Just In: Travelling to Bengaluru airport just got costlier. Here’s why

One quick thing: Unity SFB promoters eye stake sale to raise $130-$150 million 

• BharatPe, which owns 49% of Unity SFB, might pare its shareholding to 25%. Company calls it speculation

In today’s newsletter: 

• AI: Build vs. deploy debate hots up in India  
• AI threat looms over BPO jobs
• More exits at Flipkart

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The Indian tech scene is buzzing with debate: foundational AI tech vs. applications. 

• While some, like Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang, champion building the core tech, many Indian stakeholders are leaning towards using existing AI to solve real-world problems (at least for the short term)

Why? Building the core tech is expensive and time-consuming!

If there was a common thread across the various discussions at last week's Moneycontrol and CNBC-TV18 AI Alliance NCR Chapter, it was India's potential to become the AI use case capital of the world. 

• This stems from India's abundance of problems that can be addressed using AI 

The country's scale allows startups to build population-scale AI solutions that directly improve people's lives, rather than building machines that match human-level intelligence, according to Peak XV Partners MD, Rajan Anandan.

"India has the largest number of unsolved problems on Planet Earth. There is no country that has more unsolved problems and startups get built when you have big problems to solve,” he said.

Infosys cofounder Nandan Nilekani echoed this sentiment earlier this month, saying that India would become the AI use-case capital of the world.

Also read: Prefer speaking to Nandan Nilekani over Sam Altman on India's AI journey, says Peak XV's Rajan Anandan

Hemant Mohapatra, Partner at Lightspeed India, argues that building foundational models is becoming increasingly competitive on a global scale and is already experiencing diminishing returns. 

• He further said that India currently lacks the capacity and talent to build foundational AI models entirely from scratch

Also Read: Only 10 Indians among 300 globally who can train AI models from scratch, says MeitY's Abhishek Singh

Tanuj Bhojwani of People + AI underscores the importance of strategic focus, urging stakeholders to choose domains where they can win before expanding further. 

• However, he warns against early AI regulations that could stifle innovation

Also read: ‘NVIDIA is past tense,’ says Indian security official. For him, the hottest AI chip company is…

Want to watch the various insightful discussions that happened Moneycontrol & CNBC TV18’s AI Alliance NCR Chapter? You can watch it here.

Ever feel like you're stuck on hold with a bot forever? Well, that bot might soon be your customer service rep too. 

With advancements like OpenAI's GPT-4o and Google's Gemini, some fear it might spell the end for many Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) jobs.

• Experts predict up to half of BPO roles could become redundant

However, industry leaders like Infosys CTO Rafee Tarafdar believe AI will augment, not replace, human employees. 

• He sees a shift towards "value creative work," with AI handling repetitive tasks

Let's face it, AI still lacks the emotional intelligence and deep understanding needed to navigate complex customer issues

• Plus, the massive computing power required to run these models carries a hefty price tag

HR experts emphasise the need for reskilling. Employees who embrace continuous learning will be best positioned to thrive alongside AI.

Dig deeper

Picture credit: Microsoft Copilot

Flipkart's revolving door keeps spinning! Two more senior leaders are leaving the e-commerce giant, adding to a growing list of departures in recent months.

Prabh Simran Singh, Senior Vice President (SVP) of Customer Growth and Retention, Marketing and Ads at Flipkart, is serving his notice period and will leave in the coming weeks, sources told us.

• Singh, who joined Flipkart in 2022, is a former Disney Hotstar and Google executive
  
  
• The company is yet to find a successor for Singh’s role 

Singh isn’t the only one leaving Flipkart. Sankalp Mehrotra, Vice President (VP) of Monetisation, is also on his way out, sources said. 

• Mehrortra has been with Flipkart for over eight years 

Flipkart has already handed over his portfolio to Sandeep Karwa who will now lead Flipkart Ads. 

• Karwa has been with Flipkart for over 12 years now after working at Arvind Fashions and Wildcraft India

These exits add to a string of recent departures from Flipkart's upper ranks, including: 

• Sandeep Kohli, SVP and head of data centres 
  
  
• Amitesh Jha, head of marketplace and categories
  
  
• Bharath Ram, SVP of Growth and Retention 
  
  
• Ayyappan R, Cleartrip head
  
  
• Dheeraj Aneja, head of fintech and payments 

This leadership churn comes as Walmart, Flipkart's parent company, weighs the e-commerce giant's IPO timing.

Dive deeper

Picture credit: Microsoft Copilot

• After revamping its advertising business, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel is now focusing on AI and machine learning to make Snapchat more engaging.
  
  
• ByteDance's Doubao chatbot surpassed Baidu's Ernie Bot in downloads and monthly users, becoming China's most popular AI chatbot.
  

Ed Dwight, a former US Air Force pilot and NASA’s first black astronaut candidate, finally rocketed into space aboard a Blue Origin capsule, fulfilling a lifelong dream that began a whopping 61 years ago!  

• Turns out, Dwight was actually considered for NASA's astronaut program way back in the 1960s, but fate had different plans

• This Blue Origin flight not only fulfilled a lifelong dream, but also landed Dwight, aged 90, the title of oldest person in space

Talk about a long game! Check out the video

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