Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, executive chairperson of Biocon Limited, said India must prioritise building “biotech sovereignty” that is embedded in AI, calling it a “strategic and geopolitical necessity” for the country’s future.
She added that “nations that command the convergence of biology and AI” will shape the future of healthcare, food security, education, bio-manufacturing, sustainability and biosecurity. For India, she said, this is not just a technological opportunity but “a strategic and geopolitical imperative”.
The AI-biology convergence
Mazumdar-Shaw said the real inflection point lies at the intersection of biology and artificial intelligence.
“AI powered biology — from protein structure prediction and generative drug design to digital twins of cells and organs — is compressing discovery timelines and reducing development risk,” she said.
Mazumdar-Shaw added that biological intelligence relies on intricate networks of cell signalling, gene regulation and immune memory that work together to maintain homeostasis. The industry, she said, is shifting from “static one size fits all drugs to programmable biology”, which she described as the next frontier.
“We need to learn how biology learns, stores data, retrieves and processes data in such an agile and energy efficient way. Once we understand the computational models of living systems, we can use AI to accelerate with predictive precision the most advanced present day therapies,” she said.
Strategic risks and sovereignty
Mazumdar-Shaw warned that India’s future health security depends on how effectively it combines “the code of life and the code of intelligence”.
She added that biotech sovereignty embedded in AI must mean control over “trusted biological data, indigenous AI models, computing infrastructure and translational platforms from discovery and development to manufacturing and delivery”.
This, Mazumdar-Shaw added, is essential not only for economic competitiveness but also for preparedness against pandemics, antimicrobial resistance and emerging biological threats.
Policy and industry roadmap
Mazumdar-Shaw said India must move from being the “pharmacy of the world” to becoming the “biotech platform of the world”, offering AI-native discovery engines, programmable therapy platforms and scalable bio-manufacturing.
She called for a science-first regulatory approach supported by technology, including AI-driven validation using real-world evidence.
The government, she said, should invest in “sovereign AI bio infrastructure, trusted data architectures, regulatory sandboxes and mission mode programmes” in cell and gene therapy.
Mazumdar-Shaw further said that biotech sovereignty embedded in AI is not merely a sectoral goal but the foundation of “health security, strategic autonomy and economic resilience”.
