In a significant move aimed at strengthening India’s digital governance and artificial intelligence ecosystem, Saurabh Vijay, the newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), has been given additional charge of the IndiaAI Mission.

The development follows the reassignment of Abhishek Singh, former IndiaAI Mission CEO, as Director General of the National Testing Agency (NTA), creating a leadership vacancy at the government’s flagship AI initiative.

Bringing Digital Identity and AI Under Unified Leadership

A 1998-batch IAS officer of the Maharashtra cadre, Saurabh Vijay recently assumed charge as CEO of UIDAI and will now oversee both UIDAI and the IndiaAI Mission.

Officials believe the dual responsibility will help create stronger alignment between India’s digital public infrastructure and its growing artificial intelligence ambitions. The move is expected to accelerate efforts in areas such as AI-driven public services, cloud computing infrastructure, data governance and indigenous AI development.

With extensive administrative experience and a background in civil engineering from IIT Delhi, Vijay is expected to play a key role in shaping the next phase of India’s digital transformation journey.

Focus on Strengthening India’s AI Ecosystem

The IndiaAI Mission has been spearheading efforts to build a robust domestic AI ecosystem by supporting startups, researchers and technology innovators.

Under the mission, India has already activated more than 38,000 GPUs to strengthen shared computing infrastructure and support the development of advanced AI applications. The programme is also focused on promoting indigenous multilingual AI models and expanding access to high-performance computing resources.

Officials said unified leadership could help improve coordination between digital identity systems and AI-powered governance initiatives, creating new opportunities for secure and citizen-centric services.

Kavita Bhatia Continues as COO

To ensure continuity in operations, Kavita Bhatia will continue serving as Chief Operating Officer of the IndiaAI Mission.

With more than two decades of experience in e-governance and digital public infrastructure, Bhatia has played an important role in developing large-scale digital authentication and service delivery systems used by millions of citizens across the country.

Her experience in managing complex technology platforms is expected to support the mission as it scales AI infrastructure and expands deployment of artificial intelligence solutions across sectors.

Strengthening India’s Digital Public Infrastructure

The decision is being viewed as part of the government’s broader strategy to integrate emerging technologies with existing digital governance platforms.

UIDAI, which manages the Aadhaar ecosystem serving more than a billion residents, represents one of the world’s largest digital identity programmes. The IndiaAI Mission, meanwhile, is focused on building sovereign AI capabilities and supporting innovation in areas such as language models, cloud infrastructure, research and public sector applications.

By bringing both initiatives under a common leadership structure, the government aims to improve coordination, enhance efficiency and accelerate the development of secure, data-driven digital services.

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A New Phase for India’s AI and Digital Governance Agenda

The appointment of Saurabh Vijay to lead the IndiaAI Mission in addition to UIDAI reflects the government’s growing emphasis on leveraging artificial intelligence for governance, innovation and economic growth.

As India continues to expand its digital public infrastructure and AI capabilities, the leadership transition is expected to support the mission’s long-term goals of building world-class computing infrastructure, fostering indigenous innovation and enabling the responsible use of artificial intelligence across sectors.

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