The Tata Group convened the Tata AI Sakhi Immersion Programme at the India AI Impact Summit 2026, reinforcing its commitment to inclusive and technology-led growth. The programme brought together 1,553 women participants from six states, that is, Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Delhi NCR.
Structured into three categories—artisanal, digitally literate (basic), and digitally literate (advanced)—the programme demonstrated how artificial intelligence can be a practical, accessible tool for entrepreneurship and self-empowerment among women artisans and entrepreneurs from rural India. Each cohort included artisans, grassroots entrepreneurs, leaders of self-help group (SHG), as well as community facilitators from diverse rural backgrounds.
There was one mentor per five participants, which ensured personalised guidance and real-time problem-solving throughout the immersion programme. With the support of their mentors, participants used AI to explore new product designs, create marketing materials, understand government schemes, translate documents, and prepare applications on their own phones, and more importantly in their own languages. By the end of the tow-and a half hour long programme, the participants collectively completed 4,727 AI-powered tasks with the advanced cohorts demonstrating a 98 per cent completion rate for assigned tasks.
About 447 traditional artisans used AI to generate design ideas, product photos, and innovation concepts for crafts such as Pattachitra, Madhubani, and Dokra. Similarly, 940 women from self-help groups used AI to identify objects, navigate government schemes, create marketing materials, and draft business communications. About 166 advanced digital entrepreneurs comprising women who already earn about Rs 20,000 per month, explored AI for self-learning and business growth.
The workshop was designed as a focused, hands-on AI impact one and was hosted in the presence of Smriti Irani, chairperson, Alliance for Global Good, Gender Equity & Equality, CII, and Aarthi Subramanian, executive director & COO, TCS.
The sessions covered key use cases such as AI-assisted product and design exploration for artisans and micro-entrepreneurs, marketing asset creation, including visuals and basic promotional content to help the participants unlock the power of AI in their daily lives.
Aarthi Subramanian, ED & COO, TCS, said, “At Tata Group and TCS, we firmly believe that technological advancement must go hand in hand with the parallel progress of communities. This is our vision of inclusive growth, where technology becomes a bridge to shared prosperity and a stronger, self-sustaining India.”