India's AI strategy should prioritize leveraging its existing knowledge and IT services strengths. The author criticizes investing heavily in the complex AI stack, like chips and advanced models, arguing India is far from the frontier. Instead, policymakers should reinforce comparative advantages in areas like consulting, finance, and enterprise AI certification. This means supporting service growth and talent development rather than subsidizing infrastructure with limited domestic utility. A temporally grounded approach, driven by market-proven capabilities, will foster a fresh wave of AI-enabled service expansion.