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In today’s newsletter: 

• It's raining hikes at GCCs, ER&D firms
• RuPay chips away at Visa, Mastercard
• Why PW's Prateek Maheshwari is confident about IPO pricing

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If you’re a specialist in AI, cloud security, Python, or cybersecurity, carry an umbrella...compensation showers are here!

GCCs and ER&D firms are handing out 30–40% hikes to specialised tech talent, while large IT services firms are offering 5–9% and calling it “market-aligned.”

• As a result, the difference in how each segment values skills is now widely obvious to candidates

The strongest demand is in AI, cloud security, Python, and cybersecurity roles.

• These positions require hands-on problem-solving, not slide decks about becoming digital-first

Therefore, GCCs are willing to offer 12-20% appraisals, while IT continues relying on polite emails and patience.

The pay gap between GCCs and traditional IT is no longer theoretical, it is visible in offer letters.

• For example, professionals with around eight years in AI roles in Bengaluru now earn Rs 35.3 lakh to Rs 47.9 lakh annually

As hiring gets more competitive, firms are now actively sourcing in Tier II cities instead of hoping Bengaluru has an infinite supply.

European companies are gradually shifting work from nearshore hubs like Poland to India.

• This includes tech, finance, HR, legal, and analytics functions, not just engineering

However, IT services firms are still seeing only slow and selective recovery, mostly tied to digital mandates.

Dig deeper

When you want to use credit while making a scan-and-pay transaction in India, you have RuPay.

• For everything else, you have UPI...at least in India.

Driven by the UPI juggernaut, RuPay now holds an 18% share of credit card payments by value.

RuPay, the domestic card network run by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), has gained strong traction in recent years.

• One major reason: RuPay credit cards can be linked to UPI, a feature not available for Visa or Mastercard

Nearly half of all RuPay credit card transactions are routed through the UPI network.

In terms of transaction volumes and new card issuance, RuPay does even better, with market shares of 25% and 33%, respectively.

Over the past couple of years, a dozen UPI-focused fintechs have launched RuPay credit cards.

• Visa and Mastercard are accepted at only about 1 crore terminals in India

UPI, by contrast, has over 35 crore merchants on the platform. This ubiquity and familiarity make it easier for RuPay to keep gaining market share.

RuPay credit cards offer the best of both worlds: the interest-free period and rewards associated with credit cards, along with near-universal acceptance thanks to UPI integration.

Dig deeper

Not many startups go public without anyone cashing out. PhysicsWallah looks ready to try.

The five-year-old edtech has structured its Rs 3,480-crore IPO with 90% as fresh capital, while the founders are selling only about 1% of their stake to meet listing norms.

• None of its institutional backers--WestBridge, GSV Ventures, Hornbill Capital, or Lightspeed--are cashing out

Founders Alakh Pandey and Maheshwari will continue to hold around 80% of the company post-listing.

“Since none of our investors are selling, there was no pressure to tweak pricing,” he tells us.  “Valuation is driven by market forces…investors look at where the train is heading, not where it’s been.”

PW’s IPO comes at a crucial moment for India’s edtech sector: one that has seen its image shaped by a few high-profile struggles.

• Maheshwari says public investors are able to “see beyond a few failures” in the sector

The revenue has grown nearly fourfold in two years, from Rs 744 crore in FY23 to Rs 2,886 crore in FY25, offline contributing nearly half.

“You’ll see PAT-level profitability very soon,” he says, adding education is a negative working capital business. 

Read the full interview 

• OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the startup doesn’t want federal guarantees or a bailout for its data centers, instead outlining what he believes should be the government’s role in supporting America’s AI-infrastructure build-out.
  
  
• Neelkanth Mishra, Chief Economist at Axis Bank and Head of Global Research at Axis Capital, believes the global AI market is still in a bubble-building phase with the real risk of a collapse several years down the line.

Looking for a weekend packed with suspense?

First Copy season 2 returns to the tense underbelly of film piracy, with Arif facing a jailhouse conflict that could upend his life.

• Starring Munawar Faruqui, Ashi Singh, Saqib Ayub and Raza Murad. Watch it on Amazon MX Player 

Then switch to Baramulla, a haunting Kashmir-set thriller about a cop investigating child kidnappings, only to uncover secrets that blur the line between the supernatural and the political. Watch it on Netflix

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