New partnerships and strong interest from both visitors and exhibitors – these and many other outcomes resulted from the participation of Czech partners at this year’s largest global event focused on artificial intelligence in Asia – India AI Impact Expo & Summit 2026, held at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi in mid-February under the patronage of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The event brought together representatives of governments, research institutions, the Indian innovation ecosystem, and technology leaders from around the world.
The only Czech exhibition, subtitled Czech AI Innovations from the Heart of Europe, became a venue for intensive meetings, expert discussions, and encounters with representatives of technology companies, academic institutions, public administration, startups, and students over the course of five days. The Czech research and innovation community was represented by the research institutes CIIRC CTU and INDRC, the centres of excellence CLARA and RICAIP, the Zlín Region together with its development agency ZRIA, the startup Neurona Lab, and VSB – Technical University of Ostrava. The exhibition was supported by Česká spořitelna and held under the auspices of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic.
India AI Impact Expo 2026 itself attracted nearly 150,000 visitors and more than 400 exhibitors from around the world across over 70,000 m² of exhibition space. The showcases included more than 600 startups and 13 national pavilions, underlining the global character and scale of this key AI event.
The Czech stand recorded exceptional visitor interest throughout the Expo. This was also due to its location within the extensive Innovation Arena, where hundreds of startups from around the world, particularly from India, presented their projects and solutions. This attracted a broad spectrum of visitors, including numerous young AI teams who formed a significant portion of the interest in the Czech stand. The Czech team engaged with hundreds of contacts from academia and industry, with whom Czech institutions will continue to work systematically.
From the perspective of Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU), a significant share of inquiries concerned doctoral study opportunities and research cooperation. The delegation is therefore preparing targeted information for Indian applicants to systematically follow up on this interest. In addition to students, numerous meetings were held with academic staff regarding exchange stays, shared lectures, and cooperation in the field of Industry 4.0.
CIIRC CTU presented a broad spectrum of its research – from industrial AI and biomedical research to generative artificial intelligence – while also highlighting its advanced research infrastructure, the RICAIP Testbed Prague. The testbed attracted particular attention as a demonstration of intelligent robotics capabilities and innovative solutions for industrial manufacturing.
Several university representatives expressed interest in deeper institutional cooperation, following the model of existing partnerships of Czech institutions in India. CIIRC CTU already has concrete experience in this respect through its cooperation with NIMS University in Jaipur. This collaboration resulted in the establishment of a new scientific research institute focused on artificial intelligence, informatics, and robotics – the Marik Institute of Computing, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Cybernetics (MICARC) – ceremonially opened a year ago and named after the founder and Scientific Director of CIIRC CTU, Prof. Vladimír Mařík.
New Industrial Contacts and Potential for Expanded Cooperation
The programme also included a number of bilateral meetings. Particularly promising discussions were held with VVDN Technologies, one of India’s leading providers of comprehensive product engineering and technology solutions. Talks took place not only at the stand but also during a separate working meeting with the company’s leadership, including the Vice President responsible for European expansion.
This opens the possibility of follow-up cooperation, including the planned visit of VVDN representatives to the Czech Republic and the presentation of the Czech RICAIP testbed research infrastructure. VVDN excels in delivering end-to-end solutions – from design and development to testing and manufacturing – for customers in 5G networks, data centres, IoT, automotive electronics, and other technological verticals, making it a promising partner for Czech technological activities in India.
Additional valuable contacts were established with Binding Neurons Technologies, which expressed interest in research cooperation with European partners; with representatives of Fujitsu, who attracted considerable attention at the Expo with a model of their latest quantum computer; and with the Japanese agency JETRO. Meetings were also held with representatives of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and the National Supercomputing Centre in Kragujevac. These contacts open opportunities for future project-based and technological cooperation in a broader international context.
Expert Discussion: Regulation, Trust, and Responsible Use of AI
The Czech institutions CIIRC CTU and INDRC participated not only through their exhibition presence but also actively contributed to the summit’s expert programme. Within the panel discussion Navigating the AI Regulatory Landscape: A Cross-Compliance Framework for Safety & Governance,”* organised by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) and the INPACE project, Dr. Vít Dočkal (CIIRC CTU) and Lalit Patil (INDRC) delivered presentations.
The discussion focused on cross-border cooperation, regulatory alignment, technological innovation, and the ethics of artificial intelligence use. The CLARA project was presented as a concrete example of how cutting-edge research can be combined with a responsible approach to the development and implementation of AI solutions.
Diplomatic and Historical Dimension of Cooperation
The participation of the Czech delegation was supported by a personal visit from Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Marie Chatardová, who showed keen interest in the projects presented by the stand’s individual partners. The stand was also visited by the Ambassador of the Czech Republic to India, Eliška Žigová, who subsequently invited representatives of Czech institutions to a meeting at the Embassy of the Czech Republic in New Delhi.
The discussions confirmed that the Czech Republic and India maintain long-standing positive relations without historical burdens and with a tradition of technical and industrial cooperation. Symbolic names such as Baťa and Jawa remain well known in India – and the current generation of Czech scientists and innovators is building on this tradition in the field of modern technologies and artificial intelligence.
Concrete Agreements and Entry into the Indian Market
A significant outcome of the participation was the confirmation of cooperation between INDRC, the Indian company CyberPleaders, and the spin-off company CLAIRIS, established within the CLARA centre of excellence. At the same time, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between INDRC and the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IIT Roorkee), opening space for cooperation with leading experts in applied mathematics and computational sciences.
The agreement with CyberPleaders focuses primarily on regulatory advisory services, compliance, and the implementation of responsible AI principles in practice. The combination of CLAIRIS’s technological know-how with the Indian partner’s legal and regulatory expertise creates conditions for providing comprehensive services in ethical and trustworthy AI, both for research institutions and industrial clients operating on the Indian market.
The Memorandum with IIT Roorkee creates opportunities for joint research projects, exchanges of doctoral candidates and young researchers, and the preparation of international grant proposals. Cooperation with this prestigious institution strengthens the partnership’s expertise particularly in applied mathematics, optimisation, and computational methods – key pillars in the development of advanced AI solutions.
These steps establish a framework for developing and strengthening cooperation of Czech research and innovation in the Indo-Pacific region at multiple levels – in science and research, knowledge sharing, and technology transfer. Further details are available in the INDRC press release.
Media Coverage and International Visibility
During the Expo, members of the Czech delegation gave several interviews to local media. The activities of CIIRC CTU and INDRC, including the CLARA project, were presented to the broader professional and public community, with particular emphasis on linking research, innovation, and concrete industrial applications.
Participation in India AI Impact Expo 2026 confirmed that the Czech research and innovation ecosystem is capable of acting as a confident and respected partner in the global discussion on the future of artificial intelligence – with an emphasis on quality, ethics, and the practical applicability of results.
