BHUBANESWAR: IIM Sambalpur, in collaboration with IIM Ahmedabad, organised an AI Workshop titled “AI for Business Growth: From Local Markets to National Reach”, under newly launched AI4Odisha Initiative.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated the work shop in virtual mode.
The workshop aims to focus on practical AI adoption for traders, MSME & entrepreneurs to leverage AI for sustainable growth, operational excellence and national competitiveness.
Over 350 local industry delegates from western Odisha attended this workshop.
“AI is empowering entrepreneurs across urban and rural India by improving productivity, expanding customer reach, and enabling sustainable growth. Initiatives like this will accelerate our journey towards an inclusive and technology-driven Viksit Bharat,” said Dharmendra Pradhan.
Prof. Mahadeo Jaiswal, Director, IIM Sambalpur, said MSMEs contributes 30% to India’s GDP and generates 67% employment in India, making them the backbone of the Indian economy.
“Artificial Intelligence will be a transformative tool for small businesses by enabling smarter customer assessment, deeper customer engagement, and more efficient supplier management. IIM Sambalpur and IIM Ahmedabad remain committed to nurturing entrepreneurs with the knowledge and tools needed to lead India’s next phase of inclusive economic growth,” he said.
Prof. Bharat Bhasker, Director, IIM Ahmedabad said this AI workshop is designed in a practical manner to help MSMEs in get benefitted in a daily basis.
“AI tools can help entrepreneurs identify not only new customers and analyse consumer behaviour but also identify repeat customers, and streamline supplier and business operations,” he said.
Participants attended hands-on training sessions conducted by leading AI platforms to understand practical applications of AI in marketing, customer management, workflow optimisation, and decision-making.
The workshop brought together industry experts, business leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs, while the AI4Odisha initiative reflected the shared commitment of IIM Sambalpur and IIM Ahmedabad towards building inclusive and technology-enabled entrepreneurial ecosystems, particularly across Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, to help local businesses and MSMEs adopt emerging technologies.
Himanshu Lal, Inspector General, North Division, Sambalpur; Ankur Sohanpal, Founder Learning, IIMA Ventures; and Mr. Gopal Shah, Ideator, AI4 Odisha Ecosystem Partner; Shankar RNS from ZOHO, Claude, Gemini; Ms. Shruti Bijawat, Business Unit Head, Microsoft; Harshit Thaker ,Co-Founder & CEO, Berrywise & Amish Thaker ,Founder & CEO ,Visity, also took part in the programme.