1,700 delegates from 24 countries to attend AI, fintech meet: Govt

Bhubaneswar: Odisha plans to build a skilled AI-FinTech workforce and develop Bhubaneswar into a global capability centre, additional chief secretary Vishal Kumar Dev said on Wednesday.

Addressing a news conference ahead of the Black Swan Summit India, scheduled to be held here on Thursday and Friday in partnership with Singapore-based Global Finance & Technology Network (GFTN), Dev said the two-day event will bring together over 1,700 delegates from 24 countries, with nearly 100 speakers from five continents.




The summit will convene global and national policymakers, regulators, financial institutions, technology leaders, startups, investors and academics for what Dev described as an execution-oriented dialogue.

He said Odisha is reframing its digital policy beyond technology adoption, focusing instead on measurable outcomes such as jobs, skills, enterprise creation and global competitiveness. “Our focus is on operationalising AI and digital finance in ways that deliver real economic value and build long-term institutional capacity,” Dev said.

The Odisha government and GFTN entered into a joint initiative titled BharatNetra during the Jan 2025 visit of Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam to the state. The partnership aims to establish an Integrated Global Financial Technology Capability Hub (I-GFTCH) to drive FinTech and InsurTech innovation.

Dev said the Black Swan Summit marks a decisive step in Odisha’s ambition to make Bhubaneswar a nationally and globally connected centre for AI-enabled digital finance and global capability services. “Odisha is stepping forward to demonstrate how inclusive, tech-led governance, future-ready talent, global collaboration and trusted digital infrastructure can deliver prosperity at scale for India,” he said.