Bangalore-based AI Start-Up Sarvam has entered India’s military technology ecosystem through a memorandum of understanding (MoD) with Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff (HQ IDS) under the Ministry of Defence, establishing a broad framework for artificial intelligence projects across the Indian Army, Indian Navy and Indian Air Force, Economic Times reported.

The agreement is designed as an umbrella arrangement that will support multiple AI initiatives across all three Services rather than a single project. It also extends to joint, tri-service and integrated organisations operating under HQ IDS, creating a common structure for future AI deployment throughout the armed forces.

While neither the financial value of the arrangement nor the number of projects involved has been disclosed, the collaboration represents a significant step in India's broader effort to enhance technological self-reliance in strategically sensitive sectors.

The partnership comes at a time when defence planners are increasingly placing emphasis on sovereign digital capabilities and reducing dependence on foreign technologies for mission-critical military applications. Artificial intelligence is becoming a key element of modern warfare, supporting everything from operational planning and intelligence analysis to battlefield awareness and decision-making.

As part of the agreement, Sarvam will design, develop and deploy AI applications tailored to the operational, training and decision-support requirements of India's armed forces. The company will also provide technical support following deployment, ensuring sustained implementation and system maintenance.

A major focus of the effort will be the fusion of data collected from a wide variety of military sensors. By combining information from multiple sources, the systems are expected to help personnel assess situations more rapidly, improve situational awareness and accelerate response times during operations.

The planned AI applications will also support target acquisition functions and strengthen the flow of information across the military's sensor-to-shooter chain, helping commanders and operational units process large volumes of data more efficiently.

Despite the growing use of AI, operational control will remain with human decision-makers. According to the company, human oversight will continue to be retained over operational decisions, reflecting the armed forces' emphasis on responsible and controlled deployment of emerging technologies.

The projects will be executed through Chanakya, Sarvam’s dedicated and firewalled division focused on national security and defence applications. The unit has been established to handle sensitive defence-related work while maintaining strict separation from the company’s broader commercial activities.

Chanakya will utilise Sarvam’s proprietary AI technology stack, including the company’s Sarvam 105B foundation model. The model forms part of Sarvam’s broader strategy to build advanced AI capabilities within India using indigenous technologies and infrastructure.

Because all three Services and participating joint organisations will have access to the same foundation models, agentic AI infrastructure, geospatial systems and perception technologies, capabilities developed within one branch can be adapted and shared more easily across others.

This common architecture is expected to allow operational lessons, doctrine and technological improvements emerging from one Service’s projects to inform deployments elsewhere, creating a more integrated approach to military AI adoption.

Sarvam and HQ IDS also intend to develop a broader AI layer connecting different components of India's defence ecosystem. The long-term objective is to create an interconnected AI-enabled framework that links various defence capabilities, data streams and operational functions across the Services.

The initiative aligns closely with the Ministry of Defence’s vision of building an indigenous military AI ecosystem running on sovereign infrastructure located within India and developed in partnership with domestic firms.

Commenting on the partnership, Sarvam co-founder Pratyush Kumar said: "Sarvam exists to build AI in India, for India. The core of that mission is to put the country's own intelligence into the systems it depends on."

In related remarks on the collaboration, Kumar described the opportunity to support all three Services as both an honour and a privilege, adding that the company intends to maintain the highest standards while delivering capabilities for the armed forces.

The agreement highlights how India’s military modernisation efforts are increasingly extending beyond traditional platforms and hardware into software-defined capabilities, where artificial intelligence, data fusion, autonomous decision-support systems and secure digital infrastructure are becoming critical force multipliers.

Through this partnership, the armed forces will gain access to a shared indigenous AI foundation that can support future operational, training and strategic requirements across the defence establishment.

Agencies