Industry Experts at HSIM Summit Outline AI Adoption Strategies for Small Businesses in North India

Speakers at the HSIM Digital Business Summit set out where AI is changing small business operations and where its use is still only cosmetic.

KARNAL, HARYANA, INDIA, August 26, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Small businesses across North India are adopting artificial intelligence tools faster than they are building strategies to use them, according to practitioners who presented at the HSIM Digital Business Summit in Karnal. Across eleven sessions, speakers set out where the technology is changing business operations and where its use is still largely cosmetic.

The summit, hosted by digital skilling institute HSIM at Vivaan, Karnal, brought together more than 150 business owners, marketers and students from Karnal, Panipat, Yamunanagar and surrounding districts. The sessions have been summarised below into the themes most relevant to small and medium businesses.
Search behaviour is shifting

Sourabh Rana, founder of SEORana, addressed how AI-driven search is changing business discovery. His session argued that businesses optimising only for conventional search rankings are preparing for a channel that is losing share, and that content increasingly needs to be structured so that AI systems can cite it rather than merely rank it.

Automation is moving from tasks to workflows
Rajan Chopra, co-founder of Grimbyte Technologies, presented on agentic artificial intelligence and video automation, covering the shift from tools that complete single tasks to systems that carry out multi-step processes with limited supervision. For small teams, the practical effect is that work previously requiring additional headcount can be handled within the existing team.

Content and social growth
Kulwant Nagi, founder of AIGrowthSkool, presented on using generative artificial intelligence for social media growth, and Satish Kushwaha of Satish K Videos covered the application of AI tools to video production and channel strategy. Both sessions emphasised that AI reduces production cost but does not substitute for a distinct point of view.

Lead generation and conversion
Abhishek Jain, founder of Digitofy, presented on converting inbound leads into revenue within short cycles, and Gundeep Singh Grover of Kings Digital covered the transition of service providers into growth partners through automation of manual delivery work. Abhishek Sood of Local Sites Pro presented on combining programmatic search techniques with AI in local search markets.

Practical starting points for small businesses
Drawing on the sessions, the following starting points were repeatedly raised across the day:
1. Audit how the business currently appears in AI-generated answers, not only in conventional search rankings.
2. Identify the three most repetitive weekly tasks in the business and evaluate each for automation before adopting any new tool.
3. Measure AI adoption against a business outcome such as response time or cost per lead, rather than volume of content produced.
4. Retain human review on anything published under the business name, particularly claims involving figures.
5. Treat first-party content, including case studies and original data, as the material most likely to be cited by AI systems.

HSIM has said the themes raised at the summit will inform its monthly industry workshop programme through the remainder of 2026, and that the Digital Business Summit will now be held annually. The institute has set a target of training 100,000 digital entrepreneurs across India by 2030.

About HSIM: HSIM is a digital skilling institute based in Karnal, Haryana, founded in 2018. The institute trains students, working professionals and business owners in digital marketing, search, artificial intelligence and online business operations. Over eight years it has trained more than 1,000 students, who have gone on to salaried roles, independent freelance practices and their own companies. HSIM runs a monthly industry workshop programme and, from 2026, an annual Digital Business Summit.

Navneet Gupta, Founder
HSIM, Karnal, Haryana, India
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