Hyderabad, June 30, 2026: The International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad (IIIT Hyderabad), in partnership with HYSEA celebrated the second anniversary of the TechForward Research Seminar Series on Monday night with a special edition titled “TechForward 2026: The Future, Powered by AI,” bringing together leaders from academia, industry, research, and the technology ecosystem to discuss the transformative role of artificial intelligence and the future of industry-academia collaboration.
The anniversary edition featured a distinguished lineup of leaders from academia and industry, including Aditya Rao (ServiceNow), Dr. Deva Kumar U (IIIT Hyderabad), Maneesh Sehgal (DBS Tech), Shashi Reddy (Qualcomm), Sumeet Mathur (ServiceNow), Prof. B. S. Murty (IIT Hyderabad), Prof. Bhagwan Chowdhry (Indian School of Business), Prof. P. J. Narayanan (IIIT Hyderabad), Prof. Sandeep Kumar Shukla (IIIT Hyderabad), and Rajesh Dhuddu (PwC). The discussions focused on the TechForward journey over the past two years, the emergence of agentic AI and its implications for software engineering and the future of work, research-led innovation opportunities for industry, and the growing importance of deep research capabilities in shaping the next phase of technological transformation.
Speaking on the occasion, Flt. Lt. Bipin Pendyala, President, HYSEA, said: “Over the last two years, TechForward has emerged as a unique and credible platform that brings together two worlds that must work much more closely together—industry and academia. As technologies like AI continue to reshape every sector, sustained collaboration between researchers, innovators, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders will be critical to ensuring that India moves up the global innovation value chain. HYSEA is proud to partner with IIIT Hyderabad in building this ecosystem of dialogue, collaboration, and shared innovation.”
Launched in 2024, TechForward was conceived as a recurring platform to foster sustained engagement between academic researchers and technology industry leaders around emerging technologies and innovation opportunities. The initiative emerged from the recognition that while India possesses both world-class academic research capabilities and a rapidly growing technology industry, meaningful engagement between the two ecosystems remains limited.
Over the past two years, TechForward has evolved into one of Hyderabad’s most significant industry-academia forums, bringing together researchers, practitioners, product leaders, startup founders, architects, policymakers, and business executives to explore technological frontiers and identify opportunities for collaboration. Hosted by leading technology companies, innovation centres, and research institutions across Hyderabad, the series has featured participation from organizations including Qualcomm, Google, Meta, Goldman Sachs, Bosch, ServiceNow, Accenture, Evernorth Health Services, Lloyds Technology Centre, ZF India, ISB, and several others.
A defining characteristic of TechForward has been its breadth and interdisciplinary approach. The series has explored technologies shaping the future of business, society, and innovation, including artificial intelligence and large language models, computer vision, robotics and autonomous systems, quantum computing, edge AI, cybersecurity, healthcare technologies, financial services, sustainable mobility, industrial AI, software engineering, energy transition, and even the intersection of technology and cinema. Over time, the seminars have also been distilled into monthly TechForward dispatches that serve as technology trend briefings for the wider ecosystem.
Reflecting on the journey, Prof. Ramesh Loganathan, Professor and Dean (Research & Outreach), IIIT Hyderabad, said: “While India has both a world-class technology industry and strong academic research capabilities, the two worlds rarely intersect in meaningful ways. TechForward was created to build a regular and recurring dialogue between them. Over the past two years, we have seen tremendous enthusiasm from industry and academia alike, and as we enter the next phase, our focus will be on translating these conversations into deeper collaborations, joint initiatives, and tangible innovation outcomes.”
As TechForward enters its third year, IIIT Hyderabad and HYSEA aim to build on the strong foundation established over the past two years by strengthening engagement, fostering research-led innovation, and creating greater impact through deeper and more sustained industry-academia collaboration.