The world is still recovering from the crazy days when OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was fired after a board coup and rehired after staff support and a nudge from its biggest investor, Microsoft. Ironically, the chaos that ensued is part of the massive disruption triggered by generative AI (GenAI). 

Unlike traditional artificial intelligence that mostly makes sense of large amounts of data, the ‘generative’ power of the new AI threatens to topple the innovation landscape, work processes and the entire economy. In essence, most businesses and industries are left gasping by its potential impact on manufacturing and services, productivity and efficiency as the next epoch of enterprise revolution takes over.

While business leaders try to assess the overall impact of GenAI, India has geared up fast to become a part of the new ecosystem. The country boasts more than 70 native GenAI startups backed by 80+ Indian institutional investors and $440 Mn+ in funding since 2019. And here’s the cherry on the top – Adobe recently acquired Bengaluru-based AI video creation platform Rephrase.ai. India’s generative AI market, valued at more than $17 Bn, is undoubtedly making its mark.

To dive deep into the nuances of the ongoing tech revolution and address the concerns of industry stakeholders, Inc42 and Google Cloud organised a roundtable titled Generative AI, Cloud And Startups: A Power Trio Redefining India’s Techscape!

The session covered various critical topics, including:

• Decoding the real-world impact of GenAI
• Strategies to tackle market-entry challenges posed by generative AI
• Navigating the changing landscape of workforce skills

The roundtable brought together technology decision-makers from diverse industry segments. Among them were Avneesh Goel, SVP (product & technology) at Awfis; Prince Singh, house owner (product) at OneBanc; CredFlow CTO Shalabh Aggarwal; Nitin Jain, cofounder & CBO at Oxyzo; Rajan Nagina, head of AI practice at Newgen Software; Deepak Mishra, VP (data science) at FarMart; Naman Khator, lead of solutions architect at QueueBuster; Souparno Bagchi, COO at BalanceHero India, and Gurpiar Sibia, head of customer engineering at Google Cloud. 

The session was moderated by Vishal Agarwal, partner at EY and currently leading its data analytics practice. 

The Road Ahead: Embracing GenAI Opportunities And Navigating Challenges

In the past decades, cloud technology has transformed how startups and enterprises work, scaling up operations, unlocking innovations and accelerating business success. Within India’s burgeoning startup ecosystem, ranked third globally behind the US and China, cloud-native startups have emerged as a global SaaS (software as a service) hub and rapidly expanded into critical areas like IaaS (infrastructure as a service), PaaS (platform as a service) and BaaS (banking as a service).

Per a Bessemer Venture Partners report, among the VC-funded Indian startups in 2022, 20%, or 468, were cloud and SaaS entities. Cloud spending also grew by nearly 22% that year, almost equal to the entire continent of Europe. This indicates how cloud computing, in its many avatars, is rising even when the funding winter has paused frenzied growth activities across the ecosystem.

Interestingly, artificial intelligence (AI) has been an innovative component in cloud play for service enhancements. Now, the country’s mature tech ecosystem is breaking frontiers to become a part of the ongoing tech revolution – generative AI.

“I am most excited about the rise in productivity that it [GenAI] ensures across different divisions of an organisation, be it marketing, content or [software] development. And I think that is perhaps the most mature use case right now where the risk is under our control,” said Deepak Mishra of FarMart.

But adopting technology can be challenging, be it a decades-old ecosystem like enterprise cloud or the latest GenAI breakthrough. For instance, a significant concern in an ML-driven tech landscape is model collapse. This occurs when an AI model trained on synthetic data generates progressively less diverse and more repetitive outputs (even LLM or large language models can fall prey to it).

“I think we cannot let go of the human angle around it, and that applies to everything AI. If we allow AI to learn from itself [and create], it will eventually lead to a self-collapse,” said Shalabh Aggarwal, CTO of CredFlow.

Watch the roundtable titled Generative AI, Cloud And Startups: A Power Trio Redefining India’s Techscape to gain more insights.

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A decade ago, most Indian consumers used to be hesitant about making online purchases. Instances like receiving wrong orders or not receiving them at all made most of us avoid the “Buy Now” button.

Fast-forward to today, ordering online has become a daily errand. This shift is not solely a matter of convenience, but rather it reflects a profound change in the way technology has permeated daily lives and redefined consumer expectations.

Upping the ante, third-party logistics (3PL) players have stepped in to respond to the evolving consumer demands. In the digital era, these 3PL players know that adaptability and scalability are the crucial elements for staying abreast of the preferences of today’s dynamic consumers.

Therefore, these players are laser-focussed on empowering traditional enterprises to scale their operations, enhancing both agility and cost-effectiveness flexibly. Not just this, many 3PL providers offer advanced data analytics, facilitating a deeper understanding of consumer behaviour and supply chain optimisation.

“With ecommerce and quick commerce coming in, traditional enterprises are now thinking about how to be present closer to the consumption centres. So, enterprises have outsourced fulfilment to 3PL providers with plug-and-play operations in all the major consumption centres and can ensure order fulfilments within 24 to 48 hours,” Ajay Rao of Emiza said.

Founded in 2015 by Ajay Rao and Jitendra Kumar, Mumbai-based Emiza serves as a supply chain enabler for consumer brands, assisting them in expanding their businesses both online and offline. Currently, Emiza works with more than 160 brands, has a presence in 12 Indian cities and operates a network of over 24 fulfilment centres.

In the contemporary landscape, where ecommerce, shorter delivery timeframes and the need for low-cost solutions dominate, the logistics industry is experiencing a surge in activity. To provide some perspective, data from IMARC Group indicates that the Indian logistics market achieved an impressive valuation of $259.5 Bn in 2022. Projections for the future are equally promising, with expectations of reaching $432.4 Bn by 2028, showcasing a robust CAGR of 8.8% between 2023 and 2028.

While technology has undeniably spearheaded numerous advancements in the logistics sector, this transition necessitates careful consideration of factors like scale, efficiency and regulatory compliance.

So, what does the founder & CEO of Emiza, Ajay Rao, recommend? Watch Rao’s interaction with Inc42’s Tapanjana Rudra on how third-party logistics players are changing the face of traditional enterprises.

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As new technologies are emerging faster than our institutional prowess to adapt and integrate them, business leaders are often at a crossroads, wondering if they should build technology tools in-house or procure off-the-shelf solutions. This classic dilemma, which is now more relevant than ever, has the potential to shape the future of a tech company, impacting its efficiency, growth and ability to innovate.

Talking about current business models which are running successfully worldwide and those that worked well in the past, Saket Agarwal, founder and CEO of the Mumbai-based SaaS consulting company Onnivation, said, “If you look at McDonald’s, Boeing, Wells Fargo, most of the banks, or most of the companies which literally print money, you will be surprised to know that they don’t make anything themselves.”

Build-versus-buy has its pros and cons. Developing the software programme in-house guarantees a level of customisation that is well-aligned with an organisation’s needs. It will also be cost-effective in the long run as the company does not have to pay licensing fees. On the other hand, buying the software is a quick solution. It helps embed extensive domain knowledge and industry best practices that may exceed the capabilities of an in-house IT team. Therefore, companies today need to go hybrid, introducing a mix of best-in-class ready-made solutions and differentiated, custom-built offerings.

“If your core business is to sell burgers or planes, thousands of components will be involved. If you start backward integrating into everything, you risk diluting your expertise in your core business,” explained Agarwal. 

Will Tech Collaboration Hurt Innovation, Integrity?

While the decision to collaborate with external entities presents a complex web of challenges and advantages, a fundamental question is at play: How does it impact the core value proposition of a tech company?

Interestingly, tech companies are expected to prioritise technology in their value proposition when responding to investors’ queries. Neither markets nor investors take kindly to the notion that a tech company may not have complete control of its intellectual property.

Dhruvil Sanghvi, founder and CEO of the logistics SaaS startup LogiNext, also raised this concern. “If something critical on your platform is not controlled or developed by you, it is not your intellectual property in this new-age business scenario. It’s not really flying.”

Therein lies the paradox. Such collaborations can amplify the reach of a technology company, enhance products/services, or address market gaps. But they can also introduce elements beyond one’s control, diluting the company’s tech identity.

But that is not to say that partnerships should be shunned entirely. These can help scale up a tech business, gain entry to new markets and offer diverse solutions. The challenge lies in maintaining a delicate balance between collaboration and uniqueness.

Sanghvi delved deeper into the complex dynamics, especially in the Indian context. “Does this inclination to do everything in-house indicate where a company’s focus lies?” he queried.

“In India, there is a tendency to handle tasks internally rather than seeking external partners. It is partly due to a less mature vendor ecosystem and vendor relationships compared to other parts of the world,” he observed.

Agarwal of Onnivation drew an analogy between such business compulsion and the must-do of a skilled batsman. “Often, we hyper-optimise, focussing on our weaknesses. But if one is a great batsman, every minute he spends learning how to bowl [because he does not bowl well and considers this a weakness] is a minute lost when he could have become a better batsman.”

His perspective underscores a common trend within the startup ecosystem – the inclination to manage everything internally. This can lead to dwindling focus away from what should be a priority, a reluctance to delegate tasks and an unwillingness to relinquish control.

Eventually, it is all about walking the tightrope that requires purposeful navigation, a sense of unwavering priority and the capability to adapt. In essence, businesses must operate holistically in sync with the challenge and promise of a tech-driven future.

In this episode of the Masters Of SaaS series hosted by Inc42, watch Dhruvil Sanghvi of LoginNext in conversation with Saket Agarwal of Onnivation explore the delicate balance between autonomy, collaboration and innovation in a fast-evolving SaaS landscape.

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After three years into a debilitating pandemic, the job market has changed worldwide and India is no exception. Since the ‘great recession’ triggered by Covid-19, traditional nine-to-five jobs gave way to gig work, work from home (WFH) and remote jobs. Next came the ‘great resignation’, the ‘quiet’ and the ‘loud’ quitting’. But the workforce pushback saw enough backlash in large-scale tech layoffs and the latest back-to-office mandates.

As the frequent waves of change continue to rock a once-placid hiring market with its conventional norms and red flags, reinventing recruitment becomes the hallmark of new success stories that companies aspire to achieve.

In a fast-evolving jobscape where adaptation is critical, practical application of degrees matters most and diversity dictates the talent hunt, most organisations are embracing new-age hiring strategies for optimum outcomes. From using AI and automation for talent scouting to remote interviews, skill-based assessments and online onboarding for real-time collaboration from anywhere, the tech-age tools and methods have unlocked value-added features for maximum productivity and professional growth.

To understand where the best candidates are and how to recruit them, Inc42 joined hands with Fountain, a leading platform for high-volume hiring, to host The Focal Point Roundtable on The Future Of Work: Reimagining Hiring In The World Of AI And Tech. The event explored the role of AI/ML in recruitment, the significance of employer branding and how smart hiring practices could address various concerns and challenges.

A wide range of critical topics were discussed, including:

• The driving forces behind the changing landscape of recruitment practices
• The impact of AI/ML in reshaping the recruitment process
• Effective strategies for communicating the employer brand to the emerging Generation Z workforce

Chandana GC, director of workforce transformation at PwC India, moderated the roundtable.

A host of hiring decision-makers from various startups were also present at the session. Among them were Darshith Satheesh, head of HR at Portea Medical; Naveen Tom Alex, HR director at Shadowfax; Seema Vijay Singh, CHRO of MediBuddy; Ketan Krishna, people and governance head at RentoMojo; Ashish Bansal, VP (HR) at BlueStone; Anvith Murthy, VP-HR (IT, admin and procurement) at Rapido; Rupini Raman, HR head at Yulu; Farhan Ahmed Hazarika, head of talent and people, Teachmint; Maxson Lewis, founder and MD, Magenta Mobility; Ravi Loyal, GM (talent acquisition) at Swiggy; Naveen Kumar N, HR head at Licious; Vinayak Srigovindan, HR expert, and Sean Behr, CEO of Fountain.

Hiring Innovations: The Use Of AI/ML & The Complexities Of Modern Practices

With the employment landscape undergoing a technology-driven transformation, the latest trends driving the hiring process reveal a complex interplay encompassing possibilities and obstacles. Therefore, a change in mindset is required to sync technology and human hiring to help businesses and the workforce move forward.

“Hiring tools have evolved in surprising ways,” said Seema Vijay Singh of MediBuddy. “I never expected we would use platforms like Instagram for recruitment, but it is becoming prevalent. This shift is quite remarkable, as any technological changes we introduced were often met with resistance in the past. So, we had to push for adoption, resulting in many follow-ups and challenges. But the current landscape is quite the opposite.”

While social media is driving the diversity pool and redefining work culture, tech advancements in areas like AI/ML provide valuable solutions for managing the high volume of job applications companies regularly receive. AI-powered applicant tracking systems (ATS) are particularly helpful here as they can swiftly scan and rank resumes, allowing recruiters to focus on the most promising candidates.

In addition, tech tools can ensure more objective evaluations by eliminating human biases, thus reducing potential discrimination and fostering fair hiring. But the question is: What additional benefits can these tech innovations bring to add value?

“In my experience, leveraging technology is not only about sourcing profiles. It is about understanding capability gaps within an organisation, comprehending the risks in the current talent landscape and the ability to come up with suitable solutions,” said Naveen Kumar N of Licious.

For a deep dive into the trends shaping the future of hiring, tune in to the roundtable discussion – The Future Of Work: Reimagining Hiring In The World Of AI And Tech.

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The traditional approach to enhancing workflow efficiency often centred on optimising manual processes, reducing paperwork and improving resource allocation within organisations. However, the emergence of cloud computing has fundamentally reshaped how we think about workflow efficiency.

Cloud technology has not just augmented traditional business practices but has also revolutionised them, providing businesses with unparalleled opportunities to leverage data, automate processes and scale operations dramatically. The cloud computing market is projected to reach $17.8 Bn by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 23.4%.

This transformation marks a significant shift from conventional methods, positioning cloud computing as a cornerstone in the modern landscape of workflow efficiency.

Notably, startups are leading the charge in harnessing the benefits of cloud computing, leveraging opportunities for data monetisation, boosting developer productivity, driving innovation and meeting scalability needs.

To delve deeper into the strategies and opportunities associated with cloud-based workflow automation, Inc42 and Google Cloud organised a roundtable titled – A Playbook To Cloud-Driven Workflow Efficiency – in August, 2023.

This session covered a spectrum of critical topics, including:

• The role of optimising data for better customer engagement
• How workload automation can Improve customer experience
• Key learnings and valuable insights into streamlined workloads and efficient data handling

The roundtable was moderated by Ajay Marar, partner at EY. Marar comes with broad expertise in cloud technology and has helped large enterprises accelerate their digital transformation.

The session brought together technology decision-makers from diverse industries. Among them were Rajesh Jalan, chief technology officer (CTO) of Cropin; Ramesh Kumar Katreddi, vice-president of engineering at Jumbotail; Chirag Maheshwari from the founding team of FamPay; Abhijit Gairola, head of engineering at Skydo; Amit Dixit, chief technology officer (CTO) of Zolostays; Shoan Motwani, head of devops & secops at Simpl; Naveen Budda, cofounder of KarmaLifeAI; Sugam Sharma, cofounder & chief information officer (CIO) of Zeliot and Dhandapani Shanmugam, customer engineer at Google Cloud India.

Leveraging Cloud Capabilities To Accelerate Operational Transformation

Cloud technologies have transitioned from being a luxury to a necessity, equipping organisations in diverse sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, finance, retail, manufacturing, education and government to achieve unparalleled agility and foster innovation.

“As Cropin Cloud, we started our journey with a vision of unifying agriculture, breaking free from data silos and creating an ecosystem rather than a vertical platform. Our transformation was critical because the industry had many point tools, each addressing a specific aspect. We aimed to create a platform for other agriculture companies to build upon. Public cloud provides us the agility, scale and elasticity to work faster and our goal is to make the entire agriculture ecosystem run 10X faster,” said Rajesh Jalan of Cropin.

The challenge of problem-solving and building solutions often necessitates the manipulation of extensive data sets to gain in-depth insights into consumer behaviour. Today, cloud capabilities are empowering startups as well as established businesses not only to automate workloads but also to efficiently manage and process large volumes of data, but all this comes at a cost.

“Cloud gives you elasticity but leveraging that comes at a cost. You can expand as much as you want and you can scale it up but if you don’t optimise it, the cost can go haywire,” advises Chirag Maheshwari of FamPay.

To gain more insights into how startups can streamline workflow with cloud capabilities and balance the cost-innovation conundrum, watch the roundtable discussion on A Playbook To Cloud-Driven Workflow Efficiency.

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