The session “AI and the New Frontier for Economic Progress: Linking Innovation to Inclusive Growth” at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 brought together leading economists, development practitioners and global policy thinkers to examine a defining question for the next decade: whether artificial intelligence will widen economic divides or become a catalyst for broad-based prosperity. The discussion contemplated the structural conditions required for AI-led growth: productivity gains, public-sector transformation, open innovation ecosystems and labour-market readiness.