In a keynote address at a prominent CSIS event in Washington, technology pioneer Romesh Wadhwani declared that artificial intelligence policy choices will be the ultimate arbiters of economic prosperity and geopolitical dominance in the near future.

Ahead of India’s AI Impact Summit, Wadhwani described the dawn of autonomous AI agents—self-planning, executing, and learning entities requiring little human input. What was once cutting-edge generative AI has quickly become legacy tech, paving the way for agents that augment, supplant, and exceed human capabilities.

Projections are staggering: from under 5 million agents in 2025, annual growth could exceed 200% over five years. These intelligent systems will team up to orchestrate full-scale business functions, rendering many human roles obsolete far sooner than anticipated.

‘This isn’t science fiction 50 years out—it’s our reality in half a decade,’ Wadhwani emphasized. Yet regulatory frameworks lag disastrously, much like post-invention telephone policies.

He outlined five critical domains shaped by AI governance: geopolitics and security, economic expansion, corporate edge, innovation velocity, and societal harmony. Nations’ AI strategies will separate leaders from laggards.

America thrives on permissive rules spurring creativity; Europe enforces rigorous oversight; China integrates AI under tight political reins. India, Wadhwani lauded, prioritizes scalable, affordable AI for growth, upskilling millions while keeping rules lean—positioning itself among the world’s AI elite.

The entrepreneurial visionary estimates a $1-1.5 trillion GDP boost for India, with net job gains outweighing automation hits. The forthcoming AI Impact Summit underscores implementation over ideation, a boon for emerging economies.