Kumar Bahukhandi
Industry and academic leaders at the AI Leadership Summit 2026 hosted by KLH Global Business School in Hyderabad recently. The summit brought experts together for discussions on Responsible AI, AI Governance and emerging applications across major sectors.
KLH Global Business School brings academia and industry leaders together to examine AI’s growing role in finance, retail, education and enterprise decision-making
Key Highlights
- Summit focuses on Responsible AI, AI Governance and human oversight
- Industry experts discuss AI applications across FinTech, InsurTech and retail technology
- Speakers stress the need to move towards AI-enabled, project-based higher education
- Event brings together professionals from major corporations, startups and academic institutions
- KLH Global Business School seeks deeper industry-academia collaboration for AI-ready talent
Hyderabad: Artificial Intelligence may be transforming businesses at extraordinary speed, but its expansion must be accompanied by responsible governance, transparency and human oversight, experts emphasised at the AI Leadership Summit 2026 hosted by KLH Global Business School in Hyderabad.
Organised in collaboration with the IIT Kharagpur Alumni Association, Hyderabad Chapter, and Astravion AI, the summit brought technology executives, entrepreneurs, researchers and academics onto a common platform to examine how AI is reshaping financial services, insurance, retail technology and enterprise operations.
Rather than treating AI simply as another technological advancement, discussions at the summit focused on its emergence as a strategic tool capable of influencing economic growth, education, governance and scientific development.
Industry professionals, academics and researchers attend the AI Leadership Summit 2026 at KLH Global Business School in Hyderabad on recently. The deliberations focused on responsible AI adoption, governance and stronger industry-academia collaboration.
Participants examined practical applications including intelligent banking systems, fraud detection, predictive analytics, insurance innovation, customer-focused retail technologies and enterprise AI adoption. The discussions also addressed the governance and ethical safeguards required as organisations increasingly integrate AI into decision-making.
Universities Must Prepare Students for an AI-Driven Economy
Er. Koneru Lakshman Havish, Vice President of KL Deemed to be University, said technological capability would have to be matched by responsible leadership as AI becomes embedded across sectors.
“Artificial Intelligence is transforming every sector of society, creating opportunities that demand both technological excellence and responsible leadership,” Havish said.
He said initiatives such as the AI Leadership Summit could strengthen links between academia and industry while preparing students to become innovators, entrepreneurs and ethical technology leaders capable of addressing real-world challenges.
A significant theme emerging from the deliberations was the changing responsibility of universities. Speakers stressed that institutions would increasingly need to move beyond conventional classroom teaching towards AI-enabled, project-based and industry-driven learning if graduates were to remain relevant in a rapidly changing employment environment.
The summit drew professionals associated with organisations including Deloitte Consulting, Tata Consultancy Services, Bank of America, Thoughtworks, Novartis, JPMorgan Chase, Survey of India, BHEL, TechBulls, DeepTraq AI, Optificial Labs, Tavant, KODRYX AI and several academic institutions.
Interactive panel discussions and networking sessions provided opportunities to examine emerging AI applications as well as the challenges surrounding ethical deployment, accountability and regulation.
Senior university officials attending the summit included Dr N. Venkatram, Pro Vice Chancellor; Dr Srinath, Dean, Skilling; and Dr Anand Bethapudi, Dean, KLH Global Business School, along with faculty members, researchers and industry representatives.
The summit concluded with a call for deeper collaboration between universities and industry in research, innovation and talent development. KLH Global Business School said integrating AI literacy and responsible governance into education would be important in preparing graduates not merely to use emerging technologies, but to understand their implications and lead their responsible adoption.
