The Weekly Dispatch

HCLTech has won a 5 year extension to a strategic IT and digital transformation deal from Swedish manufacturer Husqvarna Group.

Deal financials were not disclosed. Under the new five-year agreement, HCLTech will offer its AI, digital, engineering and support services to Husqvarna Groups’ IT environments through hyper-personalized, adaptive, AI-based solutions and a collaborative governance framework.

Infosys has developed an omnichannel digital and advanced analytics offering for Australia-based Spotlight Retail Group

To enable a hyper-personalized online shopping experience for its customers. Leveraging its AI-first offering Infosys Topaz with intelligent insights of customer behaviour, the digital commerce platform will be scalable on-demand and help Spotlight Retail Group meet the significant surge in transaction volumes among customers, it further said.

The boom of Global Capability Centres (GCCs) in the country has led to a 40-50% increase in the number of global and senior level roles based out of India

In the last 5 years, as per the Economic Times data. On an overall basis, an estimated 3 - 4 Lac jobs are likely to be created in the GCC sector in the next 2-3 years, according to Deloitte estimates. As an increasing number of global roles are expanding here in India around technical leadership roles, organisations are talking about setting up AI/ML capabilities, enhancing their analytics & digital space.

US-based Waters Corporation, an analytical laboratory instrument and software company, inaugurated its new Global Capability Centre (GCC)

Set up with an investment of $16 million (?133 crore) in RMZ Eco World tech park, Bellandur.? The new workspace will recruit over 300 employees for roles in software engineering, technology, product development, data analytics, and IT. Adding to the 431 currently employed, this decision marks a 70% increase in recruitment.

Wipro has informed employees that it is implementing a compulsory hybrid work policy starting November 15

Where staffers have to be present in the office at least 3 days a week.The change in policy would enhance communication, resolve issues promptly, foster team building, collaboration and will strengthen relations between colleagues.? Further, it has warned employees that they would face consequences starting January 7, 2024 if they consistently fail to adhere to the new hybrid work policy.?

Calendly, the centralized scheduling automation platform built for scaling across the organization, announced the appointment of Jigar Desai as its CTO.

Desai brings more than 25 years of experience leading product and engineering teams at startups and global tech companies. He will lead the Engineering, QA, and Security teams, as well as shape product roadmap. Desai was most recently the SVP of Product & Engineering at Sisu, a decision intelligence engine. Prior to Sisu, he spent nearly 5 years as Senior Director of Product & Engineering at Meta.?

Alphabet introduced its most advanced AI model, a technology capable of crunching different forms of information such as video, audio and text.

Called Gemini, the highly anticipated AI model is capable of more sophisticated reasoning and understanding information with a greater degree of nuance than its prior technology, the company said.? The rollout will unfold in phases, with less sophisticated versions of Gemini called “Nano” and “Pro” being immediately incorporated into Google’s AI-powered chatbot Bard and its Pixel 8 Pro smartphone.

Meta Platforms has started to roll out end-to-end encryption for all personal chats and calls on Messenger and Facebook.

The end-to-end encryption feature will be available for use immediately, the social media giant said, but it may take some time for all Messenger accounts to be updated with default end-to-end encryption. Messenger previously had the option to turn on end-to-end encryption, allowing a message to be read only by the sender and its recipients, but with this change messages would be encrypted by default, Meta said.

RBI Monetary Policy Committee has kept the key policy repo rate unchanged at 6.5% by a unanimous decision.

This is the fifth meeting on the trot that the MPC decided to maintain the status quo on the repo rate. The MPC last raised this rate by 25 bps to 6.50% at its meeting in February 2023. RBI raised the GDP growth projection for FY24 to 7% from 6.5% earlier on buoyant domestic demand and higher capacity utilisation in the manufacturing sector.

Innover, a leader in providing accelerated digital transformation solutions, announced the appointment of Raju Rampa as its Chief Growth Officer.

Raju will lead the Sales and Partnerships teams for the firm globally. He will chart the course for short and long term business success - driving revenue, securing profitable growth, expanding market share and nurturing customer-centricity. He will be pivotal in steering the company towards both short and long-term business success, the company said.?

Apple Aims To Ramp Up iPhone Production In India To Over 50 Mn Units Annually

Global smartphone major Apple is reportedly planning to manufacture more than 50 Mn iPhones in India annually, as it looks to double down on production in the country as part of its efforts to reduce reliance on China. Apple aims to meet the target within the next two to three years, with additional tens of millions of units planned to be produced in the following years, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Tata Plans For Largest iPhone Assembly Unit To Push Apple’s India Production

Salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Group is reportedly gearing up to build one of India’s largest iPhone assembly plants in Tamil Nadu’s Hosur, tapping Apple Inc’s aim to broaden its manufacturing presence in the country.? The facility is expected to house approximately 20 assembly lines and aims to create job opportunities for around 50,000 workers within the next two years, Bloomberg reported, citing sources close to the matter.

Polygon To Power Flipkart’s Web3 Loyalty Platform FireDrops To Boost User Engagement

Ecommerce major Flipkart on Thursday (December 7) announced that it will deploy blockchain scaling startup Polygon’s chain development kit (CDK) to scale its FireDrops Web3 loyalty programme. “… This is a game changer for (the) Web3 ecosystem in India. It not only has the potential to attract the top fintech entrepreneurs in India to build Web3 but it also might encourage many other top enterprise and consumer brands to build their app chains,” Polygon cofounder and CEO Sandeep Nailwal said.

Zomato Sees INR 1,127 Cr Block Deal, SoftBank Likely Seller

Shares of foodtech giant Zomato nudged higher during the early trading session on Friday (December 8), on the back of a large block deal. Around 1.06% stake of the company or 9.35 Cr shares exchanged hands on the block deal. The shares exchanged hands at an average price of INR 120.5 apiece, taking the total transaction value to INR 1,127 Cr.

Gaming unicorn MPL's Losses Drop by 70% to $37 Million in FY23; Know the revenue

Indian gaming unicorn? Mobile Premier League (MPL) has reported a significant revenue increase in the fiscal year ending March 2023 (FY23). The company's revenue surged by 63% to $104.6 million, up from $64.1 million in FY22. A notable aspect of this growth is the contribution from international markets, which accounted for 38% of the total revenue, a substantial increase from 11% in FY22. Its global presence extends beyond its home base in India to North America, Africa, and Europe.