CSRI-NGRI: IIIT-H Director as Guest of Honour
Indigenous technologies in electronics and information technology, with a focus on cybersecurity, artificial intelligence (AI), quantum technologies and the Internet of Things (IoT), were showcased at a technology roadshow held at the CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) on Wednesday, 4th November 2026. MosChip Technologies CEO and managing director Kakumanu Srinivasa and IIIT Hyderabad professor Sandeep Kumar Shukla attended as guests of honour. The event, organised by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Hyderabad, in association with SAMEER and C-MET, was a precursor to Tec-Verse 2026, scheduled for November 26 and 27 at the Chennai Trade Centre. Two parallel sessions focused on cybersecurity, quantum technologies, Al and lot.
IIIT‑H Projects Selected For NeurIPS 2026
An ordinary photograph of a room, combined with a written instruction, could help artificial intelligence create an animated human movement. This is one of five research projects from the International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad (IIIT‑H), selected for NeurIPS 2026, a leading international AI conference. The project, ENACT, led by Prof. Charu Sharma, uses existing AI tools to understand a photograph, plan an action and generate the corresponding movement. “Since casual images of indoor environments exist aplenty, we leveraged those along with free‑form text instruction to create animated motion,” Sharma said. The technology could help generate training material for robots, although it is currently limited to static scenes and cannot handle actions such as opening drawers or carrying objects.
IIIT-H wins Best Paper Award at IROS 2026
The International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad’s (IIIT-H) Robotics Research Center (RRC) and Ati Robotics have collaborated for three years to develop AI-based navigation for autonomous warehouse robots. This research focuses on non-LiDAR-based technology, using cameras, image sequences, and 3D foundational models for navigation. The approach aims to reduce the need for heavy, dense LiDAR maps, employing sparse localization based on visual landmarks. Rather than using dense LiDAR maps, IIIT-H researchers experimented with sparse localization, which estimates a robot’s position with limited data or landmarks. In indoor settings like warehouses, this involves decomposing scenes into landmarks such as “next to the door” or “opposite the elevator,” according to Professor Madhava Krishna.
IIIT Hyderabad hosts Digital Citizen Summit
IIIT Hyderabad hosted the Digital Citizen Summit – Regional Dialogues: Digital Public Infrastructures for Governance on 28 October 2026, focusing on the evolution of India’s digital public infrastructure and facilitating its advancement. Collectively organised by Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF), the Human Sciences Research Centre at IIIT-H and Code for Good Tech (C4GT), the regional dialogue brought together stakeholders from government, civil society, technology, research and community representatives who deliberated on making India’s digital public infrastructure more inclusive, accountable and accessible. India’s Digital Public Infrastructures (DPIs), including Aadhaar, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and DigiLocker, have transformed how citizens access public services, financial systems and welfare benefits.
IIIT-H, Ati Robotics develop AI navigation for warehouse robots
The International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad’s (IIIT-H) Robotics Research Center (RRC) and Ati Robotics have collaborated for three years to develop AI-based navigation for autonomous warehouse robots. This research focuses on non-LiDAR-based technology, using cameras, image sequences, and 3D foundational models for navigation. The approach aims to reduce the need for heavy, dense LiDAR maps, employing sparse localization based on visual landmarks. Rather than using dense LiDAR maps, IIIT-H researchers experimented with sparse localization, which estimates a robot’s position with limited data or landmarks. In indoor settings like warehouses, this involves decomposing scenes into landmarks such as “next to the door” or “opposite the elevator,” according to Professor Madhava Krishna.
IIIT Hyderabad and NPCI Sign MoU to Strengthen Cybersecurity in Digital Payments
International Institute of Information Technology – Hyderabad (IIIT Hyderabad) and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on strengthening cybersecurity across India’s digital payments ecosystem. The collaboration will focus on research, innovation and capacity building to address emerging risks in digital transactions. The partnership combines NPCI’s experience in developing and operating national payment systems with IIIT Hyderabad’s advanced technology research capabilities. The initiative at IIIT Hyderabad will be led by the Cyber Manthan Centre, which works in cybersecurity, digital forensics and trusted infrastructure, with institute director Prof Sandeep K Shukla steering the engagement.
AI for the last-minute question paper: A plug for exam leaks?
“Most Indian exam leaks happen during distribution, days before the test. Lastminute AI assembly only stops distribution leaks if we replace physical shipping with encrypted digital transmission on the morning of the exam,” says Prof Praveen Garimella, Associate Professor of Practice and co-leader at the Centre for Educational Technology and Learning Sciences (CETLS), IIIT Hyderabad. However, experts argue that AI alone cannot guarantee exam integrity. Prof Garimella cautions against asking algorithms to “invent brand-new questions from scratch” on exam day, as this risks factual errors and ambiguous options. Instead, he suggests using AI to help experts build a pre-verified question bank from which a paper can be assembled shortly before the test. Prof Garimella notes that this approach makes human review practical, even at scale.
Rogue AI agents target Indian systems: What CERT-In found, why experts are worried
Exposed credentials, weak access controls, and cloud misconfigurations enabled ‘rogue’ AI agents to hack into Indian systems, raising a bigger question: How prepared are the country’s organisations for attacks that unfold at unprecedented speed and scale? “None of these attacks used sophisticated AI capability to find zero-day vulnerabilities or anything unprecedented. This shows that the cybersecurity conditions of the firms under attack are terrible, and need overhaul and require proper regulatory intervention. The lesson is not about AI tools and their tendency to go beyond their sandboxes but about our organisations failing to do their job,” Professor Sandeep Shukla, director, International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Hyderabad, told The Indian Express.
More education, less employment: Inside India’s growing jobs’ challenge
Prof Sandeep Shukla, Director of IIIT Hyderabad, stresses the importance of understanding how employment is defined in the survey. “The first thing is to read the report carefully to understand what they mean by employed,” Shukla says. He argues that the gap between educational qualifications and available opportunities is a particular concern for graduates. A school-leaving qualification may not be enough to secure the professional work many aspire to, while a degree or postgraduate qualification does not guarantee stable, well-paid employment. Some graduates take low-paid or insecure jobs, while others continue searching for positions that better match their skills and expectations. For Shukla, addressing the challenge requires a stronger emphasis on entrepreneurship and practical problem-solving.
US-China rivalry threatens global AI safeguards; IIIT Hyderabad director flags Israel challenge
In an interview with Mint on October 13, 2026, Sandeep Kumar Shukla, director of the International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad (IIIT Hyderabad), said global guidelines are needed to manage AI risks, but geopolitical tensions between the US and China could make it difficult for countries to agree on slowing its development. Shukla explained how advanced AI could help detect software vulnerabilities that decades of human expertise have failed to uncover. The same capabilities, however, could make cyberattacks easier and enable malicious actors to develop dangerous technologies. He said governments should focus on regulating the use of AI in military operations rather than on preventing individual countries from developing AI systems.