India, Nov. 25 -- At dawn in Kaziranga, the fog unfurls like silk across the wetlands. A guest at the luxury boutique stay of Kathoni steps barefoot onto cool earth as the scent of rain-soaked bamboo rises in the air, while somewhere in the distance, a bar-headed goose calls. Not a marble lobby or maitre d' in sight, they're surrounded by the rhythm of life continuing, as it has for generations.

A few thousand miles away, in Chennai, a robot named Carnie glides soundlessly across the floor of Carnaby, the all-day dining restaurant at The Residency Towers, Chennai. Its trays clink gently with used glassware as it whirs toward the kitchen, allowing its human counterparts to pause, smile, and pour another cup of coffee with care. In Goa, Ch...