Jio's next ten years: AI, cloud and internet from space, says Akash Ambani

More than 130 million Indians put in a bid to own a tiny piece of one company. On Wednesday, 28 October 2026, that company, Jio Platforms, started trading on the stock market after India's biggest IPO. At the listing ceremony in Mumbai, managing director Akash Ambani laid out what Jio wants to build in its next ten years: AI, cloud, connected devices and internet "even from space".

Here is what he said, what an IPO is, and what this plan could mean for a phone user, a student or a small shop.

What exactly did Akash Ambani say?

Jio's first ten years were about cheap mobile data. The next ten, he said, are about making new technology just as common. His words at the ceremony:

"In our next ten, we want to democratise every technology that can transform Indian lives: AI, Cloud, Connected devices, Connectivity even from space, and Digital services not yet imagined."

"Democratise" is a big word for a simple idea: make something so cheap and easy that almost everyone can use it, not only the rich. He also said Jio wants to be counted one day among the world's great technology companies, and said Jio made its own systems because nothing ready-made was built for a country this big. The Economic Times report adds that he wants a "digital society" where connectivity, computing and intelligence work together.

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First, what is an IPO?

Think of a big samosa stall run by one family. To grow faster, the family cuts the business into many tiny pieces called shares and sells some of them to the public. Anyone who buys a share now owns a very small part of the stall. That first public sale is an IPO, short for initial public offering. After the IPO, people can buy and sell those shares with each other on the stock market. That day of first trading is called the listing.

Jio sold 27 crore new shares at a price of Rs 1,065 to Rs 1,119 each. At the top price, the sale was worth about Rs 30,213 crore, more than Hyundai Motor India's Rs 27,870 crore IPO in 2024, which was the biggest before this. All the shares were new ones, so the money goes to Jio itself, not to old owners cashing out. On listing day the shares started trading at Rs 1,358, above the Rs 1,119 IPO price.

Four steps showing how Jio's IPO worked, from cutting the company into shares to listing on 28 October — How an IPO works, using Jio's numbers.

How many people wanted a piece?

A lot. According to Akash Ambani, the IPO was fully booked within 95 minutes. Demand crossed Rs 7.5 lakh crore, and more than 130 million Indians took part, he told the ceremony. Big investors had already put in Rs 8,109.84 crore before the sale opened to the public, as Kotak Neo reported.

Where does the IPO money go?

Mostly into paying off loans. Of the money raised, Rs 27,500 crore is meant to repay borrowings of Reliance Jio Infocomm, the telecom arm that runs the mobile network. Think of a family using a big bonus to clear its home loan. Once the EMI is gone, more of each month's salary is free for new plans.

Jio is not short of income either. In the year to March 2026 (FY26), it earned revenue of Rs 1.47 lakh crore and a net profit of Rs 30,049 crore, Kotak Neo reported. Revenue is all the money coming in. Net profit is what is left after paying every bill.

What did Jio do in its first ten years?

Jio's mobile service opened to the public on 5 September 2016, with free data and free voice calls until 31 December that year, later stretched to 31 March 2017. People rushed in. Akash Ambani recalled that Jio crossed 100 million customers on 20 February 2017. Today its platforms serve more than 540 million customers, he said.

A counter rising to 540 million Jio customers, with bars growing beside it — From 100 million in February 2017 to more than 540 million today.

Jio now carries around 60% of India's wireless data, and the average customer used 43.7 GB of data a month in the June 2026 quarter, according to Kotak Neo. Each customer paid Jio Rs 214 a month on average in FY26. Phone network firms call this ARPU, average revenue per user: all the money paid by users, divided by the number of users.

What does Jio want to build next?

Here is the plan, one piece at a time, in simple terms:

AI: computer programs that can answer questions, write and understand speech. Jio has been working on AI products in Indian languages and wants to bundle them with its network and apps.
Cloud: renting computer power and storage over the internet instead of buying your own big machines. It is like renting a cold storage room instead of building one for your mango business.
Connected devices: gadgets that connect to the internet, such as a smart TV or a smart watch.
Internet from space: Jio says it is studying its own Indian network of low Earth orbit satellites, and partnerships with global satellite companies.

Two panels: Jio's first ten years were about cheap data, the next ten are about AI, cloud and internet from space — The shift Akash Ambani described at the listing.

What could this change for you?

For a phone user: Before the IPO, Akash Ambani said Jio does not see earning more as "charging more for every gigabyte". Instead, the company plans to earn more through 5G, home broadband, services for businesses and digital products such as AI. He did not say when the next price rise for mobile plans could come. He said such decisions depend on rivals, inflation, customer needs and investment needs.

For a student in a village: Jio says satellite internet should be "within reach of more Indians" and not a costly extra for a few. Satellites can help where towers and fibre cables are hard to lay, such as far-off parts of India, ships at sea and planes. No launch date has been given, and the service still needs technology and government approvals.

For a small shop: Cheaper cloud and AI in Indian languages could, if they arrive as promised, help a kirana owner keep accounts or answer customers without hiring an expert. For now, these are plans, not products in stores.

This short video shows the ceremony and the plan as told on the day:

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An old family story behind the new one

Isha Ambani, a director at Jio Platforms, linked the day to Reliance's first public share sale in 1977, when Dhirubhai Ambani raised Rs 2.82 crore and opened the company to ordinary buyers, Business Standard reported. Almost 50 years later, Akash Ambani called the listing "not a finish line, but a starting line".

Sources

You may republish this story under CC BY 4.0: credit Arshdeep Singh and link to this page.