AI & Digital Transformation

From Pact to Practice: AI as the New Axis of India-Germany Cooperation

On 18 February 2026, German Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger and Indian IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw signed the Germany-India AI Pact at the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi — a flagship initiative to transform seven years of digital dialogue into implementation-driven bilateral cooperation. The Pact covers five priority areas: AI for industry and manufacturing, responsible AI governance, talent and skills exchange, research and infrastructure, and AI for social good.

The vision is concrete: Indian IT expertise meeting German SMEs and Industry 4.0. Dedicated contact points in both countries will connect startups, tech companies, and industry associations to accelerate cross-border AI adoption. Both sides will deepen exchanges on responsible AI, including experiences with the EU AI Act and India’s national AI policies. The Pact builds on the Indo-German Digital Dialogue Work Plan 2026–2027, signed in Berlin the previous month, which addresses internet governance, data regulation, semiconductors, and emerging technologies.

For German manufacturers, the opportunity is transformative: access to India’s vast pool of software talent and a rapidly growing digital economy. For Indian technology companies, the gateway opens to Europe’s largest industrial base. GIF tracks how these frameworks translate from government agreements into company-level action — and where the gaps remain.

Research Agenda

• Question 1 How can the AI Pact’s “dedicated contact points” be designed to effectively connect German Mittelstand companies with Indian AI solution providers — and what early pilot initiatives should be prioritised?
• Question 2 What regulatory alignment is needed between the EU AI Act and India’s emerging AI governance framework to enable cross-border AI deployment without compliance friction?
• Question 3 How are India’s Global Capability Centres evolving from IT service centres into AI innovation hubs for German parent companies — and what does this transformation require in terms of talent, IP management, and organisational design?
• Question 4 What are the most commercially viable use cases for bilateral AI collaboration in manufacturing, energy, healthcare, and agriculture — and which German-Indian company partnerships are already demonstrating results?
• Question 5 How should Indian and German universities structure joint AI research programmes to produce both publishable science and deployable industrial applications?

Tagged Publications

• White Paper “The Germany-India AI Pact: An Implementation Roadmap for Industry” — mapping the Pact’s five pillars to concrete company-level actions. Flagship inaugural publication.
• Policy Brief “EU AI Act Meets India: Regulatory Convergence and Divergence for Cross-Border AI Deployment”
• Commentary “From Dialogue to Delivery: What Seven Years of Indo-German Digital Cooperation Have — and Haven’t — Achieved”
• Data Point Dashboard indicator: number of German-Indian AI partnerships announced, GCC AI headcount trends, bilateral patent filings in AI/ML

Linked Events

• Policy Dialogue “Implementing the AI Pact: What German Industry Needs from Delhi and Berlin” — structured conversation with government focal points, industry associations, and AI practitioners from both countries
• Roundtable Panel “GCCs as AI Innovation Hubs” — dedicated panel at GIF Roundtable editions featuring German companies running AI-active GCCs in India
• Boardroom “AI Adoption for the Mittelstand: A C-Suite Conversation” — invite-only for 15 Mittelstand CEOs exploring AI partnerships with Indian providers

Research Fellow