From the US to China, web giants and startups are spending billions to stake out a spot in a quickly increasing AI sphere. India can also turn into a formidable contestant in that race, business specialists say.

From DeepMind Technologies co-founder Mustafa Suleyman to Stanford researcher Fei-Fei Li, a number of the subject’s largest names debated this week in Mumbai how India — the nation that pioneered the $250 billion IT outsourcing business — can turn into a participant within the transformative know-how.