Embracing artificial intelligence is no longer optional but a matter of survival for individuals, companies and governments, and India appears to be moving in the right direction, said Jack Hidary, CEO of SandboxAQ, at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting.“It’s time to embrace AI or die,” Hidary told PTI, outlining his central thesis that companies adopting artificial intelligence will grow, while those that do not will fade away. The phrase also forms the title of his forthcoming book, which aims to underline the urgency of AI adoption beyond content-generation tools.SandboxAQ originated as a research group on artificial intelligence and quantum technologies within Google’s parent Alphabet Inc in 2016, before being spun off as an independent company in 2022. Its investors include former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who now chairs SandboxAQ, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, T Rowe Price and others.Describing the current phase as a major inflection point across industries, Hidary said AI is no longer a “nice to have” but existential for business survival. “The companies that embrace AI will grow and those that don’t will die,” he said.A business-to-business firm, SandboxAQ focuses on enterprise solutions that combine AI and quantum technologies, helping corporates and governments in areas such as drug discovery, materials science, navigation and cybersecurity.Giving sectoral examples, Hidary said AI-enabled tools can drastically shorten drug discovery timelines for diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s, which traditionally take 15 years or more. In energy, he said companies deploying AI-powered catalysts to convert oil and gas into new energy products will gain an edge.Referring to India’s education sector, Hidary said, “India is very important here, having the largest population in the world of 1.4 billion people. If they don’t embrace AI, it will not be able to thrive globally.”On cybersecurity — identified by WEF as the biggest immediate risk for India — Hidary said cyber security is fundamental to national security at both the federal and state levels. “There can be critical infrastructure targets like banking, telecom and public utilities,” he said, PTI quoted.He also flagged risks facing Indian technology companies such as Infosys, Wipro and TCS, which handle vast amounts of global customer data. “They have a global footprint that requires immediate cybersecurity implementation,” he said, adding that the same urgency applies to governments.While acknowledging that AI creates new vulnerabilities, Hidary argued that advanced AI solutions are also key to addressing AI-driven risks. He said SandboxAQ’s solutions are already being used by banks, companies and governments worldwide, including in the US.Highlighting India’s economic structure, Hidary said nearly 80 per cent of the country’s economy operates in the physical world — spanning railways, energy, telecom and infrastructure — areas directly impacted by SandboxAQ’s AI applications.He said a key objective is to help Indian companies build intellectual property domestically. Citing the pharmaceutical sector, Hidary noted that while firms like Dr Reddy’s develop new medicines, many Indian companies largely manufacture drugs based on IP developed elsewhere.“There is a potential for a paradigm shift to create intellectual property within India itself,” he said, adding that SandboxAQ’s AI-driven molecular design tools could help transform India from an IP consumer into an IP creator.While acknowledging the rise of AI tools for digital content such as text, images and video, Hidary said SandboxAQ focuses on AI for the real world. “We focus on physics, mathematics, chemistry, new medicines, new materials and new catalysts,” he said.“When you look at 80 per cent of the economy in India, it’s fundamentally in the real world, not the digital world. And that’s the area that SandboxAQ impacts,” he added, saying the company aims to drive transformation by working closely with both industry and governments.
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