set one apart aren’t familiarity with technology. It is the scientific judgement. The scientific judgement is the ability to question, to verify, and to know when an answer simply doesn’t hold up,” she said.

She described this emerging area as “physical AI”, where artificial intelligence is combined with computation, robotics, sensors and engineering to allow machines and infrastructure to respond to real-world conditions. “We see it when a machine at a port instantly and safely responds to a sudden change in the wind. We see it when an inspection system autonomously identifies a hairline fault in an electricity network long before a blackout happens,” Adani said.

Adani University eyes industry-academia research

Adani said the university could use the Adani Group’s businesses across ports, airports, logistics, energy, utilities and digital infrastructure as real-world environments for research. “Viewed from the lens of a research laboratory, these all are more than operating businesses. They are environments filled with difficult, interconnected questions,” she said.

“The promise is not that industry will simply tell a university what to study. The promise is that exposure to demanding real-world conditions can bring up questions, such questions that neither the industry nor academia would have framed alone.” She said this would form part of the ambition behind Adani University’s upcoming multidisciplinary global campus in Ahmedabad, which is intended to bring together students, researchers and industry.

Adani said the university had already begun building its research base. In the last academic year, the university supported 488 active PhD scholars and provided seed grants for faculty research. It also helped students present their work at national and international forums. Under the Student Startup Policy Gujarat 2.0, the university engaged 3,551 students, she said.

Adani also urged graduates to view their position as members of one of the early graduating batches as a responsibility to help establish the university’s legacy. “At an old university, graduates inherit legacy. At a young university, graduates create legacy,” she said.

She said India now needed institutions capable of converting its scientific and engineering talent into original research and innovation. "Talent can travel anywhere, but the institutions that turn talent into innovation must be built patiently here at home,” Adani said.

She added that innovation should ultimately benefit underserved communities. “The breakthroughs that matter most are those that reach the most marginalised corners of our country."