Dubai’s Museum of the Future, the city’s latest architectural marvel dedicated to exploring science, technology, and innovation, became a hub for dialogue and action in the global AI revolution on Wednesday, Feb. 26, as it hosted the Indiaspora AI Summit 2025.
The daylong summit, held in partnership with the Dubai Future Foundation, marked the conclusion of Indiaspora’s first-ever Forum for Good. It brought together global AI experts from Silicon Valley, the United Arab Emirates, India, and beyond to discuss how nations can navigate the fast-evolving AI landscape amid groundbreaking investments in infrastructure.
One of the summit’s highlights was a fireside chat featuring Navin Chaddha, Managing Partner of the Menlo Park, California-based Mayfield Fund, which invests in early and growth-stage companies.
In the inaugural session, Chaddha spoke with Indiaspora Founder and Chairman MR Rangaswami on “The Era of Collaborative Intelligence.” Stressing that people, not markets, drive lasting innovation, he said, “We are a firm which invests in people, not in markets. Because at the stage we invest, our belief is people build products, people build companies, waves can come and go. If you bet on A-plus people who are aligned with your values, their initial idea may not pan out, but eventually they [will]. So we are making bets on the jockeys, not the horse, and when we talk about AI, it’s a horse. At the end, humans will win.”
When asked by Rangaswami why he was so optimistic about AI, Chaddha described it as a tool that will enhance, rather than replace, human capabilities. “I don’t look at it as it’s going to take over jobs, I look at it… as collaborative intelligence, machines and humans will work together to elevate humans to super humans, they will help, yes, already in factories and everything, automation has happened, efficiency has happened, but now, using AI and machines, they will be able to do jobs, we don’t want to do, we can’t do.”
Reflecting on his long career in Silicon Valley, Chaddha — who holds a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University and a B.Tech in electrical engineering from IIT Delhi and has made 12 appearances on the Forbes Midas List of Top 100 Tech Investors — noted that he had never witnessed anything on the scale of the current AI revolution.
Other prominent speakers included Deputy CEO of Dubai Future Foundation Abdulaziz AlJaziri and industry titans such as Anurag Banerjee, founder and CEO of Quilt.AI; Radha Ramaswami Basu, founder and CEO of iMerit; Anurag Jain, co-founder and managing partner at Perot Jain; and Sindhu Gangadharan, managing director of SAP Labs India.
The AI Summit was preceded by the three-day Indiaspora Forum for Good, held in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE. The event brought together approximately 500 members of the Indian diaspora from 30 countries.
(By arrangement with American Bazaar)
