Qualcomm is betting big on India's semiconductor ecosystem and the future of autonomous mobility. The company outlined its vision for advancing self-driving vehicle technologies, AI-powered automotive solutions, and next-generation chip innovation, while highlighting India's growing role in the global semiconductor value chain. Watch the full report to understand how Qualcomm sees India's potential in shaping the future of mobility, semiconductor manufacturing, and cutting-edge technology.#cnbctv18digital #Qualcomm, #AutonomousVehicles, #SelfDrivingCars, #Semiconductors, #ChipManufacturing, #...
What Nakul Duggal said
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Nakul Duggal, Qualcomm's EVP and GM for Automotive, Industrial, Embedded IoT, and Robotics, discussed the transformation of cars into digital cabins and autonomous machines powered by software and advanced chips. He highlighted India's local innovation, citing a meeting with Ultraviolet in Gurgaon, and predicted that by 2036 cars will be robots, either personal or hailed for transportation, potentially safer than human drivers with enough guardrails. Regarding humanoid robots, he noted that while technology exists for repeatable tasks, challenges remain in robustness and handling unstructured, intuitive tasks. He mentioned Qualcomm's partnership with Tata for manufacturing automotive-grade modules in India, calling it a great time for India to invest in semiconductor and electronics manufacturing due to geopolitical diversification needs and large domestic and export opportunities. He expressed excitement about India's leapfrogging potential, especially in automotive and industrial automation, and sees robotics as the next interesting space.
Key takeaways
By 2036, cars will be robots, either personal or hailed, and can be safer than human drivers with sufficient guardrails and hardware.
Qualcomm has partnered with Tata to manufacture automotive-grade modules in India, kicked off earlier this year.
India has a fantastic future in electronics manufacturing, SMT, and semiconductors, with both massive national need and large export opportunities.
1:26And also, are there lessons to be learned from some of the more developed markets, say perhaps China?
2:37Tell us 10 years down the road, given the pace of development that we've seen, we began by talking about how much has happened in just 6 months, tell us 10 years down the road, 2036, what does a car begin to do for the user in 2036?
3:42How far away are we from a humanoid robot that can perhaps do my laundry back at home?
4:40But, how far away are we in terms of concentrated, focused learning of these systems to actually help yield the kind of results that we're hoping?
6:08And can Qualcomm perhaps be a part of this India semiconductor mission?
8:06What would perhaps be some of the key things you'll be watching out for as India builds on this journey to encourage greater robotics, AI on the edge, as well as integration with industry such as the automotive space?
Welcome back to News Center. Now, Qualcomm Technologies is betting big on autonomous vehicle segment. Speaking to me earlier, Nakul Duggal of Qualcomm Technologies said that local innovation is driving India's automotive industry, and he believes autonomous vehicles will enter the Indian market soon. He also said that India's manufacturing growth story remains robust with a fantastic future ahead, adding that it's a great time to invest and build in India.
Car is a digital cabin and the car is an autonomous machine on wheels. And both of those are being powered through software using advanced chips. And nobody would have really said exactly those words, but if you really think about it, that is exactly what's going on. When you think about electrification, the car actually gets significantly simplified because you have a battery pack, because you have a battery management system, you have an inverter. So, the concept of horsepower kind of becomes a bit unnecessary. But, what it gets replaced with is intelligence in the car that is about creating an experience for the passenger, for the driver. And then safety. And that I think is probably the best example I can give to you as to what form physical AI takes in the context of an everyday product that is both a consumer product, but also a safe product, an industrialized product that has to be able to deal with a fairly complex environment.
Great. Let me also ask about when we talk of from an Indian perspective, there's a great demand from the users as well, and a great deal of integration that we're already beginning to see from Indian car makers, whether it's the Tatas, whether it's the Mahindras doing a lot of work in terms of bringing in additional capabilities as a part of the user driving experience. Tell us, how does that look to you as a market? Is there a greater integration that is possible? And also, are there lessons to be learned from some of the more developed markets, say perhaps China?
Yeah. We've actually been very fortunate. We've engaged with excellent partners throughout. I was meeting with Ultraviolet this morning here in Gurgaon. I think there is so much of local innovation that is going on and it's actually innovation for market conditions, for consumer needs, for the uniqueness that the specific market requires, whether it's a safety experience or an energetic experience. And there is a tremendous amount of domestic innovation that's been going on in these markets for a long time, way before we were talking about digital in associations. And so naturally what we see is the use of our products for a very localized experience.
Tell us 10 years down the road, given the pace of development that we've seen, we began by talking about how much has happened in just 6 months, tell us 10 years down the road, 2036, what does a car begin to do for the user in 2036?
Yeah, I think a car is a robot in 2036. Car is a robot and you essentially are using it either as a personal mode of conveyance or potentially just something that you hail that is providing you with the transportation service experience. It is obviously highly dependent upon the infrastructure that it is traveling over and the kind of guardrails that are available. But look, the technology is already very far along. And if you put in enough guardrails, if you put in enough hardware into these products, they can actually be mostly driving safer than human drivers can. So certainly 10 years from now we're going to be in a very different place.
I think the good news is safety is improving. As you start to bring all this technology, safety is improving and that means lesser accidents, lower fatality, etc.
And how does it deal with unstructured tasks? How does it deal with randomness? How does it deal with things that require you to have, for lack of a better word, intuition?
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Duggal, N. (2026, July 30). Qualcomm's Vision For India's Autonomous Vehicle Future And Semiconductor Growth [Interview transcript]. CNBC-TV18. CEOInterviews.AI. https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1144207/
MLA
Nakul Duggal. "Qualcomm's Vision For India's Autonomous Vehicle Future And Semiconductor Growth." CNBC-TV18, 30 Jul. 2026. Transcript, CEOInterviews.AI, https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1144207/.
BibTeX
@misc{duggal2026_1144207,
author = {Nakul Duggal},
title = {Qualcomm's Vision For India's Autonomous Vehicle Future And Semiconductor Growth},
howpublished = {Interview transcript, CNBC-TV18. CEOInterviews.AI},
year = {2026},
month = {jul},
url = {https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1144207/},
note = {Speaker-attributed transcript with timestamps}
}
