BENGALURU: Building on a foundation of excellence and affordability, Reliance Jio is seeing a rapid convergence of physical, distributional and geographical growth, said Akash Ambani, chief strategy officer, Reliance Jio Infocomm, at the third-annual conference of IIM Bangalore alumni on Friday. Ambani said the company has been a disruptor in the telecom space. "It is my firm belief that in the next two or three decades, we as a civilisation will achieve more than what it has achieved in the last 100 years," said Ambani. Ambani said we are in the age of super intelligence - machine intelligence, artificial intelligence. "Many say that machine learning is evil as it will replace humans. In my opinion, machines can prove highly beneficial. We will not be seeking to replace human effort; but to amplify it with intelligence," he said.

Reliance has been going all out when it comes to AI and its implications for the future. Under the leadership of Akash Ambani, Reliance is making strides in AI this year. The young leader is hiring the brightest minds in the country to create an area of excellence that can impact the telecom market in a huge way. The team at Reliance is also looking at applications under machine learning and blockchain so that the company can benefit from its potential. The company is taking advantage of the multi-billion-dollar opportunity that lies in the AI space in India.

Reliance Jio commenced a recruitment drive to create a new team focused on developing artificial intelligence (AI), as the company ramps its efforts around the technology. Indian publication Livemint reported Akash Ambani, the son of Reliance Jio's billionaire owner Mukesh Ambani (pictured), has hired a "few senior people" who will build an AI team which he will head up. The company will set up the team, which will have a remit of working on AI-based use cases for the telecoms operator, and developing machine learning and blockchain, in either Bengaluru or Hyderabad. India's newest operator Reliance Jio sparked a price war in India after offering free voice and data services for a limited period following its launch in September 2016. In May, the operator revealed it had signed up 200 million subscribers and achieved 99 per cent population coverage with its LTE network.