Day 1 of AI Impact Summit: Founders call out overcrowding, missing prototypes at flagship event

The opening day of the India AI Impact Summit 2026, billed as a landmark gathering of policymakers, startups and global technology leaders, ran into turbulence Day 1 of the marquee event as logistical breakdowns and security-driven disruptions left many attendees frustrated and questioning the execution of one of the country’s marquee tech events. 

Hosted at Bharat Mandapam, the summit drew large crowds eager to participate in conversations around artificial intelligence, innovation and India’s digital ambitions. Instead, many participants encountered long queues beginning early in the morning, restricted entry, patchy internet connectivity and confusion over movement inside the venue. 

Attendees described waiting hours for access, only to face an unexpected evacuation around midday ahead of the scheduled visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Security sanitisation protocols led to halls being cleared and access gates shut for several hours, effectively halting participation for a large section of delegates and exhibitors. 

Founders highlight hurdles

For startup founders who had travelled across the country to showcase their work, the disruptions translated into missed opportunities and in one case of financial losses. 

Punit Jain, founder of Reskilll, posted a timeline of the day’s events on social media, highlighting early morning queues, delayed entry and the eventual shutdown of access. He criticised what he described as a disconnect between the summit’s stated goal of empowering builders and the on-ground experience of those very participants. 

“Don’t mobilise the ecosystem and then displace them,” he wrote, arguing that clearer communication about restricted access could have prevented confusion. 

Similar concerns were raised by Dhananjay Yadav, co-founder of NeoSapien, who said the security sweep exposed coordination gaps. According to Yadav, multiple security teams issued conflicting instructions while clearing the exhibition area, forcing startups to leave booths abruptly. 

Yadav alleged that prototype AI wearables his company had brought for display later went missing during the restricted-access window, raising questions about asset safety inside a high-security zone. The startup had invested in travel, logistics and exhibition costs to participate in what it saw as a defining platform for India’s emerging AI hardware ecosystem. 

Beyond security-related disruptions, participants also pointed to basic infrastructure challenges — including limited access to drinking water, crowded food counters and reliance on cash payments — issues many said felt out of place at a summit focused on cutting-edge digital transformation. 

Yavanika Shah, named among Asia’s leading legal innovators in 2023, described the experience with irony, noting that while discussions inside centred on building the future, attendees outside grappled with traffic congestion, long queues and inadequate amenities. 

The mismatch between ambition and execution became a recurring theme in attendee reactions. Several founders remarked that events meant to showcase India’s technological maturity must also demonstrate organisational precision, especially as the country positions itself as a global AI hub.   

As one delegate remarked while leaving the venue, “If AI is about solving real-world problems, the first test should be running the summit itself.”