Hello there! We have a short, concise edition today, bringing you exclusive coverage from the recently concluded Global AI Conclave. We will be back with our regular edition on Tuesday (November 26)

In today’s newsletter:

• TK Kurien on Premji Invest's next big focus area
• Other top stories of the day
  

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• Wipro founder-chairman Azim Premji’s fund Premji Invest is not likely to invest in companies that are building large language models (LLMs) because the existing firms have already trained their models and there is very little incremental work left to be done. Now, post-training and inferencing will become two main areas of focus but that trend we’re yet to see, as per TK Kurien. “The biggest change coming is inferencing in AI. We haven't seen that happening at scale. We have done a lot of investment in inferencing, which we haven't announced yet,” he said. Go deeper

• S Krishnan, Secretary of the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), highlighted the government's efforts to balance affordability and fairness as it expands India’s AI infrastructure through the bulk procurement of GPUs under the IndiaAI Mission. Krishnan emphasised that the initiative is not about driving prices down at the expense of producers but about creating equitable opportunities. He also noted that the first round of bids, set to open on November 28, has garnered strong interest after multiple consultations with stakeholders. Dig deeper
  
  
• Generative AI has evolved from a mere buzzword to a transformative force reshaping the SaaS landscape. From customer support to specialised functions like workflow automation, AI is driving significant changes. At the Moneycontrol Global AI Conclave, multiple SaaS founders emphasied this transformation and shared their strategies for implementing AI within their businesses. Go deeper

• Taking a swipe at the BJP-led Union Government, Karnataka Minister for Large and Medium Industries and Infrastructure, M B Patil, said that semiconductor companies express interest in Karnataka, visit Delhi, and then never return. Patil accused the Union Government of diverting semiconductor investments that were initially inclined to set up operations in Karnataka.  "If the Government of India wants to develop the semiconductor industry, they cannot dictate where these companies should go when they visit Delhi. This should not happen. Ultimately, it’s about the country’s overall development. States must promote themselves based on merit and their ability to attract investments," he said. Find out more
  
  
• Team LLM or team applications? While Peak XV’s Shailesh Lakhani, Premji Invest’s Manjot Pahwa bat for founders to build AI applications, Lightspeed’s Hemant Mohapatra said India is a goldmine for data sets and there’s no reason for founders not to be building foundational models here. Accel’s Prayank Swaroop said he would be willing to back applications, LLMs or any other new tech that will be relevant in the future. Dig deeper

• Zerodha's Chief Technology Officer, Kailash Nadh, took a strong stance on the role of AI  in the workplace, emphasising that automation should enhance, not eliminate, jobs. "Two to three years ago, when the big LLM breakthroughs happened, there was a lot of fear, uncertainty, and hype. Employees were afraid of joblosses. So, we came up with an AI policy that says the introduction of AI or any automation will not directly lead to joblosses in the team, and there will always be opportunities. There will always be new roles," Nadh said. Find out more
  
  
• Hemant Taneja, CEO of General Catalyst, stated that politics has entered Silicon Valley for the first time, with discussions surrounding Elon Musk’s ties to US President-elect Donald Trump. "As a firm, we passed a resolution at the board level that we will not take any positions, stay non-partisan, focus on working with any administration that comes in and be good partners to them from a business standpoint. That’s the right way to engage,” Taneja said. Find out more
  
  
• Rahul Chari, co-founder and CTO of PhonePe, said that the company is taking a cautious approach to integrating generative AI into its operations, particularly in core areas like payments and lending. Instead of widespread adoption, PhonePe is focusing on experimentation, viewing its efforts as a "learning exercise" due to concerns over data protection and regulatory compliance. Find out more
  
  
• Traffic management in Bengaluru will fully shift to AI-based systems in the coming years, according to the Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) MN Anucheth, and the techie-turned-traffic police chief described this shift as "irreversible" and said that AI would not only handle traffic management but also congestion monitoring. Dig deeper
  
  
• The Time and Material (TNM) model used by IT services companies needs a change and those who implement it will be successful, according to Premji Invest CEO and industry veteran TK Kurien. He criticised the model for allowing the tech companies to pass inefficiencies onto customers while profiting from them. He believes the IT companies must refactor their pricing strategy as the TNM model will be completely disrupted. Find out more
  

You can catch all the updates from Moneycontrol Startup Conclave in our liveblog or watch the recap of the event.

• Wipro has appointed Omkar Nisal as chief executive officer of Europe Strategic Market Unit (SMU) effective immediately, the IT services major said in an exchange filing. Omkar will report to CEO and MD Srini Pallia and will also join the Wipro Executive Board, the filing said. He will succeed Pierre Bruno, who is stepping down, and will continue to be based in London.
  
  
• UPI transactions grew 34.5% in value in the April-September to Rs 122 lakh crore from Rs 90.7 lakh crore in the year-ago period. The volume grew 46% at 8,566.52 crore, minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary told the Lok Sabha. As many as 6.32 lakh UPI fraud cases whose value was at Rs 485 crore were reported during the period, the minister said in a written reply.
  
  
• The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has reportedly turned down a request from Apple to put a hold on an investigation report which found the company breached competition laws, allowing the case to continue.

• India's Generative AI ecosystem has grown remarkably amid a global downturn, recording an impressive 6 times growth in quarterly investments driven by B2B and productivity solutions, according to a report by IT industry body Nasscom.

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