TCS Launches ‘Tata AI Sakhi’ To Help Rural Women Artisans Use AI In Daily Work

Immersion programme trains 1,553 women across six states to explore product design, marketing and government services through AI tools in local languages.

At the India AI Impact Summit 2026, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) launched the Tata AI Sakhi Immersion Program, a grassroots initiative aimed at helping women artisans, entrepreneurs and Self-Help Group leaders understand how artificial intelligence can support their everyday livelihoods.

Opening the programme, TCS Executive Director, President and COO Aarthi Subramanian said AI adoption should be viewed as a community transformation, not just a technological shift.

“At this summit we are discussing AI and its many opportunities, but at TCS we believe that technological advancement should go hand in hand with the progress of communities,” she said, adding that the Tata AI Sakhi programme was designed as a hands-on session rooted in India’s grassroots.

Subramanian explained that participants would learn practical AI usage rather than theory.

“With the support of mentors, participants will explore new product designs using AI, create marketing material, understand government schemes, translate documents and prepare applications, all on their own phones and in their own languages,” she said.

The programme was hosted in the presence of Smriti Irani, Chairperson of the Alliance for Global Good, Gender Equity & Equality, CII. It brought together 1,553 women participants from six states — Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Delhi NCR.

Participants were grouped into three cohorts: Artisanal, Digitally Literate (Basic), and Digitally Literate (Advanced). These cohorts included rural artisans, grassroots entrepreneurs, SHG leaders, and community facilitators.

A key feature of the initiative was its mentorship model, with one mentor supporting every five participants to ensure personalised guidance and real-time problem solving.

According to TCS, the women collectively completed 4,727 AI-powered tasks during the 2.5-hour immersion, with the advanced cohort achieving a 98% completion rate.

Subramanian expressed hope that the learning would spread beyond the summit venue.

“I hope every learning you gain here will spread from you to hundreds and thousands more,” she said.

The summit also highlighted India’s wider AI push, including the Bharat YUVAi Hackathon for non-coders and TCS’s launch of HyperVault, an AI-ready infrastructure platform aimed at supporting hyperscale computing needs.

The Tata AI Sakhi initiative reflects a growing focus on making AI accessible not only to engineers and corporations, but also to rural communities, women-led enterprises and local creators.