Dr. Kotaro Kataoka
Head of Department, CSE, IIT Hyderabad
Inaugural · 10:00
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About the symposium
Where the sovereignty conversation meets the security one.
AI is moving into finance, health, governance and defence faster than the institutions around it can adapt. One day, one room, researchers, builders and policy voices, and a single question: what does a credible technical path to sovereign, secure AI look like for India?
Sovereignty
Who controls what AI runs on?
Compute, models, data and talent. Dependence is a technical fact before it is a political one, and it is set by the stack, not by intent.
Security
How is it attacked, hardened and trusted?
Models, agents and supply chains, especially the layers we did not build ourselves. A country can have one of these without the other. Neither holds alone.
01
What does a sovereign AI stack need: compute, models, data, talent?
02
How do we secure models, agents and supply chains we did not entirely build?
03
Where do openness and control pull against each other, and who pays?
04
What should academia build, teach and publish to make the answers real?
Agenda · Friday, 13 November
The day, 10:00 to 16:15
10:00 – 10:2020 min
Inaugural address
Dr. Kotaro Kataoka · Head of Department, CSE, IIT Hyderabad
Opening
10:20 – 10:5030 min
Keynote address
J A Chowdary · Technologist, entrepreneur and policy architect
Keynote
10:50 – 11:00
Tea break
Break
11:00 – 11:3030 min
Are SLMs Ready for Production-Grade Agentic AI Systems?
Rohith Dharavath · Founder, Ashvam.ai
Talk
11:30 – 12:0030 min
Industry talk
Praveen Mokkapati
Talk
12:00 – 13:0060 min
Panel: Sovereign and Secure, A Roadmap for India's AI
Where openness and control pull apart, what it takes to close the gap, and who pays for it.
- Chaitanya Chokkareddy
- Dr. Lalit Mohan
- Rohith Dharavath
- Sai Sridhar Sangineni
- Praveen Chandrahas (Moderator)
Panel
13:00 – 14:30
Lunch
Break
14:30 – 15:0030 min
Industry talk
Dr. Srinivas Yanamandra
Talk
15:00 – 16:0060 min
Closing keynote
Dr. Sandeep Kumar Shukla · Director, IIIT Hyderabad
Keynote
16:00 – 16:1515 min
Closing remarks and vote of thanks
Dr. Praveen Aravind
Closing
All times are in IST. The programme may change slightly on the day.
Speakers
The voices in the room
Keynote · 10:20
J A Chowdary
Technologist, entrepreneur and policy architect
Founding director of Software Technology Parks of India at Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai. Co-founder of PortalPlayer, whose chip powered the first-generation iPod and which Nvidia acquired in 2007. Later IT Advisor and Special Chief Secretary to the Government of Andhra Pradesh. An IIT Madras alumnus and co-founder of Hyderabad Angels.
LinkedInSources: Wikipedia · IFHE profile
Talks and addresses
Rohith Dharavath
Founder, Ashvam.ai
Talk · 11:00Panel · 12:00
Are SLMs Ready for Production-Grade Agentic AI Systems?
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Praveen Mokkapati
Industry talk · 11:30
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Dr. Srinivas Yanamandra
Industry talk · 14:30
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Dr. Praveen Aravind
Closing · 16:00
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Panel discussion · 12:00 – 13:00
Sovereign and Secure: A Roadmap for India's AI
Where openness and control pull apart, what it takes to close the gap, and who pays for it. A moderated discussion with leaders from academia, industry, security and policy.
Chaitanya Chokkareddy
Co-founder and CTO, Ozonetel
Panellist
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Dr. Lalit Mohan
Panellist
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Rohith Dharavath
Founder, Ashvam.ai
Panellist
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Sai Sridhar Sangineni
Panellist
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Praveen Chandrahas
Moderator
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Partners
Hosted on campus, built with the ecosystem
Host
Department of CSE, IIT Hyderabad
Knowledge partner
Center for Cryptography and Cybersecurity, IIT Hyderabad
Register and connect
Be in the room.
DATE AND TIME
Friday, 13 November 2026
10:00 to 16:15 IST
WHO SHOULD COME
Researchers, students, security and AI teams, startups, policy makers
CONTACT