Let’s take a look at what Gopal Vittal, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Bharti Airtel Limited, said about Artificial Intelligence (AI). As one of the telcos offering 5G — a key enabler for AI acceleration in India — the viewpoints of Airtel’s leadership team play an important role in shaping industry offerings and influencing market sentiment.
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This article highlights the quotes and insights from the Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Bharti Airtel, who also serves as Chairman of the GSMA. It captures his evolving perspectives on AI’s impact on telecommunications, innovation, and the future of the digital ecosystem.
The GSMA is a global organisation whose members include 1,000 telecom companies worldwide, as well as handset and device manufacturers, software companies, equipment providers, internet firms, as well as organisations in adjacent industry sectors.
Commenting on Airtel’s partnership with Google to establish India’s first mega AI hub and data center in Visakhapatnam, Gopal Vittal said: “This partnership with Google is a defining moment in India’s digital future. By combining world-class AI infrastructure with our nation’s extraordinary talent and also expanding global connectivity, we are laying the foundation for India to become a leader in the AI-driven era. With Visakhapatnam becoming a new hub on the world’s AI map, we are ensuring that India has the opportunity to set the pace for innovation, digital inclusion and economic growth—not just for our people, but for the world.”
Earlier in July 2025, Airtel partnered with Perplexity AI to offer a 12-month Perplexity Pro subscription worth Rs 17,000 free of cost to all of Airtel’s 360 million customers. Commenting on the partnership, Gopal Vittal said: “We’re thrilled to announce a game-changing partnership with Perplexity, bringing their cutting-edge AI capabilities exclusively for Airtel customers. This collaboration will bring the powerful and real-time knowledge tool for millions of users at their fingertips, at no extra cost. This first of its kind Gen-AI partnership in India is focused on helping our customers navigate the emerging trends in the digital world with confidence and ease.”
June 30, 2025:
During the Q1 FY26 Earnings Webinar, while highlighting Airtel’s fourth strategic pillar — to build and leverage digital capabilities — Vittal said: “I do want to make two points here today. The first is AI. On AI, we have done numerous experiments, much as most large companies have in various parts of the world. The change we are now bringing about is to put AI at the very heart of our business. So what we are doing is to now place AI at the very center of all the digital platforms that we have already built and are running at scale. We feel this will take our capabilities to the next level. More about this in the coming quarters as we see it coming to fruition.”
On the content side, Vittal highlighted Airtel’s partnerships with Amazon, Disney, Netflix, and Zee — as well as exclusive partnerships with Apple and Google, which enable Airtel to offer complimentary cloud storage. “And the last example is our breakthrough partnership with Perplexity that empowers our customers with innovative technology and cutting-edge AI capabilities. We are seeing strong customer engagement within a few days of the launch and have already climbed to over 5 million and growing every day,” Vittal added.
May 2025:
During the Fourth Quarter (Q4 FY24) Earnings Conference Call, Vittal highlighted the use of AI in Airtel’s digital tools for network monitoring: “… we are now refining our ways of working so that we dramatically improve the craftsmanship of the work that our engineers deliver in the home. The fact that we have digital tools to monitor our SOPs and take live pictures to authenticate them using artificial intelligence makes this scalable,” Vittal said.
Gopal Vittal is currently the Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Bharti Airtel. He serves on the Boards of Bharti Airtel Limited, Airtel Africa PLC, and Indus Towers. He was recently elected Chairman of the GSMA Board — becoming the second Indian to hold this position — and will serve in this role until the end of 2026.
This is a developing story, and more quotes and insights from Gopal Vittal will be added as they become available.
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