Srinagar, May 23 -- When Sahil Qadri fired up a basic code editor in his small Srinagar home in 2009, he was doing what thousands of young coders around the world do. But there was one big difference.

His internet connection was running on 2G. It took minutes to load a single library, and video tutorials buffered endlessly. Still, he stuck with it.

Today, Sahil works remotely for a Bengaluru-based AI startup. His journey, from 2G to AI, mirrors a slow but steady shift happening across the Valley.

The global rise of artificial intelligence is no longer just a Silicon Valley story. It's already transforming everyday services in Kashmir.

In healthcare, for instance, a valley-based startup is testing an AI tool that reads X-rays and flags...