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NEW DELHI (India CSR): Reinforcing its commitment to inclusive and technology-led growth, the Tata Group convened the Tata AI Sakhi Immersion Program at the India AI Impact Summit 2026, demonstrating how artificial intelligence can be a practical, accessible tool for entrepreneurship and self-empowerment among women artisans and entrepreneurs from rural India.
Designed as a focused, hands-on AI impact workshop and hosted in the presence of Smriti Irani, Chairperson, Alliance for Global Good, Gender Equity & Equality, CII, and Aarthi Subramanian, Executive Director & COO, TCS, the program brought together 1,553 women participants from six states, including Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Delhi NCR. The participants were organised into three structured cohorts – Artisanal, Digitally Literate (Basic), and Digitally Literate (Advanced). Each cohort included artisans, grassroots entrepreneurs, Self-Help Group (SHG) leaders, and community facilitators from diverse rural backgrounds.
The initiative was anchored in a high-touch mentorship model, with one mentor supporting every five participants, ensuring personalised guidance and real-time problem-solving throughout the immersion. With the support of their mentors, participants at the program used AI to explore new product designs, create marketing materials, understand government schemes, translate documents, and prepare applications on their own phones, and more importantly in their own languages. By the end of the 2.5 hour program, the participants collectively completed 4,727 AI-powered tasks with the advanced cohorts demonstrating a 98% completion rate for assigned tasks.
Aarthi Subramanian, ED & COO, TCS, said, “It’s very heartening to witness thousands of women from across the country participating in the Tata AI Sakhi Immersion Program. At Tata Group and TCS, we firmly believe that technological advancement must go hand in hand with the parallel progress of communities. Through the Tata AI Sakhi Immersion Program, we are on a journey to encourage and empower thousands of women artisans and entrepreneurs in rural India to harness the power of AI, not just as a tool, but as a force to unlock creativity, expand opportunities, and build sustainable livelihoods. This is our vision of inclusive growth, where technology becomes a bridge to shared prosperity and a stronger, self-sustaining India.”
The Tata AI Sakhi Immersion Program saw 447 traditional artisans use AI to generate design ideas, product photos, and innovation concepts for crafts such as Pattachitra, Madhubani, and Dokra. Similarly, 940 women from self-help groups used AI to identify objects, navigate government schemes, create marketing materials, and draft business communications. 166 advanced digital entrepreneurs, comprising women who already earn ~₹20,000 per month, explored AI for self-learning and business growth.
Unlike conventional awareness sessions, the Tata AI Sakhi Immersion Program focused on live demonstrations and guided applications, enabling participants to directly experience how AI tools can be integrated into everyday economic and administrative activities. The sessions covered key use cases like AI-assisted product and design exploration for artisans and micro-entrepreneurs, marketing asset creation, including visuals and basic promotional content that will help the participants unlock the power of AI in their daily lives, thus making them agents of change in their families and communities.
(India CSR)
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