One quick thing: Google is opening up access to its ChatGPT competitor Bard, starting with select users in the United States and the United Kingdom. 

• Users in these two countries can currently join a waitlist. The tech giant plans to expand to more countries and languages over time.

In today’s newsletter: 

• Meet the IIT Madras professor behind 8 deep tech startups 
• Indian IT caught in global banking crisis crossfire 
• Tech hub Bengaluru banks on AI to book traffic violations

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Electric air taxi startup ePlane, space tech startups Agnikul Cosmos & GalaxyEye, and deep tech companies such as Aerostrovilos Energy, TuTr Hyperloop and X2Fuels have one person in common: IIT Madras professor Satyanarayanan Chakravarthy.

The 54-year-old is a co-founder in these startups, all of which were incubated at the institute –often termed as a 'haven for deep tech startups.' He is also involved in the development of two other startups, Avishkar Hyperloop and NewTrace.

• Chakravarthy has been a professor of aerospace engineering at the institute for over two decades and now devotes all of his time to his eight ventures
  
  
• It is through ePlane, an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft startup, that he intends to disrupt the aviation industry and this is where he spends most of his time.

• He serves as an advisor to the remaining seven startups

Chakravarthy's entrepreneurial journey began in 2016 when Srinath Ravichandran, the CEO of space technology startup Agnikul Cosmos, founded the company.

• The IIT Madras professor was intrigued by the idea of 3D printing rocket engines and joined the team as a co-founder. Agnikul 3D prints its rocket engine Agnilet.

Chakravarthy assists these startups with his decadal knowledge of deep tech, his industry contacts, and by helping them in setting long-term goals for the future.

Read the fifth installment of our Inside IIT Madras series on Satyanarayanan "Satya" Chakravarthy.

The Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) sector holds significant importance for Indian IT services companies, as it accounts for around 40% of their revenue.

With Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapsing and Credit Suisse being acquired by UBS, banks which are clients of IT firms, experts are predicting a slowdown in deals and decision-making delays in the near term, possibly lasting for up to six months. It has spooked clients, but experts say there is caution as the situation is still developing.

The impact of the current situation may only be felt in the March quarter, as suggested by some analysts. Nevertheless, if things escalate, US and European banks may face pressure on their near-term spending.

•  As per a recent note by JPMorgan, US regional bank exposure is the most at TCS and Infosys, accounting for less than 2-3% of revenue.

Concerns about liquidity across the US and the European Union can soften tech spends by banks in the short term, experts say. 

Phil Fersht, CEO of HFS Research, predicts that banks' deal-making will be slowed due to the current volatility and uncertainty, resulting in an increase in shorter-term engagements, particularly in critical areas. 

For now, the concern is about the contagion spreading to other banks.

Stress is expected in the BFSI sector in FY24. However, experts expect consolidation in this space, which will result in a lot of IT Services needs. This may benefit players who have more value to offer.

During the 2008 global financial crisis, captive takeover deals benefited Indian IT players. If history repeats itself, Indian players may find themselves in a favourable position.

For now, it's simply a matter of waiting and watching.

Go deeper

Tech and startup hub Bengaluru was one of the early adopters of camera-based systems to catch traffic violators, but now the city is booking a whopping 96% of total cases through contactless means using Artificial Intelligence-powered cameras.

It seems like the Bengaluru traffic police's tactic of playing hide-and-seek with motorists is finally ending. Drivers have complained for years about the police lurking behind trees to issue fines instead of controlling traffic during peak hours.

• Complaints have been made by motorists who claim that they are forced to pay bribes in order to avoid penalties or fines

The use of contactless enforcement can allow traffic police to allocate more personnel to manage traffic during peak hours instead of focusing on fine collection.

The Bengaluru traffic police has proposed a plan to link traffic fines with insurance and fitness certificates (FCs) of motorists. The idea is to ensure that drivers pay their fines during the renewal process of their insurance and FCs.

“For yellow-board commercial vehicles, FC has to be renewed once every two years. Similarly, private vehicles have to renew their insurance annually. FCs and insurance should be renewed only after all pending fines are cleared,” said MA Saleem, special commissioner of police (traffic).

Infosys recently saw the exit of two of its presidents who left to become CEOs at other companies. Ravi Kumar S became the CEO of Cognizant, while Mohit Joshi, who resigned earlier this month, is the incoming CEO of Tech Mahindra.

Infosys has a track record of producing numerous senior executives who have gone on to lead other companies besides Joshi and Kumar. Anshuman Das, the CEO of Longhouse Consulting, said that the company has produced a good number of CEOs due to its efficient management and governance systems that promote the development of leaders.

Go deeper

On March 21, 2006, Jack Dorsey, the co-founder and former CEO of Twitter, posted the world's first non-automated tweet which said, "just setting up my twttr".

Quick trivia: In March 2021, Dorsey auctioned an NFT of the first tweet for $2.9 million.

• Crypto exchange WazirX received 431 requests from Law Enforcement agencies between October 2022 and March 2023. These requests were related to a total transaction volume of $390 million on the platform. During this period, WazirX blacklisted over 2,431 accounts with the assistance of third-party monitoring tools.
  
  
• Crypto exchange Coinbase informed its users that it is no longer supporting Signet, the real-time payments network of failed Signature Bank.

Are you fascinated by the underground world of cybercrime and hacking? Then you won't want to miss Jack Rhysider's investigative podcast.

Darknet Diaries delves deep into topics like Xbox hacking, wiretapping scandals, and malware attacks. With his knack for storytelling, Rhysider takes you on a journey through the dark corners of the internet that you won't soon forget.

Check it out on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. 

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