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Talk Intermediate

India’s Role in Shaping the Future of Open Source and AI

Rejected
Session Description

India is rapidly becoming a global leader in open-source software and AI. With over 17 million developers active on GitHub, India’s influence in open-source and artificial intelligence is growing significantly.

In this talk, I’ll share key data showcasing India’s remarkable growth in open-source contributions, highlight successful Indian projects like ERPNext, Hoppscotch, and Hasura, and discuss India’s critical role in global AI initiatives like Hugging Face and ONNX.

We’ll briefly compare India’s open-source ecosystem to those of the US, China, and Europe to understand its unique advantages. Additionally, I’ll outline practical steps—such as policy support, educational reforms, community strengthening, and maintainer funding—that can further amplify India’s global impact.

Attendees will leave inspired by India’s open-source journey, equipped with actionable ideas to collaborate and contribute effectively in this exciting space.

Key Takeaways

India is rapidly becoming a global leader in open-source software and AI, now ranking second globally with over 17 million developers on GitHub. Indian developers significantly impact global AI, particularly in generative AI projects. Internationally recognized projects like Hoppscotch, Hasura, ERPNext, and Appsmith highlight India’s open-source strength. Startups such as Hasura, Chatwoot, and Appsmith show how open-source drives commercial success and community growth. Community-focused initiatives like Covid19india.org and Project Vaani further underline India’s commitment to social impact. Strategic efforts in policy, education, industry collaboration, and funding are key to amplifying India’s open-source influence. With current growth, India is expected to have the world’s largest developer community by 2028, shaping the global future of technology.

References

https://www.expresscomputer.in/news/over-17m-developers

Session Categories

Community
Contributing to FOSS
Which track are you applying for?
Main track

Speakers

Vinit Shahdeo Technical Lead | ZZAZZ

Software Engineer at Zzazz, building the world’s first Large Pricing Model (LPM)—turning content into tradable assets. A 3x GitHub Star and Google Summer of Code mentor, passionate about event-driven architecture, AI platforms, and scaling microservices. Off-screen, enjoys badminton, tea, and poetry.
Vinit Shahdeo
https://x.com/vinit_shahdeo

Reviews

I think focusing on a narrower idea would be more interesting - maybe a policy problem, a project, a specific call to action, or a specific implementation. Practical steps to be taken by whom?

This feels like it could be a good idea for a discussion -- maybe a BoF session? But it has to be better scoped so the audience knows if it can be interesting to them (policy, technical, corporate, ...)

Reviewer #1 Rejected

This is a strong and necessary proposal for talking at a FOSS conference. It goes beyond surface-level of growing developer base and engages with structural realities like the digital divide and the representation of Global South contributors in decision-making roles across open-source and AI ecosystems. I particularly appreciate the critical questions around maintainership and governance mentioned in the proposal. This adds weight to the talk’s relevance

However, I suggest modifying the key takeaways and adding clear themes to help the audience engage with the content more practically.

Reviewer #2 Not Sure

This will work much better as a Birds of a feather session.

Reviewer #3 Rejected

This "17 million developers on GitHub" is a claim I don't like to use for the basis of any scientific claim. I like the idea behind the talk. I'm not in complete agreement with the claims made in the abstract and what it represents.

Reviewer #4 Rejected

The key takeaways aren't clear, and the proposer hasn't highlighted what strategic efforts/policy changes they are advocating for.

Reviewer #5 Rejected

The primary feedback was that the topic is too broad and would be better suited for a discussion or a Birds of a Feather (BoF) session, rather than a full conference talk. Reviewers felt that the talk lacked a specific, narrow focus, and that the key takeaways were not clearly defined.

Reviewer #6 Rejected