Centre For Artificial Intelligence Research (C-FAIR)
Events
Lecture series AI BEYOND - "An Industry Peek Behind the Curtain of AI Governance"
An AI-BEYOND Lecture Series session on “An Industry Peek Behind the Curtain of AI Governance” was held on 14 October 2026, featuring Santhipriya Mohan, Senior Manager American Express. The session provided a practical and multi-perspective look into the realities of AI governance in fintech, detailing how models impact daily life from instant payments to credit decisions and addressing the critical gap between using AI and being able to defend it. Through the story of Nova Bank, the speaker highlighted the core challenges of balancing business urgency with governance, turning abstract principles (fairness, privacy, accountability) into concrete operational controls, and establishing clear human ownership across the model lifecycle. Emphasizing frameworks such as the EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF, and ISO/IEC standards, the speaker encouraged participants to move beyond static approvals toward continuous monitoring, urging future professionals to act as bridge-builders and translators between technical, legal, and business domains to build AI that is truly worth trusting.
Lecture series AI BEYOND- AI at 70
An AI-BEYOND Lecture Series session on “AI at 70: Navigating a Changing Landscape, using AI Responsibly, and Shaping the Future” was held on 07 October 2026, featuring Dr. San Murugesan, Adjunct Professor, Western Sydney University, Australia. The session provided a comprehensive perspective on the remarkable evolution of Artificial Intelligence over the past seven decades, including Generative AI, Agentic AI, and their impact on education, careers, and society. The speaker emphasized ethical and responsible AI adoption, encouraging students, research scholars, and faculty to use AI to enhance human thinking, problem-solving, and societal well-being.
Lecture series AI BEYOND- LLMs in Materials Science
An AI-BEYOND Lecture Series session on “LLMs in Materials Science” was held on 23 September 2026, featuring Prof. Roland Aydin, Chair for Data-driven Simulation and Analysis in Materials Science, Saarland University, Germany, and Scientific Director, “AI for Physical Systems”, German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), Germany. The lecture explored the evolution of Artificial Intelligence in Materials science in terms of emerging large language models, highlighting how large language models and autonomous AI agents can reason, plan, use tools, and collaborate to accomplish complex tasks specifically in materials science. The session also discussed current opportunities, challenges, and future directions of large language models in research and real-world applications.
Lecture series AI BEYOND- Agentic AI from foundation to the Future
An AI-BEYOND Lecture Series session on “Agentic AI: From Foundations to Frontiers” was held on 09 September 2026, featuring Dr. Arun Vasan, TCS Research, Chennai. The lecture explored the evolution of Artificial Intelligence from foundational concepts to emerging Agentic AI systems, highlighting how autonomous AI agents can reason, plan, use tools, and collaborate to accomplish complex tasks. The session also discussed current opportunities, challenges, and future directions of Agentic AI in research and real-world applications
Research Collaboration Discussion with Professors from Loughborough University
An interactive meeting was held on 02 September 2026 with Professor Rajkumar Roy, Dean of the School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering, and Professor Cinzia Giannetti, Professor of Digital Manufacturing, Loughborough University, along with experts from the School of Mechanical Engineering, VIT, Vellore. The meeting focused on exploring potential research opportunities and collaborations in the application of Artificial Intelligence to Engineering, with an emphasis on interdisciplinary research and future collaborative initiatives.
AI and Hospitality
An AI-BEYOND Lecture Series session on “Walking and Working with AI: Rethinking Hospitality Competitiveness in the Age of LLMs” was held on 26 August 2026, featuring Prof. Gang Li, Deakin University, Australia. The session explored how Generative AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) are transforming the hospitality industry through AI-driven visibility, recommendations, online reputation, and strategic decision-making. The lecture also highlighted the importance of data-driven approaches and responsible AI adoption for future hospitality competitiveness.
Workshop on AI Digital Trainer Kit
Organized a workshop on “AI Digital Trainer Kit” in association with Vision Digital India, Bengaluru, on 11 August 2026. The workshop covered the AI Trainer Machine, its hardware architecture, AI learning ecosystem, and Intel® OpenVINO™ Toolkit, with live demonstrations of Computer Vision, Face and Gesture Recognition, Industrial Automation, AI-based Sensors, and LLMs. Faculty members gained hands-on exposure and explored its applications in teaching, student projects, research, and innovation.
Interactive meeting with Dr. Krishnaswami Srihari, SUNY Distinguished Professor and former Dean of the Watson School at Binghamton University
Co-Chair – AI Applications Track at BioMET'26
Dr. Arun Pandian J. served as Co-Chair of the Artificial Intelligence Applications track at the International Conference on Biomaterials, Bioengineering, and Biotheranostics (BioMET’26), organized by the School of Healthcare Science and Engineering (SHINE) and the Centre for Biomaterials, Cellular and Molecular Theranostics (CBCMT), VIT, on 5 August 2026
AI for Educators 5.0
Dr. Hariharan R L attended a One-day Executive Wokshop “AI for Educators 5.0 “for Higher Education Educators and Academic Leaders at IITM Research Park, Chennai on 05/Aug/2026. The workshop focussed on how to harness AI to enrich pedadogy, streamline administrative and research workflows, make more informed academic leadership decisions.
Workshop on ChatGPT Edu for Academia and Research
A workshop on “ChatGPT Edu for Teaching, Research and Administration” was held on 22 July 2026. Mr. Raghav Gupta, Head of Education, India and Asia Pacific, OpenAI, and Mr. Manoj Kumar, Solution Engineer, OpenAI, demonstrated the capabilities of ChatGPT Edu for enhancing teaching, research, and administrative workflows in higher education.
AI and Digital Technologies in Education
Dr. Aswani Kumar Cherukuri delivered a lecture on “AI and Digital Technologies in Education” for School Principals and Heads, organized by the Ranking and Accreditation Office, VIT, Vellore on 26 June 2026.
Artificial Intelligence in English Education
Dr. Arun Pandian J and Dr. Yoganand S served as resource persons for a One-Day Faculty Development Programme on “Artificial Intelligence in English Education”, in association with the School of Social Sciences and Languages (SSL), VIT, Vellore on 26 June 2026.
ACM Summer School on Systems for ML
Dr. Arun Pandian J delivered sessions on Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs), and Generative AI in practical applications, while Dr. Hariharan R.L. conducted sessions on Auto-encoders, Transformers, and the practical applications of Natural Language Processing (NLP) using Transformers during the two-week ACM Summer School on “Systems for ML”, organized by the School of Computer Science and Engineering (SCOPE), Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, from 01 June 2026 to 12 June 2026. Both faculty members also reviewed student projects and provided technical guidance throughout the summer school.
