The Weekly Dispatch

HSBC setting up $1 billion growth fund to scale up digital platform businesses in Southeast Asia

HSBC said it is setting up a $1 billion growth fund called ASEAN Growth Fund that provides lending to companies that are scaling up via digital platforms across Southeast Asia. The London-headquartered bank is tapping into Southeast Asia's digital economy, which it said is among the world's fastest growing, expecting it to hit $600 billion in value by the end of the decade from $218 billion last year.

Biggies like Google, Amazon & Microsoft paying undergrads ?1 lakh stipends for internships

In a reflection of the growing demand for skilled engineers in the tech industry, India has seen an increase in the number of undergraduate engineering students securing internships with monthly stipends of???1 lakh or more from biggies like Amazon, Google, Intuit India, Microsoft, Palo Alto and Goldman Sachs. These internships, which can last 3-6 months, are a golden ticket to full-time roles in high-demand fields like data science, cloud computing, and analytics.

Tide seems to be turning for IT as hiring mandates rise 50% in February

Active demand for technology talent hit a new monthly high for this fiscal year last month, kindling hopes of recovery in the IT services job market that has hit a 2-decade low this fiscal. Hiring mandates for IT talent stood at 124,000 in February, which is a nearly 50% jump compared to January and 33% higher than in December, data from staffing firm Xpheno shows. Staffing firms are projecting an actual hiring increase of 7-8% in the 2nd half of this calendar year, data gathered from Teamlease and others??show.

YouTube removes 2.25 million videos in India for violating community guidelines in Q4 2023

YouTube said that over 2.25 million videos were removed for violating its Community Guidelines in India during the fourth quarter of 2023 (between October and December). During the same period, YouTube said it removed over 9 million videos globally for Community Guidelines violations. It added that when content is removed for violating its guidelines, it is removed globally and policies are enforced using a combination of ML and human reviewers.

Tech Mahindra to consolidate two US-based subsidiaries

Born Group, Inc., a step-down subsidiary of Tech Mahindra Ltd (TML), will merge with Tech Mahindra (Americas) Inc., a subsidiary of TML, with the appointed date of the merger plan being April 1, 2024. The plan of merger of Born Group with parent Tech Mahindra (Americas) Inc. (TMA) was approved at their respective board meetings held on March 22, TML said in a regulatory filing. “The merger is subject to regulatory approvals in the country of incorporation.

Zoho’s Sridhar Vembu keen on setting up semiconductor design project in rural Tenkasi

As India has set an ambitious mission of becoming a major hub for semiconductor, Zoho’s Co-founder & CEO Sridhar Vembu wants to set up a semiconductor design project in rural Tenkasi in southern Tamil Nadu. Reacting to a post on X, Vembu said, “We have been planning a semiconductor design project in Tenkasi. Ananthan’s expertise in this field is unrivalled and we will work together to create advanced chip design knowhow in this rural region,”

Databricks doubling down on investment in India amid surge in AI services demand

Databricks announced it has experienced over 80% annualized growth in the past two fiscal years for its India business, driven by an increase in demand for data and AI capabilities across Indian enterprises. The company also announced the launch and availability of Databricks infrastructure on Google Cloud’s India (Mumbai) region to support the growing customer base and demand for the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform. These investments, in addition to the launch of its R&D hub in Bangalore last year, further Databricks’ commitment to India.

Wipro promotes over 30 senior executives to SVP, VP roles

Wipro has promoted 6 employees to SVP roles and 25 others to VP roles, the company informed its employees in an internal memo. Confirming the development, a company spokesperson said, “These promotions are part of Wipro’s ongoing commitment to developing strong internal leaders who are critical in driving our strategy forward.” In its previous promotion cycle in January 2023, Wipro had elevated a record 73 employees to SVP (12) and VP (61) roles.

Maruti to introduce first EV through NEXA

Maruti Suzuki India which will launch its first electric vehicle in 2025, will be introducing the vehicle through its premium and luxury channel — NEXA. eVX will be the carmaker’s first electric vehicle in India. The EV will be powered by a 60kWh battery pack offering a range of up to 550 km. The EV was designed and developed by Suzuki Motor Corporation in Japan. The company plans on exporting the ‘Made in India’ electric vehicles to Europe and Japan.

IIT Madras alumnus Pavan Davuluri appointed Microsoft Windows and Surface chief

Microsoft has appointed Indian-American Pavan Davuluri as its new Windows and Surface Chief. Davuluri, an IIT Madras alumnus, joins an expanding list of Indians in leadership roles in global technology companies. Pavan Davuluri is an alumnus of IIT Madras. He has been at Microsoft for 23 years and was involved in the company's collaboration with Qualcomm and AMD for Surface processors. In his new role, he will be under Rajesh Jha, Microsoft's head of experiences and devices.

KPMG India, Cisco collaborate to accelerate customers’ digital transformation

KPMG India and Cisco announced a strategic alliance to provide organisations in India with a broad range of services to help navigate complex business challenges and accelerate digital transformation. By combining KPMG in India’s business knowledge and Cisco’s technological expertise, the strategic alliance will look to identify effective combination of products and services that seamlessly integrate into their customers’ IT architectures.

Amazon set to introduce Prime Lite in India at ?799 per year

Amazon is poised to introduce Prime Lite, an affordable version of its Prime subscription service, in India at ?799 per year. The new subscription tier will offer limited Prime benefits, including access to Prime Video content with advertisements and free shipping. Prime Lite is in the testing phase and will be available to Indian consumers as an economical alternative to the existing ?1499 annual subscription plan, a senior executive said.

Airtel preparing for tariff hike post elections, Jio to focus on greater data usage: Report

Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel are working out on different strategies for tariff hike after the parliamentary elections. According to company executies, as quoted by media reports, Bharti Airtel intends to increase headline tariffs, whereas Jio may opt for a different route. Instead of hiking tariffs, Jio is expected to focus on initiatives that encourage greater data usage, enticing users to transition to higher-tier packages. This strategy is anticipated to enhance Jio's average revenue per user.

Apple to hold annual developers conference June 10-14

Apple will hold its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) online from June 10th-14th, it said. The event will highlight updates to the software powering iPhones, iPads and other Apple devices. Some developers and students will be invited in-person at Apple Park on the opening day. Bloomberg News has reported Apple was in talks for AI tie-ups with Google and OpenAI for some new features coming to the iPhone this year and a deal could be announced at the developers conference.

Walmart-backed tech firm Ibotta files for US IPO

Walmart-backed digital marketing company Ibotta has filed to go public in the US, it said in a filing. The company, which counts PepsiCo, Nestle and Coca-Cola among its more than 850 clients, did not disclose the size of the offering. Its revenue grew 52% year-on-year to $320 million in 2023 while net income margin grew 12%, the filing showed. Ibotta is moving forward with its listing plans at a time when IPO in the US are on the rebound thanks to easing concerns over elevated borrowing costs.

Dell reduces workforce as part of broader cost cuts

Dell Technologies, opens new tab reduced its workforce as part of a broader initiative to cut costs that included limiting external hiring and employee reorganisations, it said in a filing. As of Feb. 2, 2024, it had nearly 120,000 employees, down from about 126,000 a year earlier. The layoffs come after sluggish demand for its personal computers for nearly 2 years partly contributed to a 11% drop in revenue in 4th-quarter earnings posted last month.

Canva acquires UK design platform to challenge Adobe

Design software developer Canva has acquired UK-based design platform Affinity in what is its biggest acquisition yet. Affinity, which is a creative suite of software tools popular among Mac users, is expected to help the fast-growing Canva compete with Adobe. The latest purchase marks another important corner for Canva which is now valued at $26 billion after its last stock sale. The company has been making moves to expand its footprint in Europe.

Amazon invests $2.75 billion in ChatGPT-rival Anthropic, takes total investment to $4 billion

Amazon said that it had added $2.75 billion to its investment in Anthropic, a start-up that competes with companies like OpenAI and Google in the race to build cutting-edge AI systems. The investment comes 6 months after Amazon invested $1.25 billion in Anthropic, making it the Amazon’s most important AI partner. Anthropic’s valuation tripled to $15 billion in just a year, The New York Times reported.

AI and ML jobs grow twice as fast as other digital roles

With generative AI creating enormous excitement across industries, demand for skilled professionals in AI and ML is soaring in India. Staffing firm Randstad says hiring for AI and ML has been increasing by 30% each year since the pandemic, while demand for other digital skills has been growing at half that rate. It estimates that there are about 200,000 professional skilled in AI/ML in India.??Jung Bahadur, director for talent solutions at Aon said GCCs of MNCs are driving the growth in demand for AI and ML-related roles.