“IN A WORLD WHERE AI CAN CODE BUT NOT CREATE, OUR GREATEST STRENGTH WILL BE IN OUR CAPACITY TO IMAGINE, NARRATE, AND INNOVATE” – SMRITI IRANI

Former Union Minister and thought leader Smriti Irani believes that India’s greatest strength in the coming decades will not lie in technology alone, but in its capacity to imagine, narrate, and innovate.

“In a world where AI can code but not create, our greatest strength will not be in factories or code — but in our capacity to imagine, narrate, and innovate.”

As India moves toward its Viksit Bharat 2047 vision, Irani emphasises that storytelling, creativity, and design-thinking will define the next wave of growth. She points to the projected $80 billion value of India’s creative economy by 2026 as a sign of untapped opportunity — and a wake-up call.

“Only 9 per cent of students across 22 states demonstrate strong readiness in design thinking, research and real-world problem-solving. These are 21st-century skills and core competencies of the creative economy. In a world where AI can code but not create, these gaps matter.”

Highlighting developments like the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT) in Mumbai and CBSE’s move toward art-integrated learning, Irani says a blueprint is emerging — but insists we need to do more.

“Creativity cannot be part-time, and in that sense, it cannot be extracurricular.”
She advocates for the integration of creative entrepreneurial mindsets into education — through maker spaces, startup labs, and design sprints — and urges India to value creativity not just in art rooms, but in business models and social innovations.