Can Sweden remain competitive without India? That question was at the heart of Chalmers' seminar during Almedalen Week, where international talent, research and long-term partnerships were identified as essential to Sweden's future competitiveness.
Much of the debate around AI focuses on technology, computing power and algorithms. In Almedalen, however, the discussion quickly moved beyond the relationship between Sweden and India. Instead, it centred on how a small country like Sweden can remain competitive in a world where AI is rapidly transforming economies, labour markets and innovation systems.
That question framed the discussion as Chalmers President and CEO Martin Nilsson Jacobi, India's Ambassador to Sweden Anurag Bhushan, Noi Cecilia Oldne of the India-Europe Business Council and the Sweden-India Business Council, and Andreas Göthberg from Business Region Gothenburg took part in the seminar AI, Talent and Innovation: Can Sweden Stay Competitive Without India? The discussion was moderated by Professor Devdatt Dubhashi, Professor of Data Science and AI at Chalmers.
The panel also highlighted an important point: collaboration between Sweden and India is far from new. What is happening now is rather a new phase in which research, innovation and AI are playing an increasingly important role.
International partnerships are essential
Devdatt Dubhashi opened with a straightforward question: Can Sweden remain competitive without India?
The panel's answer was unanimous: no.
For Martin Nilsson Jacobi, international partnerships are essential.
"Sweden is a small country. We cannot remain competitive without close collaboration with other countries and regions. India is one of the most important partners we need to work with."
He also pointed to a clear sign of the growing ties between the two countries. Today, India is the largest country of origin outside Europe among applicants to Chalmers' international master's programmes. At the same time, he stressed that collaboration must work both ways. Swedish students also need opportunities to study and work in India to better understand its market, innovation ecosystem and culture.
From vision to practical conditions
Asked how the Indian government can help strengthen cooperation, Ambassador Anurag Bhushan emphasised that the government's primary role is to create the right conditions.
"Our most important task is to create a framework that enables companies and organisations to collaborate with as few barriers as possible."
He highlighted the forthcoming EU–India Free Trade Agreement as an important step towards reducing trade barriers and facilitating collaboration in research, innovation and investment.
The Ambassador also presented plans for a joint India–Sweden Joint Science and Technology Center, which will coordinate research and innovation initiatives in areas including AI, 5G, advanced materials, critical minerals and life sciences.
"Some of the memoranda of understanding already signed between Sweden and India can be translated into concrete action through this centre, leading to even better results."
A partnership entering a new phase
For Noi Cecilia Oldne, the new initiatives are not about building a partnership from scratch but about further developing a relationship that has evolved over many years.
"Swedish companies have been present in India for generations. Ericsson has operated there for around 120 years, and many other companies have a long history in the country. This creates new opportunities, particularly in research and innovation."
She also emphasised that lasting international relationships are not built through individual projects but through close cooperation between academia, industry and the public sector.
To strengthen these connections, she has helped establish the Sweden India Tech Community, where universities, companies, start-ups, investors, incubators and public authorities come together. She also highlighted the India Sweden Business Leaders Roundtable, established by the two countries' prime ministers in 2016 to deepen the strategic relationship between Sweden and India.
Her advice to both businesses and universities was clear:
"Visit each other's countries, build relationships and think long term. Don't expect everything to happen within two years."
She also reminded the audience that India should not be viewed as a single market.
"India consists of many different states with very different conditions. To succeed, you need to understand those regional differences and build relationships over time."
Gothenburg's strength lies in collaboration
Several panellists returned to the point that Sweden and India have different but complementary strengths. Anurag Bhushan described Sweden as a leading nation in innovation and industry, while highlighting India's rapidly growing role in IT, AI and digitalisation.
Business Region Gothenburg has significantly intensified its engagement with India in recent years, Andreas Göthberg explained. Today, around 250 companies in the Gothenburg region operate in India, while the number of Gothenburg residents with Indian backgrounds has quadrupled over the past decade.
"If a Swedish company contributes innovation, India can contribute both expertise and the scale needed to develop it further."
The combination of Swedish innovation capacity and India's expertise and scale emerged as one of the panel's strongest messages.
For Martin Nilsson Jacobi, universities have an increasingly important role to play.
"Silicon Valley would not have become Silicon Valley without Stanford and Berkeley."
He argued that the world's most successful innovation ecosystems have always developed around strong universities. Universities therefore need to play an increasingly important role as international innovation hubs where research, industry and talent come together.
Competitiveness is built together
Just a few weeks before the seminar, Sweden and India deepened their cooperation through new agreements on research, innovation and the green transition during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Gothenburg. For the panel, this marked the beginning of a new phase in an already strong partnership.
Yet perhaps the most important conclusion extended well beyond the relationship between Sweden and India. In a world where AI is advancing at remarkable speed, international talent, research and long-term partnerships are becoming strategic assets.
Future competitiveness will not be determined by technology alone, but by the people who develop it and the partnerships that make innovation possible.