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'AI is our future, not a side bet', says Ambani on Reliance's next big leap
Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, said the company is entering a new phase of growth powered by artificial intelligence and deep technology, calling it the group's next major leap after telecom and energy.
In a conversation with Gautam Kumra of McKinsey & Company for its Leading Asia series, Ambani laid out a future vision where Reliance becomes a deep-tech and advanced manufacturing powerhouse. 'The change now for Reliance is that we are going to be a deep-tech and advanced manufacturing company,' he said.
Ambani also revealed that the company has already built its 5G infrastructure completely in-house. 'We built everything ourselves, end to end—the core, the hardware, the software, every single piece,' he said, adding that Reliance used Ericsson and Nokia for just 20 per cent of the system to benchmark against global players. 'I said to them, 'You have to be better than these guys.' And we are now.'
On artificial intelligence, Ambani made it clear that Reliance will stay away from high-risk capital-heavy areas like GPUs, instead focus on downstream applications that align with national needs. 'Within the AI field, we have created our purpose by saying, 'Our big purpose is to solve the complex problems before society and create wealth for the nation and the people. For this, we need not go into the high-risk GPU game. Let's do everything downstream'.'
This focus, he said, is helping the company attract top-tier global talent. 'What people don't realise is that when you make OpenAI or other [artificial] intelligence, the same 500 people will work on it. Today they work for you, and after tomorrow, they work for someone else. They also have a purpose, and they say, 'As long as we align with the company's big purpose, we'll come to work for you.' We are doing that continually now.'
Purpose, not profit, has long driven the Reliance model, Ambani noted. 'If you are clear about your goal, and you know how to use technology, then you will achieve your North Star,' he said.
He also reiterated Reliance's philosophy of continuous reinvention. 'That focus on the North Star, on achieving continuous growth through excellence, and creating large-scale societal impact remains unchanged in Reliance. What changes is our business strategy. Even today, we reinvent our business every three, four, or five years in terms of what we do.'
Asked what drives the birth of a new business within the group, Ambani responded, 'What is the most critical need for India's development, and how can we fulfil it at scale and over a long arc of time?'
Tracing the Reliance journey from textiles to telecom and now clean energy and tech, Ambani said, 'We also have no hesitation in believing we can build businesses of the future. With our experience, we can extrapolate the future 20 years from today.'
Ambani further shared a long-term institutional vision, rooted in the legacy of his father, Dhirubhai Ambani. 'My father said to me, 'Reliance is a process. It's an institution that should last. You have to make sure that Reliance lasts beyond you and me.' That's my commitment to him—that Reliance will last beyond us.'
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