Andhra Pradesh IT and Electronics Minister Nara Lokesh on Tuesday asked Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to extend the IT giant’s cooperation to the state government in digital governance and smart city programs.

Lokesh, who is currently in the United States, met with executives of several major IT companies and as part of his mission, he met Nadella at Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington.

The minister invited Nadella to visit Andhra Pradesh in the coming days and recalled that the Microsoft CEO’s father had served the state as an IAS officer in various capacities.

He said his father and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu took the initiative to bring the Microsoft Development Center to Hyderabad and transform the city into an IT hub. “He plans to transform Andhra Pradesh into an IT capital. As part of this strategy, we are setting up new IT hubs and innovation parks. We are seeking active cooperation from Microsoft to bring IT hubs to the global level,” Lokesh said.

The minister expressed confidence that Andhra Pradesh would soon become a regional hub for global institutes in cloud infrastructure and data centers. “The state has all the necessary facilities and opportunities for such centers. He has a strong academic record for generating the most talented young people in computer science and engineering,” he said and asked the Microsoft CEO to focus on this aspect.

He also said that if artificial intelligence (AI) was linked to agriculture, the state, which is the backbone of the country in agriculture, would definitely see radical reforms in the sector. He said the state government had proposals to make Amaravati an AI capital. “We will set up an AI university in Amaravathi under this programme,” he added.

Nadella promised to extend all possible cooperation to promote Andhra Pradesh as the capital of AI and also in digital transformation.

Earlier, Lokesh also met Adobe CEO Santanu Narayan in San Francisco and held discussions on setting up its research and development (R&D) wing in Andhra Pradesh and becoming partners in smart governance and AI-based solutions in the state.

He asked Adobe’s CEO to expand the company’s cooperation to hone young people’s digital technology skills. He said the state government was adopting an investor-friendly policy and Andhra Pradesh was the right place to invest.

Appreciating Adobe’s efforts, Lokesh said it was a perfect fit with Andhra Pradesh’s digital transformation vision and sought Adobe’s cooperation to transform the state into a global technology hub.

Narayan said a decision would soon be taken regarding investments in the state after discussions with corporate partners.