Speaking at IIT Kanpur. Here is What I Shared.
Hi everyone. It is May already and this is my first blog post of the year. The beginning of 2026 has been quite occupied on my end, so writing kept getting pushed down the list. But here I am now.
A few weeks back, I received an invitation from SAMWAAD Talk Show to speak at IIT Kanpur. It was a pleasure to be invited and I was happy to be part of it. The session was on AI and how it is changing the way we think and work, which is something I talk about quite often. I thought I would write about it here so those who were not in the room can get a sense of what we discussed.
The Session
SAMWAAD had put together a good setup at IIT Kanpur with undergrads, postgrad students, and faculty all present. The topic of the session was:
“From Thinking to Prompting: The Cognitive Shift Driven by AI”
I spoke about how AI is reshaping human cognition, what that means for businesses, and how it is quietly affecting our mental well-being too. The session ran for about 25 to 30 minutes and was followed by a Q&A. The students were attentive and the discussion was good.
The session was covered live on ABP News. I will share the link here once it goes live. A few other local media channels from UP also covered it, which was a good thing to see.
What I Spoke About
I kept things focused around three points.
1. Prompting is a thinking skill.
A lot of people treat prompting as just typing something into a box and getting an answer. But writing a good prompt actually requires you to know what you want and be able to say it clearly. That takes effort and clarity of thought. If you approach it that way, it makes you sharper, not more dependent.
2. AI adoption in business fails when the basics are not in place.
Many orgs bring in AI tools and expect things to change, but nothing really does. The reason is usually not the technology. It is that their processes and decision making were already unclear, and AI just made that more visible. Fixing the tool does not fix the thinking behind it.
3. Mental well-being in the age of AI is not discussed enough.
When instant answers are always available, it gradually affects how much patience you have with uncertainty and how much you trust your own judgment. This is not something dramatic. It happens slowly and quietly. But it is worth being aware of.
The Questions from the Audience
The Q&A was the part I enjoyed. The students asked honest, practical questions rather than just Bookish ones.
“Will the skills I am building now still be relevant?”
This is something many students are thinking about right now. My answer was straightforward. Clear thinking, good communication, and sound judgment will always matter. Those things do not go out of date.
“How does a startup bring in AI without losing what already works?”
Start with the problem you are trying to solve. Then find the right tool. Not the other way around.
“Is curiosity still a human thing if AI can replicate it?”
There is a real difference between simulating curiosity and actually having it. One is a pattern. The other is what drives a person. They are not the same thing.
Good questions overall & very Interactive.
On the coverage side, ABP News was present and the session will be going live soon. I will share the link here once it is up. A few local media channels from UP also covered it. The SAMWAAD team was well organized throughout and made it a smooth experience.
Wrapping Up
It was a good session at a good institution and I am glad I was part of it. These kind of conversations matter, especially when the audience is genuinely thinking about the questions and not just sitting through a talk.
Before I wrap up, I want to leave a couple of things with you. When you sit down to write a prompt, do you actually think it through first, or do you just type something and hope the output fills the gaps?
And at your workplace, is your organization genuinely changing how it thinks and works, or is it just adding new tools to the same old way of doing things?
I would love to hear what you think. Drop your thoughts in the comments or reach out to me directly. There is no perfect answer here, and that is exactly why this conversation is worth having.
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