IT & Electronics and Education Minister Nara Lokesh requested Amazon Web Services (AWS) MD Rachel Skaff to establish a data centre in Andhra Pradesh (A.P.) during an interaction with her on the sidelines of the IT Serve Alliance Annual Conference at Las Vegas on Wednesday (October 30, 2024).

Mr. Lokesh is on a week-long visit to the U.S. since October 25 to attract investments.

Ms. Skaff stated that Amazon was focusing on cloud infrastructure, enterprise solutions, and digital transformation and it was playing a major role in expanding cloud services and solutions globally, with emphasis on innovations in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning and cloud infrastructure.

She said she would consider providing cloud services in the State. 

Mr. Lokesh mentioned that AWS would be helpful to A.P. in reaching its digital transformation goals and in implementing smart governance. The State has robust infrastructure and green energy projects that would  provide renewable energy for sustainable cloud operations, he added. 

E-governance and AI-driven solutions

Later, Mr. Lokesh had a meeting with Salesforce AI CEO Clara Shih. He requested her to provide AI tools and mentorship to technology startups in A.P. and to offer skill training to youth for AI-based industries. 

Mr. Lokesh also urged her to collaborate with educational institutions to offer AI certification programmes and hands-on training, and to introduce Salesforce’s Einstein AI in A.P. for improving Customer Relationship Management (CRM).

Further, he sought Salesforce’s support for implementing e-governance and AI-driven solutions in the State for improving service delivery mechanisms and public engagement through predictive analytics and automated processes. 

Ms. Shih said she would discuss the proposals made by Mr. Lokesh with her team, while expressing the company’s commitment to ‘responsible AI use in government projects’.

Invites Indra Nooyi to visit A.P.

Mr. Lokesh went on to meet PepsiCo former CEO Indra Nooyi. He sought her support for A.P. Government’s initiatives to attract foreign investments in technology and manufacturing. 

He invited Ms. Nooyi to visit A.P. to witness the State’s technological ecosystem, infrastructure, and potential for industrial development.