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  • HR Tech Trends to Watch Out for in 2025

    This article has been contributed by Samyak Jain, Co-Founder, and CEO, Zeko AI.

    2024 saw the application of generative AI at all levels in organizations. The revolution of HR technology with AI-powered recruitment, performance measurement, and retention has begun and 2025 will witness more changes driven by new trends and innovations. According to Vorecel’s research, 70% of HR professionals believe AI and machine learning will improve their recruiting processes. In 2025, the next steps for companies will be to prioritize learning and leverage data for personalization. Additionally, focusing on mental wellness through programs and digital tools will become more crucial. With these changes, the future of HR technology appears promising. This is because it will significantly boost the productivity and satisfaction of employees in any company.

    AI in Recruitment

    Artificial intelligence is no longer an imagination about the future; it is fast becoming an indispensable tool in recruiting. Organizations have started using AI tools for sorting resumes and finding top talent. 2025 will find recruiters using AI-driven platforms and assessments at a large scale, ensuring cost and time-saving. From sourcing candidates to screening resumes in seconds, HRs will use these features extensively which will further permit HR professionals to pay attention to crucial factors in their responsibilities, together with cultivating relationships and identifying the appropriate organizational way of life. 

    Mental Health Support

    The age and time when the welfare of employees was an afterthought has come to an end. With 2025 in sight, there may be a growing number of different initiatives that address employee wellbeing. For example, companies like Accenture and MasterCard are investing a lot in programs that support mental health, work-life balance, and the overall well-being of employees. The platforms supplying mental health guides, customized well-being strategies, and flexible planning are expanding rapidly. Satisfied personnel are more productive, engaged, and less likely to be seeking a job change. In 2025, leadership teams will further integrate AI chatbots for on-demand therapy, virtual wellness programs, and mood-tracking applications. 

    VR/AR in Training and Development

    The integration of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) is reworking the area of expert training through presenting immersive opportunities. Organizations have begun using VR/AR systems in their expert development programs which provide more efficient and interesting learning outcomes. By 2025, this trend is expected to grow with the introduction of specialized, advanced VR/AR technologies aimed at certain economic sectors and business applications. AR is expected to become a standard tool for onboarding and training programs, providing employees with hands-on experiences in virtual settings. 

    Promoting Remote Workplaces

    Covid-19 brought the culture of work from home and then the hybrid model which is now the standard for all businesses. Technology serves as a link between employees who work in offices and those who work remotely. Productive remote meetings can be held using various platforms, which are important to simplify discussions and collaborations. For example Google Work Space, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Gmeet, and Zoom for communication; Trello and Asana for project management; OneDrive and Dropbox for file sharing; and Toggl and Clokify for Time Management and Productivity, these platforms enhance the ability, productivity, and understanding of work while working remotely. Additionally, AI-driven insights will help managers identify and address challenges unique to remote workers. 

    Top 10 HRMS Tools in the Market for Human Resource Management in 2023
    According to the latest survey, 55% of companies are using HRMS in their organizations. Here we have mentioned you best HRMS tools for HR Management.
    StartupTalkyArchana Karthikeyan

    Talent Analytics

    In 2025, expect to see more organizations adopting systems and processes that analyze employee performance and provide real-time support in terms of learning opportunities, feedback, conflict resolution, and wellness programs. 

    Pre- Onboarding 

    AI- powered Interviews will see widespread adoption. They will evolve to assess not only technical skills but also emotional intelligence and cultural fit. Evaluation using NLP (Natural Language Processing) will be used for sentiment analysis giving insights into how candidates perform under pressure, problem-solving skills and communication in teams. Recruiters will be able to gather in-depth insights and evaluation through auto-generated reports. 

    Candidates can now complete real-time tasks or simulations that evaluate both hard and soft skills. AI-driven platforms will offer tailored feedback, helping hiring managers make more informed decisions and candidates to understand their strengths and areas for improvement.

    Post- Onboarding

    AI will examine a variety of personnel data in order to forecast any turnover issues. It will be able to detect patterns like engagement trends, performance declines, and personal milestones and send out early warnings about workers who may be thinking about quitting. Through mentoring programs, professional development opportunities, or other retention tactics, HR departments will be able to take proactive steps.

    Predictive analytics is already empowering HR teams to forecast trends and plan for future requirements. This year, advanced analytics tools will help HRs make even better data-backed decisions for productivity and retention. 

    Strategic Decision-Making with AI 

    With innovations in AI, HR functions are becoming more data-driven, enabling organizations to recruit, onboard, and retain talent. With predictive analytics tools, it is now possible to monitor employee performance, giving real-time insights to managers and feedback to employees.  The interview processes are and continue to be simplified by AI, reducing time and cost for HRs. Training and development programs are customized, with AI suggesting personalized learning options. AI is not only facilitating HR managers but also helping employees become better with AI-powered chatbot assistants for common employee questions, lowering the burden on HR. 2025 will continue to see developments in analytics and emerging technologies. Organizations will need to be proactive in the adoption of such tools and platforms that provide them. 

    The Bottom Line

    The trends influencing Human Resources in 2025 are not just a result of technological advancements; they indicate a significant shift. These trends highlight a move to human-centered approaches aided by cutting-edge solutions. As an HR leader, it is now your chance to bring transformation to the work culture in your organization. By using systems that focus on AI, machine learning, analytics, or statistics, you will not only future-proof your company but also develop a workplace where everyone thrives.

    A Complete Guide for HR Outsourcing
    The value of the HR outsourcing market will be $53.8 bn by 2028. It helps to focus on core goals and objectives. Here’s a Complete Guide to Outsourcing HR Departments.
    StartupTalkyAnindita Ganguly

  • Info Edge Arm Will Purchase More Brainsight Stock

    For a monetary consideration of INR 3 Cr (about $353K), Redstart Labs, a subsidiary of online classified firm Info Edge, plans to purchase an additional investment in Brainsight Technology, increasing its ownership of the Bengaluru-based healthcare startup from 4.68% to 5.27%. The company, which is led by Sanjeev Bikhchandani, stated in an exchange statement that Redstart’s board has given the company permission to purchase 385 mandatory convertible preference shares of Brainsight. Brainsight, a company founded in 2020 by Laina Emmanuel and Rimjhim Agrawal, provides AI-based functional brain mapping technologies. It now sells two products: Snowdrop and Voxelbox. Snowdrop is a patient care app, whereas Voxelbox provides physicians with access to fMRI processing engines and machine learning models for report generation.

    Info Edge on Investment Spree

    The filing states that, with a startup valuation of INR 3.74 Cr, Brainsight lost INR 4.76 Cr in the fiscal year 2023–24 (FY24). Lately, Info Edge has been making a lot of investments. The online giant announced last month that it would use its wholly owned subsidiary Startup Investments (Holdings) Ltd. to invest INR 4 Cr in LegitQuest, one of its portfolio companies. Before that, Info Edge declared in October that its executive director committee had approved the company’s plan to invest INR 30 Cr in Redstart Labs. One of the oldest internet-based businesses in India, Info Edge was founded in 1995 by Bikhchandani and works in a number of industries, including education (Shiksha), real estate (99acres), marriage (Jeevansathi), and recruitment (Naukri). Its portfolio includes unlisted edtech company Adda247, insurtech upstart PB Fintech, and listed heavyweights like foodtech giant Zomato.

    Info Edge’s Financial Dynamics

    In the September quarter of the fiscal year 2024–25 (Q2 FY25), Info Edge reported a 64.6% decrease in its net profit to INR 84.73 Cr from INR 239.74 Cr in the same quarter the previous year. However, compared to INR 625.84 Cr in the same period last year, operational revenue climbed by about 12% to INR 700.82 Cr during the reviewed quarter.

    BrainSight AI Wining Top Innovator Category 2024

    According to the jury of the ET Startup Awards 2024 panel, which selected BrainSight AI as the winner in the Top Innovator category, innovation in the fields of neurology and mental health has the enormous potential to change lives. Although SatSure, a space technology business, was a contender, BrainSight AI won out because of its capacity to decipher complicated MRI scans using artificial intelligence and its potential effects on people.

    “You may get an idea of the moonshot ideas that entrepreneurs are pursuing by looking at the Top Innovator category.” Mithun Sacheti, the creator of Caratlane and a jury member, further said, “It gives you the impression that the world will be a better place.” The firm found it difficult to persuade hospitals to allow it to test its idea and to explain the software’s potential benefits to leading neurologists in the nation during a time when the whole health sector was preoccupied with combating the pandemic.

    MeitY Invites Ideas for Building a Reliable AI Ecosystem
    MeitY is inviting concepts to create a reliable AI ecosystem and tools, focusing on secure and ethical frameworks to advance India’s AI capabilities.
    StartupTalkyNitin Konde

  • Meity Seeking Concepts for Creating a Reliable AI Ecosystem and Tools

    Startups and other pertinent parties have been asked to submit ideas for developing AI-powered tools that can identify deepfakes to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). The Ministry has requested five suggestions for the creation of domestic technical AI tools, rules, frameworks, and standards in order to establish a reliable AI ecosystem, in accordance with the expression of interest (EoI) issued by MeitY. As artificial intelligence (AI) advances make deepfakes more realistic, it is critical to provide deepfake detection techniques that protect society from possible disinformation and manipulation, as per the document released by MeitY. According to MeitY, in order to assess the authenticity of media and identify manipulation, the possible deepfake detection system should use advanced deep learning algorithms, provenance-based approaches, and other detection methods.

    Additionally, it stated that in order to facilitate automated cross-modal content verification, offer real-time detection, and improve digital ecosystem security, the submitted deepfake detection technologies should be constructed in a way that makes them simple to incorporate into web browsers and social media platforms.

    Laying Emphasis on Tool that can Differentiate Between AI Generated and Non AI Generated Content

    The creation of a tool to distinguish AI-generated content from non-AI-generated content is another project the ministry hopes to carry out under the IndiaAI Mission. The EoI emphasised that in order to guarantee traceability and security and stop the creation of harmful and unlawful information, such a platform should contain distinct and undetectable identifiers in AI-generated content. The third initiative entails creating a platform that can assess how resilient AI systems are for high-stress situations like cyberattacks, natural catastrophes, and operational and data failures. Stress testing can guarantee readiness for high-stakes scenarios and offer useful insights into system flaws. According to the EoI, this theme focuses on the creation of instruments and techniques, like simulation-based testing or stress evaluation metrics, that are especially intended to strengthen the resilience of AI systems under pressure.

    Setting Up of Ethical AI Framework

    Furthermore, in order to guarantee that “AI systems respect fundamental human values, uphold fairness, transparency, and accountability, and avoid perpetuating biases or discrimination,” MeitY has urged stakeholders to submit recommendations for “ethical AI frameworks” that provide an organised method. The report also stated that in order to facilitate the widespread use of AI, “it is necessary to create thorough AI Risk Assessment and Management tools and frameworks that are intended to detect, evaluate, and reduce cross-sectoral safety risks, guaranteeing that failures in one area are contained and managed without affecting interconnected sectors.”

    Applications are Invited From All Institutions

    The EoI adds that entrepreneurs, academic institutions in India, research and development groups, commercial businesses, and startups are all welcome to apply for the projects. This comes days after S Krishnan, the IT secretary, allegedly stated that the Ministry was developing a system to assess the reliability and safety of AI technologies. Additionally, he stated at the time that the centre aims to emphasis innovation while avoiding restrictive rules. Earlier this year, Union IT Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia notably reiterated this opinion, stating that ethical considerations and a strong legal framework should govern the adoption of AI. The Indian generative AI (GenAI) ecosystem, which is home to 200 businesses and has raised over $1.2 billion in funding between 2020 and the third quarter (Q3) of 2024.

    RBI Panel to Regulate Ethical AI in Financial Services
    RBI establishes a panel to oversee the ethical use of AI in financial services, aiming to ensure responsible innovation and safeguard consumer trust.
    StartupTalkyNitin Konde

  • Tata and Jio Platforms Place Bids to Provide AI Compute

    According to the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), 19 service providers have put in bids to supply cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) computing services under the INR 10,738 Cr IndiaAI Mission.  Cloud service providers, managed service providers, micro, small, and medium-sized businesses (MSMEs), and data centre service providers—including Jio Platforms, Tata Communications, Sify Digital Services, Yotta, and CMS Computers India—were among the organisations that took part in the bidding round. 

    The other bidders were Vensysco Technologies, CloudThat Technologies, Cyfuture India, I2k2 Networks, Ishan Infotech, Orient Technologies Limited, NxtGen Datacenter and Cloud Technologies, Path Infotech, Shezar Web Technologies, and Unicloud Labs.

    Selected Companies will be Empanelled as Agencies

    The chosen businesses will be appointed as agencies to offer AI computing services to academics, researchers, startups, and students. In collaboration with commercial entities, the Centre intends to construct infrastructure of 10,000 graphics processing units (GPUs) under the IndiaAI compute pillar. According to a statement from MeitY, 50 service providers attended the pre-bid conference in August 2024. The bids were then opened on December 2, and the deadline for submitting proposals was set on November 28.

    Based on the eligibility and technical requirements outlined in the request for empanelment (RFE) document, a technical evaluation committee will now assess the bids that have been received. The qualified bidders will next be instructed to address the panel with their suggested solutions. The “technically qualified bidders” won’t be permitted to enter the commercial bids until after that. Additionally, the ministry stated that the empanelment will last for 36 months. However, it stated that if both parties agree, there will be a chance to extend the deadline by another 12 months.

    IndiaAI Mission Focuses on Seven Areas

    Earlier this year, the federal cabinet authorised the INR 10,738 Cr IndiaAI Mission. Computing, fundamental models, datasets, applications, skill development, startups, and safe AI are its seven main areas of interest. Its goal is to use a public-private partnership (PPP) model to support the domestic GenAI ecosystem.

    MeitY secretary S. Krishnan stated in May of this year that when it comes to additional GPU power authorised under the Mission, indigenous enterprises will be given preference. Krishnan had stated at the time that the first set of use cases for AI compute power should be available to researchers and entrepreneurs over the next 18 to 24 months, by the end of the fiscal year 2024–2025 (FY25). Later in September, Krishnan added that after the current 10,000 GPU objective is met, the government may consider using viability gap funding (VGF) to build more “compute capacity.”

    Google Cloud, HCLTech Unveil AI Security Detection Service
    Google Cloud and HCLTech collaborate to launch an AI-powered security detection service, enhancing cybersecurity with advanced threat detection capabilities.
    StartupTalkyNitin Konde

  • Google Cloud and HCLTech Collaborate to Introduce an AI-Powered Security Detection Service

    Google Cloud Security and HCLTech have announced a new partnership to provide cutting-edge AI-driven security solutions to businesses globally. Using Managed Detection and Response (MDR) capabilities, the alliance aims to improve organisations’ capacity to identify and address cyber attacks. The collaboration was announced on December 2, 2024.

    Universal Managed Detection and Response

    HCLTech’s Universal Managed Detection and Response (UMDR) service, which integrates Google Cloud Security’s technologies with the company’s proprietary Fusion Platform, is the foundation of this partnership. Complete security coverage is provided by this integrated solution for a number of vital infrastructure elements, including endpoints, networks, apps, identity and access management, industrial control systems, hybrid cloud environments, and operational technology.

    With its comprehensive and adaptable solutions and Fusion security operations platform, which is powered by Google Cloud, HCLTech is dedicated to providing clients with exceptional security results. According to Amit Jain, Executive Vice President and Global Head of Cybersecurity at HCLTech, the company’s collaboration with Google Cloud Security enables it to combine its strong security automation skills with its vast cybersecurity knowledge, which has been accumulated over the previous 26 years.

    “Organisations require strong solutions to help protect their operations as cyber threats become more complex and common,” stated Magali Bohn, Director of Partners, Google Cloud Security. Businesses can keep ahead of emerging dangers by combining HCLTech’s vast cybersecurity experience with Google Cloud’s sophisticated Security Operations suite and expertise.

    Offerings of the New Collaboration

    By introducing a modular operating architecture, the new service enables customers to tailor their security coverage to meet their unique requirements while still offering end-to-end protection. Because of this flexibility, organisations may modify their security posture as their needs change, which is especially crucial given how quickly the threat landscape is evolving nowadays.

    AI Becoming a New Cyber Guard for Various Businesses

    Many companies can’t react to cyberattacks fast enough. In numerous instances, they are simply overwhelmed by the vast volume of data points that must be monitored for intrusion. Though it’s not all bad news, these were some of the main conclusions of a recent analysis from the Capgemini Research Institute. According to the report, companies have a high level of confidence in AI’s ability to strengthen cybersecurity.

    850 top IT security professionals from 10 countries and seven corporate sectors were surveyed for the report Reinventing Cybersecurity with Artificial Intelligence: the new frontier in digital security. A resounding vote of confidence in AI was revealed. More than 60% of organisations said AI was necessary to detect major dangers, and more than two-thirds of organisations admitted they would not be able to respond to them without the technology.

    The growth of end-user devices, networks, and various user interfaces is one factor fuelling interest in AI, according to Capgemini. This growth has been fuelled by developments in cloud, IoT, 5G, and conversational interface technologies. The end result is that businesses must urgently increase and enhance their cybersecurity.

    Google Cloud Expands Support for India’s AI Startups
    Google Cloud now provides increased support to early-stage AI startups in India, aiding innovation and growth across the sector.
    StartupTalkyNitin Konde

  • 80–100 Employees are Laid Off by Kuku FM as Part of Reorganisation Effort

    While reorganising its operations last week, 80–100 workers were let off by Mumbai-based audiobook platform Kuku FM. Additionally, contracted staff were affected by the exercise. According to the reports, 300 workers, both on and off the roll, lost their jobs overall. The exercise had the biggest effect on the content team, which consists of authors and producers.

    According to the sources, there may have been even more workers laid off throughout the exercise. Repots said that Kuku FM implemented the layoffs in order to save expenses. For content creation, the startup will probably use artificial intelligence (AI).

    Financial Dynamics of Kuku FM

    In the fiscal year 2023-2024 (FY24), Kuku FM’s income more than doubled to INR 88 Cr from INR 41.1 Cr in the prior fiscal year. From INR 116 Cr in FY23, its loss decreased by 18% to INR 96 Cr. While its content development costs more than tripled to INR 11.2 Cr, its marketing expenditures increased 37% year over year to INR 48 Cr. Kuku FM, which was founded in 2018 by Bisu, Vikas Goyal, and Vinod Kumar Meena, provides audio programming in a variety of categories, including news, education, entertainment, self-help, personal finance, mythology, spirituality, and inspiration.

    At the moment, it asserts that its platform hosts over 150K hours of content in a variety of formats. The startup provides audiobooks in a number of regional languages, including Tamil, Hindi, Bengali, and Marathi. It contains English-language information as well. 

    Funding Raised

    Nearly a year has passed since the business raised $25 million in its Series C fundraising round, which was co-led by International Finance Corporation and The Fundamentum Partnership and included Vertex Ventures.  To date, it has raised $72 million in investment. Among its investors are Krafton and Shunwei Capital. It should be noted that the reorganisation process was carried out about a month after Pocket FM, a rival of Kuku FM, announced layoffs. According to reports, Pocket FM fired about 50 workers worldwide in a variety of roles. Earlier this year, Pocket FM had let go of almost 200 journalists working in the United States.

    Layoffs a Common Scenario in Indian Startup Sector

    In the first half of 2024, Indian startups laid off fewer workers than they did in the same period last year, suggesting that the industry may be nearing the end of its worst layoffs, albeit it is still far from done.

    According to data from executive search agency Longhouse Consulting, startups reduced employment by approximately 11,250 between January and June of this year, compared to 21,000 in the first half of 2023 and 15,000 in the second half.

    While layoffs may have decreased from their 2023 highs, industry executives and hiring experts warned that they are still happening as startups face a tight funding environment and an emphasis on cost-cutting, particularly for those getting ready for an IPO.

    Nykaa Allocates 1.80 Lakh Equity Shares Under ESOP Plan
    Nykaa allots 1.80 lakh equity shares under its Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP), enhancing employee ownership and engagement in the company.
    StartupTalkyNitin Konde

  • Google Cloud Now Offers More Assistance to Indian Early-Stage AI Firms

    At an AI firms summit in Bengaluru, tech giant Google unveiled a number of initiatives and collaborations aimed at boosting the expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) firms in the nation. These initiatives assist early-stage AI entrepreneurs in developing, expanding, and gaining clients for their Google Cloud-based solutions.

    Google announced the launch of the 12-week Emerging ISV Partner Springboard initiative, which is intended to accelerate the growth of AI firms. In addition to expedited onboarding to Google Cloud Marketplace, participants will receive practical assistance in creating go-to-market assets, access to Google AI specialists for product refinement, and advice on technical architectural best practices.

    Google is Now Focusing on Empowering AI Startups

    Supporting AI businesses to encourage innovation and expansion is a priority for Google. According to Manish Gupta, senior director, research, Google DeepMind, these efforts show Google’s commitment to giving early-stage founders the resources and assistance they need to create and grow profitable AI-powered companies.

    Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian praised the creative thinking and persistence of entrepreneurs using AI and cloud technology to drive revolutionary growth during a fireside chat at the Global Google Cloud Summit in October 2024. The goal of Google Cloud, he said, is to help these trailblazers succeed by giving them the resources, tools, and guidance they require. By means of strategic alliances, customised initiatives, and cutting-edge infrastructure, Cloud is dedicated to helping companies expand their influence and propel the upcoming digital revolution.

    Google for Startups Cloud Programme

    Through the Google for Startups Cloud Program, which will now offer $200,000 in Google Cloud credits over two years, early-stage startups will receive more assistance, allowing them the time they need to develop and expand their ideas. With $350,000 in credits, AI-first firms will get even more help, acknowledging the higher processing demands of advanced AI development. The founders will be able to take advantage of Google Cloud’s full potential and capability thanks to this investment.

    Additionally, Google and Y Combinator have teamed up to provide its Summer 2024 cohort of AI-first entrepreneurs with cloud credits, coaching, support, and dedicated access to NVIDIA H100 GPUs and Google Cloud TPUs. Furthermore, Google is working with top early-stage incubators and accelerators, such as Berkeley Skydeck, StartX, 500, and others, to provide early-stage creators with a unique bundle of technical seminars, professional advice, and Google Cloud credits.

    Startup School: GenAI and Google Cloud’s Collaboration with DeliverHealth

    Furthermore, Google announced the opening of Startup School: GenAI, a thorough four-week immersive training programme created to enable entrepreneurs to fully utilise artificial intelligence. This free online series features live, interactive seminars taught by Google AI specialists starting on October 29. In addition to learning best practices for creating and implementing AI solutions, participants will investigate the most recent advancements in Google Cloud AI and obtain hands-on experience with generative AI. From fundamental ideas to sophisticated methods, the programme covers a wide range of subjects, giving businesses the know-how and abilities they need to create innovative AI-powered goods and services.

    In an effort to revolutionise the way healthcare practitioners record patient care, Google Cloud recently announced its partnership with DeliverHealth, a prominent company in healthcare clinical documentation. With the help of DeliverHealth’s vast collection of 150,000 audio hours of human-curated medical notes every month and Google Cloud’s cutting-edge Gemini 1.5 Pro multimodal AI models, the partnership seeks to provide a novel solution with precision, speed, and medical specificity.

    According to Bikram Singh Bedi, vice president and country managing director of Google Cloud India, the two companies are working together to rethink clinical documentation in order to free up doctors to concentrate more on patient care.

    Modi Meets 15 Tech CEOs at MIT Roundtable in the US; Nvidia, and Google CEOs Praise AI Vision
    On 23 September 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in an important roundtable meeting with top technology experts from the United States.
    StartupTalkyNitin Konde

  • We Are Seeing Rapid Expansion in the Indian Market: Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft AI

    Mustafa Suleyman, the CEO of Microsoft AI, said on his first visit to India that the business is proud that India is one of its fastest-growing markets and that it has one of its best teams globally, with offices in Hyderabad and Bengaluru.

    Suleyman, who is well-known for having founded Inflection AI and DeepMind, two of the top artificial intelligence (AI) firms in the world, offered his thoughts on the direction of AI and how it may enhance human welfare.

    Suleyman stated during the Microsoft: Building AI Companions for India event in Bengaluru on November 6, 2024, that India has incredibly talented engineers and developers.

    Social scientists, psychologists, therapists, screenwriters, and comedians—those people who may often connect with the film or video game industries—are also becoming more and more involved with Microsoft. He noted that the company has the chance to synthesise more varied viewpoints and obtain a more comprehensive understanding of those engaged in the design and operating process.

    Microsoft 365 Copilot

    While citing Microsoft 365 Copilot as an example, Suleyman added that Microsoft 365 is a productivity tool driven by AI that enables users to do activities more effectively and efficiently. To offer real-time support, it interfaces with Microsoft 365 applications, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams. Copilot offers skills and content that are pertinent to a user’s tasks by utilising Microsoft Graph data and massive language models.

     According to Suleyman, this innovative artificial intelligence application can look up and cite any query users ask by looking at their calendar or email, Excel sheets, papers, supply-chain data, or firm human resource records. This is contributing significantly to the workplace. Knowledge workers can now act on the beneficial knowledge they have access to. “I believe that many of our industries will experience significant economic benefits,” he stated.

    Speaking with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology

    Suleyman spoke with S. Krishnan, the secretary of the Indian government’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. Suleyman responded that the internet has already made information accessible to everyone when asked about the economic benefits and growth potential that artificial intelligence (AI) can bring to India, particularly in a setting with limited capital.

    According to Suleyman, AI will now make information accessible to anyone. This knowledge is synthesised, condensed, and customised to users’ preferred methods of information acquisition and utilisation. That holds true at work just as much as it does at home.

    India’s AI Mission

    Through the India AI mission, the country hopes to build a strong AI computing infrastructure. Suleyman responded that voice is the best approach to making the technologies widely available and accessible when questioned about Microsoft’s role in fostering diversity in India. According to him, the government ought to invest in fields like translation and languages. He also underlined how crucial it is for startups and companies to have access to sizable government datasets in order to train their models and promote innovation.

    The 2024 Chemistry Nobel Prize was given to John Jumper and Demis Hassabis of Google DeepMind for creating the ground-breaking AI tool AlphaFold, which predicts protein structures, he said, highlighting the scientific advances made possible by AI.

    Suleyman emphasised the importance of proactive regulation in the field while talking about the risks posed by AI. According to him, it needs to be discussed openly rather than as a taboo subject. 

    Google’s Bard Vs. Microsoft’s Bing Chat: The Clash of Titans
    Both Google’s Bard and Microsoft’s Bing Chat are performing well. Bard hasn’t been yet launched here in India; however, you can use Bing Chat.
    StartupTalkyRishi Mundra

  • RBI will Implement AI-Powered Real-Time Technologies to Detect Cybercrime

    As per the recent media reports, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is developing an AI-enabled system that will alert people in real time about financial scams.

    An AI-based warning system would identify suspicious transactions as they are going to be made, and individual banks will access a central bank data repository that has information on different kinds of frauds and their offenders. In order to lower the danger of cyber fraud, the system will employ AI to gather and evaluate data on possible frauds, identify high-risk platforms, and alert users during transactions. 

    Even while cybercrime is still under control, the RBI believes that taking a proactive stance is essential to tackling new issues in the online financial sector. Indeed, MuleHunter AI, an artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) model, has already been created by the Reserve Bank of India Innovation Hub (RBIH), a division of the RBI, to assist banks and other financial institutions in identifying so-called mule accounts that fraudsters utilise. In contrast, the new system will protect digital transactions and notify users.

    RBI Shaping the Cybercrime Fee Banking Services

    To identify and stop cyber fraud, the RBI has been developing an AI-enabled fraud information system for some time. Implementing AI that can learn from previous frauds to flag high-risk transactions is one of the proposals made by an expert panel on cyber frauds that the RBI established.

    The method seeks to increase banks’ and payment gateways’ readiness to identify possible fraud while making it more difficult to cash out illicit funds. The frequency and average magnitude of cyber frauds are increasing, despite the fact that current fraud rates are still modest at about one every 114,000 transactions. All of them, then, are a component of the strategies to raise public awareness in order to help stop victimisation.

    In 2015, the central bank formed the Cyber Security and IT Examination (CSITE) cell under its Department of Banking Supervision, in addition to establishing several groups to combat cyber fraud. Additionally, it established a Fraud Monitoring Cell that publishes a list of bank and financial institution officials who are in charge of reporting fraud.

    Making Guidelines More Stringent

    Using information from the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre, a government agency tasked with combating cyber fraud, the central bank has also revised instructions for banks. The 2024 Deloitte-NASCIO Cybersecurity Study states that as the digital landscape grows and more personal, health, and financial data is available online, along with critical infrastructure like power, water, and transportation systems integrated with online components, cybersecurity is becoming a top priority for governments, regulators, and corporations. This increases vulnerabilities.

    According to the research, which was published on September 30, governments and regulators are realising more and more how important strong information security is to the dependable running of important government services.The area of attack is expanding. Both the Internet of Things and the Internet itself are generating more information. The public’s financial, health, and other personal information is stored on more servers in more locations than ever before. According to the report, online operational components are connected with more important infrastructure.

    It further stated that state officials are realising that information security is fundamental to the effective operation of vital government services and that all of this leads to an increase in the number of sites of risk.

    Online Fraud Cases are Growing

    The number of banking frauds rose by almost 300% in FY24 compared to the previous two years, according to the RBI’s May annual report. According to the data, public sector banks reported 75% of the total fraud amount in FY24, while private sector banks recorded 67% of the fraud incidents. According to the RBI statistics, the total number of online fraud cases rose by 708% to 29,082 in FY 23 and FY 24.

    RBI Approves Pending Home Loan Disbursements: Navi Finserv
    The RBI permits the disbursement of home loans approved before Oct 20, offering relief to borrowers and lenders like Navi Finserv amid regulatory updates.
    StartupTalkyNitin Konde

  • Launched by Sarvam AI, Sarvam 1 LLM is Trained in English and Ten Indic Languages

    On October 24, Sarvam AI, an artificial intelligence (AI) firm supported by Lightspeed, unveiled Sarvam 1, a Large Language Model (LLM). According to a tweet on X (previously Twitter), the business says it is India’s first indigenous multilingual LLM, trained from scratch on domestic AI infrastructure in ten Indian languages and English.

    Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu are among the ten major Indian languages that Sarvam 1 supports in addition to English. The LLM uses a two-billion-parameter language model and is trained on Nvidia’s H100 Graphics Processing Unit (GPU).

    Sarvam AI uses Nvidia services and AI4Bharat’s open-source technology

    In order to optimise and implement conversational AI agents with sub-second latency, Sarvam AI also makes use of a variety of Nvidia services and products, including its microservice, conversational AI, LLM software, and inference server.

    In addition to Nvidia, the LLM made use of AI4Bharat’s open-source technology and language resources, as well as Yotta’s data centres for computational infrastructure. According to a blog post by the AI startup, Sarvam-1’s strong performance and computational efficiency make it especially well-suited for real-world uses, such as deployment on edge devices.

    In specifics, Sarvam 1 clearly beats Gemma-2-2B and Llama-3.2-3B on a number of common benchmarks, such as MMLU, Arc-Challenge, and IndicGenBench, while attaining comparable results to Llama 3.1 8B, the company stated.

    Functioning of Various LLM Models Launched by the Company

    India’s first Hindi LLM, Open Hathi, was introduced by the AI firm in December 2023. The Llama2-7B architecture from Meta AI, which has 48,000 token extensions, served as the foundation for the model. However, a training corpus of two trillion tokens is used to develop Sarvam.

    Because of its effective tokeniser and unique data pipeline, which can produce diversified and high-quality text while preserving factual correctness, the LLM has two trillion tokens of synthetic Indic data. In addition to being four to six times faster during inference, Sarvam claimed that the most recent model from their stable meets or surpasses much larger models like Llama 3.1 8B.

    The process by which a trained model predicts or deduces from fresh data using the patterns it discovered during training is known as inference in artificial intelligence. Compared to current Indic datasets, the companies’ pretraining corpus, Sarvam-2T, supports eight times as much scientific material, three times as high quality, and two times as long documents. The total number of Indic tokens stored by Sarvam-2T is around 2 trillion. Apart from Hindi, which makes up over 20% of the data, the data is distributed nearly evenly among the ten supported languages.

    AI Firm Sarvam Unveils Blend of Open Source and Enterprise Products
    AI firm Sarvam unveils a new GenAI platform featuring a mix of open source and enterprise products, with support for 10 Indian languages.
    StartupTalkyNitin Konde