Telangana CM Revanth Reddy to Speak at Harvard AI Policy Symposium: What Government Leaders Should Watch
Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has been invited to speak at the AI Policy Symposium at the Harvard Kennedy School on March 27. The gathering will bring together senior leaders from government, industry, and academia to address core policy questions around artificial intelligence.
Reddy will join a panel on "AI as Infrastructure and Compute Power: Impact on Livability and Workforce." Expect discussion on data centres, energy systems, and compute infrastructure-how they influence economic competitiveness, public-private coordination, and workforce development.
His participation is notable given Telangana's plan to build an AI City under the Bharat Future City vision. The focus is pragmatic: use government levers-land allocation, reliable power, skills pipelines, clear regulation, and investment partnerships-to grow AI ecosystems while ensuring job creation and urban livability.
Why this matters for public-sector leaders
- Compute is becoming baseline infrastructure, similar to roads and power. Access, reliability, and cost will shape investment and service delivery.
- Data centre policy now touches energy, water, heat reuse, grid stability, and zoning-beyond IT alone.
- Public-private models will be needed to finance capacity, secure supply chains, and keep costs predictable for startups, SMEs, and public agencies.
- Workforce plans must pair advanced AI skills with technician training for operations, safety, and maintenance.
- Regulatory clarity (data governance, safety, procurement, and environmental norms) reduces friction and accelerates adoption.
Action checklist for the next 90 days
- Map current and planned compute needs across departments (health, education, agriculture, urban, police, finance). Prioritize mission-critical use cases.
- Audit power availability and grid capacity near potential data centre clusters. Identify sites with shortest time-to-service.
- Draft standard incentives and clearances for data centres: land, power tariffs, water, heat recapture, and fast-track approvals.
- Launch a coordinated skills plan: AI engineering, data stewardship, cybersecurity, and facility operations. Partner with local universities and industry.
- Pilot one public-private compute program that offers shared access to startups and agencies with transparent pricing and SLAs.
- Set up a security and compliance baseline: data protection, model risk, procurement guardrails, and vendor due diligence.
- Publish a simple, public roadmap outlining sites, timelines, and benefits (jobs, services, sustainability metrics).
Questions to bring to the symposium
- What mix of public, private, and community cloud best balances cost, control, and resilience for state programs?
- How should governments structure long-term power contracts to secure affordable compute without stressing the grid?
- Which zoning, water, and heat reuse policies have delivered the fastest, cleanest data centre deployments?
- What procurement models keep AI workloads portable and avoid lock-in?
- How are leading regions measuring job creation, SME access, and livability outcomes tied to compute investments?
If you're preparing policy teams for these discussions, explore the AI Learning Path for Policy Makers for practical frameworks and training.
For context on the host institution, see the Harvard Kennedy School site here.
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