The next decade could see artificial intelligence move beyond its current role as a tool that responds to human instructions to become a vast workforce of autonomous agents, capable of carrying out tasks and interacting with businesses on behalf of individuals, futurist Mike Walsh said at the NDTV World Summit 2026 today.
“The most interesting development is that there could soon be more AI agents on the planet than people.
We are already seeing the early signs through tools such as ChatGPT and other AI assistants, and India is likely to be one of the most important markets for how this transformation unfolds,” Walsh said.
And of course, the irony is that for many young Indians today, they may actually hire their first digital employee even before they get their first job. The funny thing is, a lot of the way we talk about AI today comes from a place of scarcity,” he added. “On the other screen is another world. There’s a swarm of AI agents now helping her put together a new small software company. It’s writing the business plan, it’s setting up a prototype, it’s already contacting potential clients. Two very different worlds.
Walsh said much of the current discussion about artificial intelligence was shaped by concerns about shortages, including whether there would be sufficient electricity and water to support the data centres required to run advanced AI systems.
“But there’s another world to think about as well, and that is the world of abundance. Because then ask yourself how many times in our history that we can remember have we had to deal with a world where knowledge, expertise and even intelligence is now widely available to just about everyone,” he added at the NDTV World Summit, and we’re not so good with dealing with problems of abundance.
