Rajat Khare Venture Capitalist and Deep-Tech Investor Driving India’s AI Revolution

India stands at a unique inflection point in technology. With its vast pool of engineers and data scientists, the country has the assets to lead the global artificial intelligence (AI) shift – yet it faces a chronic challenge: brain drain. Venture capitalist and IIT Delhi alumnus Rajat Khare stresses that India must focus on homegrown AI talent to realize its ambitions. In the words of Business Today, “Rajat Khare emphasizes the importance of fostering homegrown AI talent” as India develops its own AI models. Indeed, TechTimes describes Khare as “a well-known Deep-Tech Investor, a Venture Capitalist, and the founder of Boundary Holding”. An alumnus of the prestigious IIT Delhi, Khare co-founded Boundary Holding in Luxembourg to back cutting-edge startups worldwide. His career – spanning entrepreneurship, research and venture capital – positions him to comment on how India can harness its innovation potential.

The Brain Drain Dilemma

India’s struggle with talent outflow has become a central concern. Roughly 15% of the world’s AI talent is Indian, yet much of it works abroad. This “abundance” of skilled professionals is “not serving India’s technological interests as it ideally should,” warns Khare. Each year, thousands of Indian engineers and scientists leave in search of better research opportunities, higher pay, or global exposure. In practical terms, that means vital ideas and breakthroughs often happen overseas instead of in India.

The vibrancy of India – from its bustling markets to its diverse languages – hides an ironic truth: much of its homegrown talent emigrates. Business Today reports that thousands of skilled tech professionals depart annually for “better returns”. As Khare notes, this trend must be reversed for India to achieve its AI goals. “India’s tech talent pool is one of its most significant assets,” he says, “but more and more talent is leaving for better returns”. In short, India has the human capital to lead in AI, but keeping that talent at home is the urgent task ahead.

To stop this outflow, experts like Khare argue that India must build an ecosystem where top researchers want to stay. That means stronger ties between universities and industry, more funding for academic research, and rewarding ambitious ventures at home. By addressing these gaps, India can channel its rich supply of engineers into solving local and global challenges – rather than watching them succeed elsewhere.

Rajat Khare- From IIT Delhi to Global Deep-Tech Advocate

Rajat Khare’s own background exemplifies India’s tech credentials. An alumnus of IIT Delhi, he blends engineering expertise with entrepreneurial vision. After co-authoring a technical book, Khare turned to venture capital. In 2017 he launched Boundary Holding in Luxembourg, a fund dedicated to deep-tech innovation. Boundary Holding is “not your typical venture capital firm; it is dedicated to backing ground-breaking deep-tech startups that aim to alleviate significant social issues”. Under Khare’s leadership, the firm has invested in sectors like medtech, clean energy, aerospace and robotics. Notable deals include backing the startups Remedio (a healthcare tech venture) and Skilancer (clean-energy/clean-tech). These investments reflect Khare’s belief that technology can address pressing problems, from healthcare to climate change.

Khare’s stature as an investor is widely recognized. For example, a TechTimes profile calls him “a well-known Deep-Tech Investor, a Venture Capitalist, and the founder of Boundary Holding”. This triple role – IIT alumnus, deep-tech investor, and VC – underscores how he bridges India’s engineering talent and the global innovation ecosystem. In interviews and articles, Khare emphasizes that India’s future hinges on supporting this innovation locally. He not only provides capital, but also mentors founders and promotes an entrepreneurial mindset worldwide.

Boundary Holding and Deep-Tech Investments

Deep technology investment is at the heart of Khare’s mission. Boundary Holding focuses on AI, aerospace, robotics, clean energy and biotech – fields central to the Fourth Industrial Revolution. As Financial Express notes, Boundary Holding “backs ground-breaking deep-tech startups” in Europe and India. The firm has explicitly targeted companies solving social challenges: their portfolio ranges from healthcare AI to industrial AI for railways. Through Boundary Holding, Khare aims to bring capital and expertise to founders innovating in India and abroad. In his own words, Boundary Holding is actively “identifying and supporting deep technology companies in India across sectors like aerospace, CleanTech, recycling, and AI”. This reflects his conviction that Indian entrepreneurs should tackle India’s problems with India’s talent and capital.

Khare also remains involved in India’s startup scene. He is a member of the IIT Delhi alumni network and active in entrepreneurial circles like TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs). These affiliations help him connect to emerging founders and mentor young innovators. By channeling investment into tech-heavy fields, Khare and Boundary Holding help build the deep-tech ecosystem that India needs to flourish.

The Rise of Indian AI

India’s tech infrastructure is strengthening. The government and private sector are investing in AI at an unprecedented scale. For example, India is developing its own large language model (LLM) to rival systems like ChatGPT. This project is backed by over 18,600 high-performance GPUs – a vast computing array that can train world-class AI models. Such resources give India the power to experiment with cutting-edge AI research domestically.

Crucially, India’s AI effort has a unique twist: multilingual intelligence. Unlike many Western AI systems, the Indian initiative aims to understand India’s hundreds of languages and dialects. With 22 official languages and hundreds of regional tongues, India has an opportunity to build AI that truly reflects its cultural diversity. This could mean AI tools that not only parse Hindi or Tamil, but also grasp local context and idioms. Khare points out that such multilingual models can deliver real impact: an AI that speaks Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Telugu or Marathi “— not just grammatically, but culturally — can unlock real impact” for ordinary people. For instance, an Indian-trained language AI could power education, healthcare, or government services in rural areas where global tools fall short.

In sum, India’s AI agenda is ambitious. By constructing homegrown LLMs and focusing on local languages, India is carving a path that differs from Silicon Valley’s approach. This rise of Indian AI – powered by domestic data centers and engineers – creates a fresh landscape where tech talent can shine at home.

Why Talent Is Still Leaving

Despite these advances, many graduates still see better prospects abroad. The reasons are systemic. Public funding for research in India remains modest, and academia often operates in silos separate from industry. Startups struggle to get deep-pocketed funding compared to Silicon Valley ventures. Most critically, global tech labs and universities simply pay much higher salaries and offer richer research environments than are available domestically. As a result, even the best and brightest may head overseas for PhDs or tech jobs.

Khare warns that this gap must close urgently. He notes that India’s talent “deserves better returns” than what local markets typically offer. In other words, if India wants its engineers to stay, it must make staying worthwhile. That means creating incentives – such as high-paying fellowships, industry-funded chairs, and startup grants – that compete with foreign offers. It also means bridging the disconnect between campuses and companies, so researchers see a clear path from their labs to meaningful projects and profit.

By improving the academic and industrial environment, India can nurture its pool of engineers. Khare emphasizes stronger industry–academia collaboration and much more funding for AI research as key fixes. In practice, that could involve government-backed AI labs open to startups, joint research centers in tier-2 cities, and policies that encourage professors to commercialize their work. If India acts on these fronts, it can transform brain drain into brain circulation – where talent even abroad contributes to domestic projects rather than just seeking personal gain.

Steps India Must Take Now

Industry experts outline concrete actions to reverse the talent flight. Business Today (quoting Khare’s insights) lays out several priorities:

Fund AI Research: Establish more AI centers of excellence beyond major metros, including in smaller cities. Distribute AI labs across India so that top talent nationwide has local research facilities.

Make Staying Worthwhile: Offer competitive incentives for domestic researchers. This could be AI fellowship programs, fast-tracked PhD positions, and global-level salaries for star scientists. If India can pay and support its best minds on par with foreign labs, fewer will leave.

Support Deep-Tech Startups: Channel investment into AI-driven companies tackling India’s problems. Encourage VCs and government funds to back early-stage ventures that use AI for healthcare, agriculture, education, etc. Khare argues that funding startups solving local challenges at scale will show engineers that innovation happens at home.

Build International Linkages: Leverage the global diaspora. Invite Indian-origin researchers abroad to contribute to projects in India – even part-time or remotely. This could take the form of visiting faculty positions, joint ventures, or remote mentoring. Such ties help transfer knowledge and signal that India values its expatriate experts.

Showcase India’s Ambition: Host and participate in major global AI events. For example, India plans to hold the 2026 Global AI Summit. Organizing such conferences sets a world-class agenda and inspires domestic researchers by spotlighting their work on an international stage.

By taking these steps, policymakers and industry leaders can make India not just a talent exporter, but an innovation hub. Khare reminds us that India’s economy is surging – expected to cross $10 trillion soon – so opportunities at home are or will be globally competitive. If well-implemented, these policies will make a career in India as attractive as going abroad.

Capitalizing on India’s Multilingual Edge

A unique aspect of India’s AI story is language. Unlike most AI leaders, India can aim for truly multilingual intelligence. No other country has its level of linguistic diversity, giving India an edge. An AI model trained on Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi and other languages from the ground up can serve millions more citizens in their native tongues.

Such an AI would not only translate words, but also capture cultural context. For instance, rural entrepreneurs or village health workers could use voice-based AI tools in local dialects. Government programs could deploy chatbots that understand regional slang. Even small businesses could tap AI analytics that factor in local consumer preferences. As Khare observes, an Indian AI that understands people’s context and culture can unlock impact in ways global tools cannot.

In practice, this means prioritizing diverse data collection and model training for India’s many languages. It also means recruiting engineers from different regions. If India succeeds, multilingual AI will transform everything from education (e-learning in native languages) to e-governance (services delivered in a citizen’s mother tongue). Ultimately, Indian talent becomes essential to solving global language challenges – an idea Khare highlights when he says that India’s engineers are not just relevant but indispensable.

Conclusion

India is no longer just a supplier of global tech labor; it is poised to become an AI superpower – if it retains its talent. The current brain drain is increasingly viewed not as fate, but as a problem solvable by policy and vision. As Business Today concludes, India must invest in its thinkers and reward its risk-takers so that innovation “thrives – not elsewhere, but right Rajat Khare message is clear: the government and industry have started promoting AI, but “the real test will be how well we retain and nurture talent. That will decide whether we lead By funding homegrown research, supporting AI startups, and leveraging its multilingual advantage, India can keep its brightest minds at home. In this way, the country’s $10‑trillion economy can truly flourish – driven by venture capitalists and investors like Khare who are betting on Indian ingenuity. The opportunity is now: India must invest in its people and its AI ecosystem, ensuring that the next big breakthroughs emerge from Indian labs and startups, not foreign shores.

Source Link - https://www.businesstoday.in/impact-feature/story/rajat-khare-believes-india-can-lead-the-worlds-ai-revolution-by-just-stopping-brain-drain-478096-2025-05-28