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We have been hearing the heartwrenching stories (real-time) about employees being laid off daily. We all said, ‘how evil’ to fire someone through surprise emails, phone calls, or loudspeaker announcements during lunch time. But not today. Here we bring you a story of a CEO who invested 20% of the company’s payroll into AI training, guided the team, and was present on Mondays. However, the twist ends sadly. Eventually, the good CEO turns cold and fires 80% of the employees. The plot is definitely not what you think. The CEO tried his best until…

What Happened?

The story dates back to 2023, but it remains relevant because we live in an age of corporate blowing hot and cold during layoffs. However, now we meet someone who didn’t want to lay off anyone. The CEO is none other than Eric Vaughan, the leader of IgniteTech.

He truly believed AI was an “existential threat” to businesses and wanted the team to adapt. To push the team towards a change, he created what he called “AI Mondays.” Those Mondays are solely dedicated to AI projects and little else. He didn’t hesitate to invest 20% of the company’s payroll into AI training, initiated reimbursements for AI tools, and Prompt Engineering classes. After all, his efforts fell flat, and hundreds of employees protested against the change.

Who Resisted Eric Vaughan’s Mandate of AI the Most?

To everyone’s surprise, the technical employees (engineers and IT teams in particular) resisted the change the most. They criticized the AI’s limitations rather than using it to its full potential. Conversely, marketing and sales teams have shown interest in learning about and implementing AI in their tasks.

Talking to Fortune, Eric Vaughan said, “You can’t compel people to change, especially if they don’t believe.”

Vaughan Decided to Lay Off…

Not just one or two, but the company took over 12 months to reshuffle, fire 80% of staff, and replace those who wouldn’t adapt to AI. The company became much leaner yet stronger by 2024 with AI and the right people on board. Soon, they came up with two new AI products (Eloquens AI and MyPersonas), which subsequently drove the company toward profits.

IgniteTech registered a staggering 75% profit margin (EBITDA) that year. During this critical period in 2023, the company also acquired Jive Software. Later in 2024, the company secured a significant acquisition, Khoros, all thanks to AI and AI-led talent. According to him, he would do it again if needed and has no regrets.

Vikram Solar, a leading Indian company (if you have never heard, it makes solar panels – PV modules), is now a public company via an IPO. You can buy its shares starting today, August 19, 2025, and the offering will close on August 21, 2025. The IPO is valued at ₹2,079 crore. The company is issuing both fresh and equity shares. Notably, the stock is enjoying a premium of 16% in the grey market. In simple words, the investors are showing great interest in the share. Well, does that mean it’s a good investment for you? So, here’s everything you need to know before you become a shareholder of the company.

Size of the IPO

The total size of the IPO is ₹2,079 crore. About ₹1,500 crore consists of new shares, which means the money will go directly to the company.

The remaining ₹579 crore is for sale, meaning the existing shareholders of the company are selling their shares and will take away the proceeds (money).

Additionally, promoters are also selling in an offer for sale (OFS), including:

• Gyanesh Chaudhary
• Vikram Capital Management
• Anil Chaudhary

The price band stands at: ₹315 to ₹332 per share. Let’s say the company sold all its shares at 332 (upper end price), it will comfortably reach the targeted ₹2,079 crore.

The lot size offered: Minimum is 45 shares.

Important Dates: Opened Today (August 19, 2025) → Closes Thursday (August 21, 2025).

What’s the Grey Market Talking About, Vikram Solar?

So, before officially listing the shares, companies (usually) trade their shares in a place called the “grey market.” Here, Vikram Solar’s stock is seemingly receiving a good response. Notably, its stock is trading at 16% higher than the issue price, which indicates that investors are very interested.

Breakdown of Allocation of Shares (Who Can Buy)

Now, this piece of information is important for the general public so they can plan their investments in advance. Take a look:

• About 50% are secured for large organizations (more specifically, like Qualified Institutional Buyers, such as banks).
• 35% is set aside for retail investors (meaning the general public).
• And the remaining 15% for the rich people (High Net Worth Individuals). Note that the shares are listed on both BSE and NSE.

Company’s Background

Vikram Solar is certainly one of the biggest solar panel manufacturers in the country. The company serves big companies like Adani Green, JSW Energy, Azure Power, ACME, and more. In FY25, the company made a revenue of ₹3,423 crore (operating profit of ₹492 crore and net profit of ₹140 crore).

What Is the Company Aiming at With These Funds?

• It has plans to expand its electricity capacity → 15.5 GW by FY26 and 20.5 GW by FY27.
• Not only does it want to sell solar panels, but it also wants to manufacture solar cells.
• Aims to invest in battery energy storage systems (BESS).

Should You Subscribe?

SBI Securities says yes for these reasons:

• Seemingly, the profits will go up once the company starts manufacturing solar cells because they are the future of clean, renewable, and CO2-free energy.
• The Indian government strongly supports solar project schemes like PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana, PM Kusum, and solar for industries.

Mumbai, August 19, 2025: Leading institutional equities brokerage Equirus Securities has released its annual India Equity Strategy report, where its bullish on large caps and eight sectors, while it’s sanguine on five others sectors. As per the note, the Indian equity markets are benefiting from long-term growth tailwinds but are witnessing short-term valuation risks. 

“Indian equity markets are entering FY26 with cyclical headwinds but strong structural drivers. We are Overweight on auto, Capital market, Cement, FMCG, Infra, Internet platforms, NBFC, Oil & Gas sectors while we are underweight on Building materials, Industrials & Defense, Real estate, Textile, Logistics sectors,” says Maulik Patel, Head of research, Equirus Securities in the report. 

The brokerag,e which counts leading insurers, mutual funds and FIIs as its clients, has a neutral stance on Banks, Chemicals, Consumer Durables, EMS, IT Services, Metals and Mining, Healthcare and retail sectors. 

Small-cap valuation premium at a historical high

Equirus paints a note of caution on small caps, pointing out that the small-cap forward P/E ratio stands at 1.25x vs the long-term average of 0.88x (just below the 1.3x peak), with Nifty 50 trading above its 10-year average. Mid-caps remain elevated but offer stronger earnings visibility than small caps, where multiple expansion dominates

“In an environment where CY25 EPS forecasts have fallen -13.8%, the steepest cut since the pandemic,” investing wisely backed by adequate research is key to outperformance says Patel. 

“Large caps provide the best margin of safety, mid-caps should be approached selectively in structural growth areas, and small caps warrant caution until earnings catch up,” adds Patel in the report. 

Large-cap to outperform, prefer domestic sectors

Near term, leadership is likely to shift toward large caps and quality mid-caps as valuations and earnings expectations re-align. 

Overweight sectors expected to benefit from rural income revival include Auto, Cement, NBFC, and FMCG, while sectors with stretched valuations and slowing earnings – building materials, Industrial, and Defense – remain underweight.

Domestic demand momentum shifting to rural

Recent trends indicate a clear turnaround in rural consumption. Rural wages, after years of stagnation or contraction, have been rising steadily since late 2024 — with Feb–May 2025 showing the strongest Y-o-Y gains since 2018 (overall rural wages +3.5% in May 2025). This wage growth directly boosts rural disposable income.

Sentiment data reinforces this: both the Equirus Rural Index and CMIE’s Index of consumer sentiments have been climbing through 2024–25, pointing to improved purchasing power and optimism. On top of that, monsoon performance has been better than normal, with cumulative rainfall consistently exceeding the seasonal average since mid-June — a strong signal for robust kharif output and farm incomes.

Together, higher rural wages + stronger monsoon + improving sentiment create a supportive backdrop for rural demand across FMCG, agri-inputs, two wheelers, tractors, and rural-focused financial services. Listed companies with large rural sales exposure are likely to see stronger volume growth and margin tailwinds in the coming quarters.

Supporting monetary policy to drive returns

CPI inflation has fallen below 4%, liquidity has moved into surplus, and the RBI has begun a gradual rate-cut cycle. Historically, such easing delivers muted short-term returns but stronger 12-month gains when macro conditions are supportive, favoring a barbell approach between cyclicals (financials, industrials) and defensives (consumer staples, healthcare).

Capex cycle taking pause

Public capex remains above pre-COVID levels, led by power and production linked investment scheme investments, with growth mainly from states & PSUs, while the private sector is steady but not exuberant. 

Govt. infra spending is at record highs, and subsidies have returned to pre pandemic norms, channelling fiscal space into productive assets. FY26 is set to see a pause amid tariff wars and global trade uncertainty, though the multi-year capex story stays intact, aided by states/PSUs, supply-chain shifts, PLI schemes, and stronger corporate balance sheets. 

Domestic investors in the driver’s seat 

Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) now surpass FIIs in equity ownership, supported by strong SIP inflows (+27% CAGR FY17-FY25), creating a stable domestic demand base. Higher domestic participation absorbs FII selling and reduces market sensitivity to global risk-off events, a secular positive for valuation resilience. 

Top picks

Equirus Securities has identified 8 large cap picks offering a potential upside of between 12-31% and 20 mid and small picks with an upside between 13-76% (see table below).

About Equirus

Equirus Group is a leading full-service financial services firm specializing in investment banking, institutional securities, wealth management, portfolio management, HNI broking, and insurance solutions. With a “client always first” approach and a proven track record of delivering value creation, Equirus has built impeccable credentials across domains and sectors. Equirus has completed more than 295+ transactions across M&A, PE, IPOs, QIPs, Rights Issues, and Structured Finance, raising USD 13 billion in the process across sectors over the last 17 years, and has created a differentiation for itself through its ability to structure and deliver transactions in line with the client’s requirements.

Your favorite Grammarly has an exciting update. Known worldwide for fixing grammar, spelling, tone, and more, it is now evolving into something beyond just Grammarly. It has become a comprehensive AI-powered productivity suite, meaning a smart helper for all your writing and communication needs. According to Grammarly’s website, their tool is trusted by 40 million people, 50,000 organizations, and users at 96% of the Fortune 500, to date. With such a large customer base and the world advancing towards AI, Grammarly had to make this key move. So, what is the big deal with this new update? Let’s find out.

What’s Happening?

Grammarly, on August 18, 2025, launched eight specialized AI features in the tool. The news came out after Shishir Mehrotra, CEO of Grammarly, announced it on his LinkedIn. He explained that these features are added with students in mind, who are about to enter the job market. Their goal is to help students feel more confident in their writing and communication.

He wrote, “We created many of these agents with students in mind because they’re the first generation entering a job market where employers expect both subject expertise AND AI fluency…”

And Grammarly’s VP of Product Management, Luke Behnke, talking about the launch, said, “The launch of our new agents and AI writing surface marks a turning point in how we build products that anticipate user needs. We’re moving beyond simple suggestions to intelligent agents that understand context and actively help users achieve their communication goals. This is just the beginning as we develop Grammarly’s new platform that will soon offer agents working seamlessly across all the places students and professionals write and collaborate.”

What Are These 8 AI Agents?

All eight intelligent assistants help with specific tasks on their own. Here they are:

1. AI Grader – This feature gives you the score for your writing and also helps you improve it overall.
2. Citation Finder – This feature checks if the claims in your writing are valid, cites credible sources, and provides legitimate references.
3. Expert Review – This feature offers professional-level (detailed and factual) feedback to make your writing sound more precise, confident, and authoritative.
4. Reader Reactions – This feature is designed to respond as typical readers would (you’ll need to select the audience type first for more accurate predictions).
5. Proofreader – This feature consistently improves your writing by fixing grammar and suggesting clarity improvements while you write.
6. Paraphraser – This feature is capable of rewriting the text in several tones and styles for different audiences.
7. AI Detector – This feature scans the text to identify AI writing patterns (Pro-only feature at the moment, requiring a subscription upgrade).
8. Plagiarism Checker – This scans multiple online sources to see if any text matches other published material, which helps avoid any embarrassment or copyright issues. It’s also a Pro-only feature.

Additionally…

Additionally, a new document editor called Docs is launching, powered by Coda (which Grammarly acquired in early 2025). It resembles the previous version but now includes:

• AI Chat: This feature allows you to talk while writing on the go.
• Plus, it integrates with these eight new AI agents.

Who Can Access the New Features?

• Docs and eight new AI agents are available for both free (with some features limited) and Pro Grammarly users.
• AI Detector + Plagiarism Checker is exclusive to Pro users.