Hyderabad: Contracts May Shape Use Of AI In Governance, Say Experts
The government needs AI-driven technologies, but may not always have the capacity or expertise to build them internally: Sujal Deoda, a dual-degree student and co-author of the study
HYDERABAD: Government tenders and procurement contracts may be playing a far bigger role in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in governance in India than formal regulations, according to an award-winning study by researchers at IIIT, Hyderabad (IIIT-H).
According to Siddhi Wadekar, a member of the research team, “Unlike the European Union, India currently does not have a dedicated AI Act. The question we asked was: if formal regulation is still evolving, where are governance practices actually emerging from?”
The researchers, who wrote emerging institutional pathways for AI governance in India, analysed publicly available tender documents, procurement notices, technical specifications and contractual requirements issued by central and state government agencies for AI systems.
Their findings suggest that governance is increasingly being shaped through operational decisions made during procurement rather than through legislation alone. “The government needs AI-driven technologies, but may not always have the capacity or expertise to build them internally. As a result, many of these services are outsourced through tenders,” said Sujal Deoda, a dual-degree student and co-author of the study.
The team found that procurement documents often contain requirements related to standards, accountability, compliance and performance, effectively influencing how AI systems are designed and deployed. Prof. Aakansha Natani said understanding AI governance requires looking beyond technology itself.
“Researchers need to examine not only technical specifications but also what is written, and sometimes not written, in policy and procurement documents,” she said.
The study argues that as AI adoption expands across public services, governance may increasingly emerge through everyday processes such as commissioning, procuring and deploying technology, rather than solely through laws and regulations.
Researchers said the findings throw light on the growing importance of interdisciplinary work combining computer science, public policy and social sciences to understand the wider impact of AI systems on society.
