Access Now at India AI Impact Summit 2026
February 16 – February 20 New Delhi, India
Bharat Mandapam
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The India AI Impact Summit 2026 is a high-profile international event involving heads of state and government, ministers, senior government officials, international delegations, industry leaders, media, and general delegates. Building on the momentum of previous multilateral initiatives, including the Bletchley Park, Seoul, Paris, and Kigali Summits, the AI Impact Summit is envisaged to mark a shift from aspirations to impact, demonstrating how AI can deliver tangible outcomes for people, planet, and progress.
Below are some of the events Access Now will be joining at the India AI Impact Summit:
19 February
Fireside chat and high-level reception
7:30 pm onwards, Indian Standard Time | Fountain Lawn, India International Centre Main Building
Access Now, along with Aapti Institute and AI Now, is hosting an evening that steps away from the formal summit agenda and into a sharp, thoughtful, and candid exchange about where AI is headed and what is being left unsaid in official rooms. The centerpiece is a fireside chat bringing together three exceptional voices:
- Brando Benifei, Member of the European Parliament and a key architect of the EU AI Act;
- Karen Hao, the award-winning journalist and author of “Empire of AI,” whose reporting has deeply shaped our understanding of power and technology; and
- Seema Chishti, Editor of The Wire, known for her incisive political analysis and journalism.
Together, they will reflect on AI, governance, and power in a provocative conversation designed to cut through the usual rhetoric and get to the real tensions shaping our digital future. Following the discussion, we will host an informal networking reception from 9:00 PM onwards. We know schedules are packed, so please feel free to join for the full discussion or simply stop by for the reception.
20 February
The AI-Cyber Nexus: A Strategic Dialogue on Global Security, Trust, and Governance
3:30 pm–4:25 pm, Indian Standard Time | Chanakya Auditorium, Sushma Swaraj Bhawan
Access Now and Global Partners Digital are co-organising this session at the India AI Impact Summit to move the conversation beyond hype and headlines toward real policy, real risks, and real choices. Rather than treating AI and cybersecurity as separate worlds, this discussion brings them together, asking what it actually means to build AI that is secure, trustworthy, and rights-respecting in practice.
This session aims to propose a technically grounded conversation on the cybersecurity implications of large language models and agentic AI. Using the confidentiality-integrity-availability (CIA) framework, it will explore how advanced AI tools impact privacy, encryption, information integrity, and resilience of critical services. Instead of abstract warnings, panelists will draw on concrete experience from cybersecurity and AI governance to identify what governments, companies, and civil society should do, and what they should avoid.
The panel will open by remarks from Access Now’s Executive Director, Alejandro Mayoral Banos, and will be moderated by Nirmal John, Senior Editor at Economic Times. Panelists include Access Now’s Global Cybersecurity Lead, Raman Jit Singh Chima; Anne Marie Engtoft Meldgaard, Tech Ambassador, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Denmark; Maria Paz Canales, Head of Policy and Advocacy at Global Partners Digital; Udbhav Tiwari, Vice President, Strategy and Global Affairs at Signal; and Nikolas Schmidt Policy Analyst, Division of AI and Emerging Tech at OECD.
Note: This session is a part of the official agenda for the AI Impact Summit and requires registration with the event.