E-Paper
The global push for AI must be anchored in safety
This article is authored by Sapna Bhambani, senior vice president & country leader, TaskUs India.
As the world embraces an Artificial Intelligence (AI) first future, the pace of adoption is staggering and so are the risks that accompany it. According to the 2025 KPMG and University of Melbourne Report “Trust, attitudes and use of artificial intelligence: A global study 2025”, most enterprises have integrated AI into daily operations, yet only a small fraction have robust visibility into how systems interact with sensitive data and have established significant governance controls. This gap means that organisations are deploying technology faster than they are building safeguards which in turn can create systemic vulnerabilities and in the worst cases erode the trust required for sustainable digital transformation. This reflects an internal paradox where executives talk about strategic AI adoption yet most are unprepared to identify and mitigate the potential risk that could undercut the AI-powered gains.
The acceleration of AI adoption is undeniable with recent data showing that major economies and global organisations are increasing investment in AI research and enterprise level deployments. Yet this momentum is out of step with AI governance readiness and risk management capabilities and this misalignment has real consequences. The Global AI Governance Readiness Score August 2025 published by AIGN indicates that governance preparedness remains limited despite growing enterprise reliance on AI systems. A large proportion of organisations find themselves unable to prevent AI related vulnerabilities in production systems or monitor autonomous AI agent behaviour in real time exposing them to data leaks, compliance failure, intellectual property misuse or reputational damage.
AI is already altering workflows and decision making, and while opportunities are expansive, so are the possible misuses. The International AI Safety Report 2026 indicates that evolving general purpose AI models can produce outputs that are inaccurate or biased and without stringent safety frameworks, these can propagate harm at scale. While some firms see productivity gains, others report they have experienced negative consequences directly attributable to AI inaccuracies showing that innovation without accountability is not innovation at all. The rapid expansion of tools that act autonomously and continuously reinforces why safety cannot be an afterthought and why leaders must ensure that human judgement remains integral to oversight and consequence management of critical decisions.
The public and private sectors are responding. The AI Safety Report highlights the importance of cooperation among nations to assess and mitigate risks posed by advanced AI across borders and sectors. A new United Nations Scientific Panel is being formed to provide independent insight into societal and economic impacts of AI. These developments punctuate a clear global mandate that responsible governance and safety standards must be built into the foundation of technology strategy for trust and public interest to be safeguarded. For India, this is particularly important as the country continues to position itself as a leading AI innovation hub. India’s policy ecosystem including data protection and digital regulation is evolving. Thus, it is essential to align national priorities with global safety expectations to ensure that technological adoption accelerates without compromising individual rights or public welfare.
The recently concluded India AI Impact Summit 2026 drew participation from policymakers, researchers and industry leaders from across continents, demonstrating the scale of global attention on India’s AI trajectory and the centrality of safety in these deliberations. The breadth of international attendance underscores how deeply embedded AI has become in economic strategy, public infrastructure and national competitiveness. In this context, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has articulated the MANAV vision for AI which emphasises technology that is human centric, inclusive and accountable. The framework underscores that AI must augment human capability rather than displace it and must operate within ethical guardrails that protect rights and dignity. By placing humanity at the centre of technological progress, the MANAV vision reinforces the idea that innovation and safety are not opposing forces but complementary imperatives. As AI systems become more autonomous, this principle of human oversight and responsibility becomes even more critical to ensuring that scale does not outpace safeguards. Hence, AI safety is no longer a technical sidebar but a geopolitical and economic priority. As adoption accelerates across sectors, even marginal bias or oversight gaps can affect millions given the country’s scale. Proactive safeguards therefore become central to ensuring that technological progress strengthens rather than destabilises institutional trust.
Safety in AI is not a barrier to innovation; it is the catalyst for long term value creation. Embedding governance, transparent performance measurement, ethical deployment practises and continuous workforce upskilling into AI strategies ensures that organisations are not merely automation first but resilient and responsible in their AI journeys. Leaders must champion policies that place safety at the centre of every decision. When safety becomes a strategic pillar rather than a compliance checklist, organisations will unlock true competitive advantage, build stakeholder confidence and contribute to an ecosystem where AI elevates human potential rather than compromising it. AI First must therefore always mean Safety First because without safety the promise of AI remains fragile and the cost of failure is far too high for business, governments and society. The opportunity for India and the world is to shape an AI landscape that is not only intelligent but trustworthy, secure and inclusive, ensuring that technology works for people and not the other way around.
This article is authored by Sapna Bhambani, senior vice president & country leader, TaskUs India.
