IT & Electronics and Education Minister Nara Lokesh interacts with former chairman & CEO of PepsiCo Indra Nooyi on the sidelines of the IT Serve Alliance Annual Conference at Las Vegas, U.S. on October 30, 2024. Photo: X/@naralokesh

IT & Electronics and Education Minister Nara Lokesh requested Amazon Web Services (AWS) MD Rachel Skaff to establish a data centre in Andhra Pradesh (A.P.) during an interaction with her on the sidelines of the IT Serve Alliance Annual Conference at Las Vegas on Wednesday (October 30, 2024).

Mr. Lokesh is on a week-long visit to the U.S. since October 25 to attract investments.

Ms. Skaff stated that Amazon was focusing on cloud infrastructure, enterprise solutions, and digital transformation and it was playing a major role in expanding cloud services and solutions globally, with emphasis on innovations in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning and cloud infrastructure.

She said she would consider providing cloud services in the State. 

Mr. Lokesh mentioned that AWS would be helpful to A.P. in reaching its digital transformation goals and in implementing smart governance. The State has robust infrastructure and green energy projects that would  provide renewable energy for sustainable cloud operations, he added. 

E-governance and AI-driven solutions

Later, Mr. Lokesh had a meeting with Salesforce AI CEO Clara Shih. He requested her to provide AI tools and mentorship to technology startups in A.P. and to offer skill training to youth for AI-based industries. 

Mr. Lokesh also urged her to collaborate with educational institutions to offer AI certification programmes and hands-on training, and to introduce Salesforce’s Einstein AI in A.P. for improving Customer Relationship Management (CRM).

Further, he sought Salesforce’s support for implementing e-governance and AI-driven solutions in the State for improving service delivery mechanisms and public engagement through predictive analytics and automated processes. 

Ms. Shih said she would discuss the proposals made by Mr. Lokesh with her team, while expressing the company’s commitment to ‘responsible AI use in government projects’.

Invites Indra Nooyi to visit A.P.

Mr. Lokesh went on to meet PepsiCo former CEO Indra Nooyi. He sought her support for A.P. Government’s initiatives to attract foreign investments in technology and manufacturing. 

He invited Ms. Nooyi to visit A.P. to witness the State’s technological ecosystem, infrastructure, and potential for industrial development. 

IT Minister Nara Lokesh meeting Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella at the company’s headquarters in Redmond, U.S. Photo: Special Arrangement

Minister for IT and Electronics Nara Lokesh met Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella at the company headquarters in Redmond on Tuesday (October 29, 2024).

Mr. Lokesh is on a week-long visit to the U.S. since October 25 to attract investments.

During their interaction, Mr. Lokesh recalled how under his father and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s visionary leadership, Hyderabad had been transformed into an IT hub.  He said Mr. Naidu was working on plans to make Andhra Pradesh (A.P.) a leader in the technology sector. 

The government needed the support of Microsoft in the development of IT hubs and innovation parks across the State. Mr. Lokesh said A.P. has land and policies favourable for investments, as well as cloud infrastructure and data centres, which give it the potential to become a regional centre for global companies. 

Mr. Nadella stated that Microsoft was a global leader in software, cloud computing, and enterprise technology, with a market cap of $3.10 trillion. He promised to look into the opportunities in various sectors in  A.P., especially enabling the State to adopt AI in digital governance. 

Later, the Minister visited the headquarters of Apple Inc. at San Francisco, where he met the company’s vice – president (operations) Priya Balasubramaniam and requested her to consider investing in A.P., by highlighting the State’s infrastructure facilities and business-friendly policies. 

On the occasion, Mr. Lokesh appreciated Ms. Subramaniam’s significant role in managing Apple’s supply chain and its manufacturing operations. He said the A.P. Government was prepared to support Apple’s expansion by providing the necessary resources and facilities. 

Mr. Lokesh pointed out that A.P. has four electronic manufacturing clusters and Apple could choose one of them to set up its manufacturing unit. AP has easy access to major markets and was strategically positioned for investments. 

It (the State) offers an ideal ecosystem for manufacturing and distribution with world-class infrastructure, including modern ports and roadways to support logistics and supply chain management, the Minister added. 

Further, Mr. Lokesh called on Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen at California. He sought Mr. Narayen’s support in developing A.P. as a technology hub and in improving the digital skills of youth.