Infosys, TCS, HCLTech: IT stocks in focus on Monday, Feb 16, as India AI Impact Summit 2026 begins; check what Sam Altman said

The statements and developments will be crucial for the IT sector and will influence investor sentiment going forward.

The India AI Impact Expo 2026 is expected to attract over 2.5 lakh visitors, including international delegates.

Spread across 10 arenas covering more than 70,000 square metres, the Expo will bring together global technology firms, startups, academia and research institutions, union ministries, state governments, and international partners.

The Expo will also feature 13 country pavilions, showcasing international collaboration in the AI ecosystem. These include pavilions from Australia, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Serbia, Estonia, Tajikistan, and Africa.

It will host over 300 curated exhibition pavilions and live demonstrations, structured across three thematic chakras -- people, planet, and progress.

The event will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday evening at the Bharat Mandapam.

What Sam Altman said ahead of the AI Summit

India has "all the ingredients to be a full-stack AI leader," Sam Altman said ahead of his visit to the country for the Global AI Impact Summit, citing its tech talent, national strategy, and optimism about the technology's potential.

Calling India the world's largest democracy, the OpenAI CEO wrote in The Times of India that the country combines homegrown expertise with a policy push to deploy AI at scale.

Referring to the government's IndiaAI Mission, he said it is designed to expand compute capacity, support startups, and accelerate multilingual applications in healthcare, agriculture, and public services to ensure AI becomes "an essential tool for hundreds of millions of people across India".

Altman noted India's rapid adoption of AI tools, saying the country now has "100 million weekly active users", the second-largest base after the US.

AI Impact Summit: What you need to know

India is set to host the AI Impact Summit, a high-profile gathering of global leaders and industry heavyweights in artificial intelligence – a technology widely seen as one of the biggest disruptors since the advent of electricity.

The summit, at the grand 'Bharat Mandapam' from February 16 to 20, will bring together policymakers, industry leaders and technology innovators at a time when nations are racing to define their AI agenda.

For India, the event is as much about signalling capability as it is about intent – showcasing its deep talent pool, expanding digital public infrastructure and growing startup ecosystem, while positioning itself as a key architect of responsible, scalable and inclusive AI solutions for the world.

Artificial intelligence, or AI, has moved well beyond research labs and boardroom buzzwords -- it is reshaping healthcare delivery, transforming agriculture, recalibrating financial markets, redefining education systems and rewriting corporate strategy, even as it alters the very nature of work and, increasingly, everyday life.

For India, the global summit underlines the nation's intent to not merely be a participant but a key architect in shaping the rules, standards and opportunities of the AI age.

At its core lies the ambition to secure a seat at the global high table of technology leadership and help shape the next phase of artificial intelligence development.

"The key message we want to send is that whatever happens with AI needs to be human-centric and inclusive. There needs to be democratic access to AI resources, and it needs to be done in a way where people are at the centre of this process," IT Secretary S Krishnan told PTI.

IT stocks tumble on AI jitters

Shares of Indian IT stocks, including Infosys, TCS, LTIMindtree, HCL Technologies, Wipro, and Tech Mahindra, among others, took a heavy beating last week as fears of AI-led disruption spooked market participants.

Data show that the NIFTY IT index has fallen 8.65% over the past five sessions.