In an AI-driven world, tech universities have an important role of not just teaching new technologies, but also to help shape how they are built, understood, and applied. Plaksha University has spearheaded this mission at the intersection of deep-tech research, interdisciplinary innovation, and hands-on learning. From anchoring high-level policy discussions on national AI infrastructure to integrating machine learning directly into biotechnology, here is how Plaksha is driving India’s AI transformation.
Plaksha’s Founding Chancellor and Ex-Berkeley Engineering Dean, Dr. Shankar Sastry Tells Graduates AI’s Next Big Test Is Going to be Financial
Dr. Shankar Sastry, Plaksha University’s founding Chancellor, brings credentials which are rare in Indian academia. Before Plaksha, he spent over a decade as Dean of Engineering at UC Berkeley, led the Information Technology Office at DARPA and held faculty positions at MIT and Harvard. At Plaksha’s second convocation, he drew on that experience to tell graduates where AI is actually headed, and where it could go wrong.
He pointed to work already underway at EMBER, Plaksha’s Embodied Intelligence and Robotics lab, where his team is building humanoid robots that can assemble other robots, run search and rescue and play table tennis. He called this Physical AI, AI that moves off the screen and into the physical world, and said it will demand a new generation of lean, power efficient processors built for the edge.
Referencing Richard Sutton’s Bitter Lesson, the idea that more data beats clever engineering, Dr. Sastry cautioned that the race to feed ever larger models could break budgets before it breaks new ground. He called safe AI and alignment between competing agents the defining problem of the decade, one still unsolved.
He closed by telling graduates their job is not just to build what comes next, but to leave society better off for it. Click here for the full address.
Sarvam AI , Microsoft Research & BharatGen among other industry leaders came together to discuss a roadmap for global leadership to build India’s AI Engine
What will it take for India to move from being one of the world’s fastest adopters of AI to becoming a global leader in it? That question anchored ‘Building India’s AI Engine’, a panel discussion hosted by Plaksha University on the eve of its second convocation, bringing together some of the biggest names shaping India’s AI story.
The panel included Vivek Raghavan, Co-founder of Sarvam AI, Sriram Rajamani, Corporate Vice President at Microsoft Research, Maneesh Singh, Vice President of Machine Learning at BharatGen, Hitesh Oberoi, Co-promoter, MD and CEO of Info Edge, Neeraj Aggarwal, Vice Chair – Asia Pacific at Boston Consulting Group, and Dr. Shankar Sastry, Plaksha’s founding Chancellor and Thomas Siebel Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at UC Berkeley.
The conversation moved from building foundational models and scaling AI infrastructure to the harder questions of nurturing talent and building an ecosystem that can sustain research and innovation over the long run. It reflected the cross-sector thinking Plaksha aims to cultivate, bringing together individuals from distinct corners of India’s AI landscape to examine what the country’s path forward genuinely entails.
Plaksha Brings Industry, Academia and Government Together at ConfBioTech 2026 to Shape Biotechnology’s Next Decade
India’s ambition to build a $300 billion bioeconomy by 2030 will take more than scientific breakthroughs. It will need talent, technology, entrepreneurship and the ability to turn research into real innovation. That was the premise behind ConfBioTech 2026, India’s premier Annual Leadership Forum on Biotechnology and the Bioeconomy, hosted by Plaksha University.
The forum drew some of India’s biggest names in biotech and pharma, including D. S. Brar, Chairman of Aragen Life Sciences and former CEO of Ranbaxy, Manish Gupta of Indegene, Priyanka Aggarwal, Managing Director & Senior Partner, BCG, Dr. Taslimarif Saiyed, Director & CEO, C-CAMP and Prof. Sanjeev Galande, Dean, Shiv Nadar University, alongside representatives from BIRAC and the Wadhwani Foundation.
The conversation was primarily around India having strong scientific talent and research, but needs stronger pathways to turn that work into technologies, companies and IP that can scale globally. DS Brar highlighted the need for India to move beyond a largely service-led model and build technologies and businesses of its own.
To build India’s bioeconomy, the university is contributing to the talent and innovation ecosystem that will be needed to support its growth. Plaksha’s focus is on building the capabilities and pathways that can help take ideas from research to real-world impact.
Plaksha’s AI Builders Bootcamp trains more than 50 final year engineering students across Universities Like IIT Roorkee, IIT Mandi, IISER Mohali, Netaji Subhas University of Technology, and Delhi Technological University.
Most AI training stops at how to use the tools. Plaksha University’s AI Builders Bootcamp went further, teaching a cohort of engineering undergraduates, recent graduates and young professionals how to actually build the systems behind them.
Over two days, participants moved from fundamentals to a working product. Day one covered generative AI and large language model basics, advanced prompting and context management, and how to design an LLM-powered assistant. Day two took things further into Retrieval-Augmented Generation and agent-based systems, teaching participants how to connect external knowledge sources to LLMs and build agents that can reason and act on their own.
By the end, every participant walked away having built a functional, RAG-backed intelligent agent of their own. Sessions were led by Plaksha faculty, with a keynote from Professor Chris Callison-Burch of the University of Pennsylvania on where large language models are headed next.
Young Women in STEM across India explore AI and robotics at SheLeadsTech Immersion Programme
The DS Brar Center for Girls and Women in STEM brought young women in science and technology from across India to Plaksha University for the two-day SheLeadsTech Immersion programme.The program combined conversations around personal growth and leadership with hands-on exposure to emerging technologies. Participants reflected on their ambitions while engaging with women tech leaders.
The first day focused on building self-awareness and confidence, encouraging participants to reflect on their strengths, narrating their personal stories, and engaging in candid conversations with women leaders from across India on ambition, career growth, and finding their path.
Day two focused directly on technical capability, introducing participants to generative AI, language models, and practical robotics sessions led by Plaksha’s research fellows, equipping young women to envision themselves as future innovators in AI and STEM.