E-Paper
From battlefield to boardroom: Why India’s 2025 moment demands a deeptech revolution
This article is authored by Shailendra Singh Kathait, co-founder & chief data scientist, Valiance Solutions.
India’s digital economy has grown at an extraordinary pace — but beneath the glitter of apps, platforms, and software exports lies a deeper void. For decades, India has mastered execution, not invention. We’ve scaled global IT delivery and digital platforms, yet remain dependant on others for the technologies that truly define the future — from semiconductors and advanced sensors to artificial intelligence and quantum systems.
The world’s leading nations have internalised a crucial truth: the most transformative innovations are dual-use — technologies that serve both civilian life and strategic needs. The Internet, GPS, and drones were all born from frontier research programmes that later revolutionised entire industries and economies. These breakthroughs didn’t just strengthen nations; they created trillion-dollar markets and shaped global leadership.
India’s next wave of growth must emerge from this same model. Dual-use deep technologies — built on advanced science and designed to work across sectors — are the foundation of economic strength, resilience, and self-reliance.
Imagine an AI-driven surveillance system repurposed for urban safety and disaster response. Or a high-precision sensor network originally built for border monitoring used to track crops, pollution, or forest fires. This kind of cross-pollination is what accelerates innovation — and it’s what India has so far lacked.
Countries like Israel and the United States have shown how aligning government, academia, and private capital around deep science can transform economies. Their startups didn’t chase quick exits or valuations — they built technologies that redefined entire industries and national capabilities.
To replicate that success, India must fund conviction, not convenience. Deeptech ventures require patient, long-horizon investment — not the rapid churn of consumer markets, but the steady faith to build what others can’t. Without this belief, India risks losing its brightest innovators to nations that fund ambition over immediacy.
India’s opportunity is immense — but its window is narrow. The next global superpowers will not be those who consume technology the fastest, but those who create technologies the world depends on.
If India wants to lead in the next decade, it must build from the lab outward — nurturing deeptech ecosystems that integrate defense, academia, and enterprise innovation.
India’s deeptech decade will be defined by how courageously we invest in ideas that don’t pay off tomorrow but shape what’s possible for generations. Sustainable leadership will emerge from dual-use tech that advances both civic progress and strategic strength.
This article is authored by Shailendra Singh Kathait, co-founder & chief data scientist, Valiance Solutions.
