In this episode of SparX, Mukesh Bansal speaks with Manish Gupta, Senior Director at Google DeepMind. They discuss how artificial intelligence is evolving, what it means to build truly inclusive AI, and why India must aim higher in research, innovation, and ambition.

Manish shares DeepMind’s vision of solving “root node problems,” fundamental scientific challenges that unlock breakthroughs across fields, and how AI is already accelerating discovery in areas like biology, materials, and medicine.

They talk about:

• What AGI really means and how close we are to it.

• Why India needs to move from using AI to creating it.

• The missing research culture in Indian industry, and how to fix it.

• How AI can transform healthcare, learning, and agriculture in India.

• Why ambition, courage, and willingness to fail are essential to deep innovation.

Manish also shares insights from his career across the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center and now DeepMind, two of the world’s most iconic research environments, and what it will take for India to build its own.

If you care about India’s AI journey, research, and the future of innovation, this conversation is a masterclass in what it takes to move from incremental progress to world-changing breakthroughs.