Accessible by Design: A New Norm for AI

India’s AI ecosystem is undergoing a transformational shift, one where inclusion and accessibility are becoming as important as technological advancement. As India builds sovereign AI models, next-generation datasets, and public-sector AI applications, ensuring that accessibility is embedded by design has become a priority. To advance this critical conversation, Chase Advisors, in partnership with the National Association for the Blind (NAB Delhi), organised an official Pre-Summit Panel Discussion titled ‘Accessible by Design: A New Norm for AI’, under the India AI Impact Summit 2026.

The session brought together senior leaders from government, academia, industry, and civil society to explore how accessibility can be integrated across the entire AI lifecycle – from design, development, and deployment. The session opened with welcome remarks from Kaushal Mahan, Senior Vice President, Chase Advisors and thematic address from Prashant Ranjan Verma, General Secretary, National Association for the Blind (NAB), Delhi. The session was honoured by presence of Shri Mohammed Y. Safirulla K, Director, IndiaAI Mission, MeitY for Special Address & Ms. Manmeet Kaur Nanda, Additional Secretary, DEPwD, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment who delivered Keynote Address. Thes esteemed speakers who participated in panel discussion included Taha Haaziq, Secretary, Office of the State Commissioner for PwDs, Government of Goa; Prof. Rohan Paul, Associate Professor, IIT Delhi; Rahul Gambhir, Chief Manager & Digital Accessibility Specialist, Union Bank of India; Govind Chandrani, Practice Head, Engineering Services & AI, HCLTech and Himanshu Gupta, Product Architect, Sarvam AI. The session was moderated by Darshika Gupta, Manager, Chase Advisors.

The discussion highlighted key themes including the need for disability-inclusive datasets, multilingual AI models, voice-first interfaces, whole-of-government accessibility approach, and inclusion of PwDs in co-design and evaluation processes. Insights from this session will contribute to the Inclusion for Social Empowerment Working Group and inform the deliberations leading up to the India AI Impact Summit 2026, to be held in New Delhi in February.