Shashi Shekhar Vempati, the former CEO of Prasar Bharati, has been appointed as an Independent Director on the board of BharatGen Technology Foundation. Vempati, an alumnus of IIT Bombay, is also the Co-founder of DeepTech for Bharat Foundation (AI4India.Org), an initiative focused on advancing India’s deep technology ecosystem.

According to an ANI report, BharatGen Technology Foundation is the newly incorporated entity under which the BharatGen Sovereign AI project will be developed. The BharatGen project, spearheaded by IIT Bombay, was recently awarded funding of over ₹900 crore by the IndiaAI Mission of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). The initiative aims to build India’s own sovereign foundational models for artificial intelligence.

The new Section 8 company, BharatGen Technology Foundation, was incorporated on November 7, 2025, and is registered with the Registrar of Companies in Mumbai. Its registered office is based at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay. The foundation’s board includes several ex-officio directors from IIT Bombay, such as Prof. Shireesh Balwant Kedare, Director, IIT Bombay; Prof. Ganesh Ramakrishnan, Professor in Charge; Prof. Milind Diwakar Atrey, Deputy Director; and Prof. Ravindra Dheerendra Gudi, Deputy Director.

As an Independent Director, Vempati is expected to bring his rich experience from the public broadcasting sector along with his insights into deep technology and innovation. His inclusion on the board is seen as a strategic move to strengthen BharatGen’s mission of developing India’s sovereign AI capabilities, promoting self-reliance and innovation in the country’s rapidly growing artificial intelligence ecosystem.