The Weekly Dispatch

Nucleus Software appoints Swati Patwardhan as CHRO

Nucleus Software, a provider of digital lending and transaction banking solutions to the global financial services industry, has appointed Swati Patwardhan as its new Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO), effective May 20. With over 19 years of extensive experience in Human Resources, Swati brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to her new role. In her new role, Swati will be responsible for overseeing the company's global HR strategies, focusing on attracting, developing, and retaining top talent.

Wipro teams up with Centre for Brain Research at IISc on AI-driven health behaviour innovations

Wipro announced a partnership with the Centre for Brain Research (CBR) to leverage the power of AI, ML, and big data analytics for health behaviour innovations. CBR is an autonomous, non-profit research organisation hosted at the IISc. Wipro's R&D team will design and develop a personal care engine, an AI that will take into account an individual's health history, desired health state, and other behavioural responses to promote healthy ageing, positive lifestyle changes, and psycho-social well-being to improve an individual's health over time meaningfully.

HCLTech and Arm collaborate to work on custom silicon chips for AI-led biz

HCLTech said it has partnered with British semiconductor and software design company Arm to work on custom silicon chips that support AI-driven business operations. A semiconductor designed for a specific task is referred to as a custom silicon chip. The partnership will enable semiconductor manufacturers, system OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and cloud services providers to enhance the computing efficiency of their data centre environments, HCLTech said in a statement.

Ola is shifting its IT ops to Krutrim from the AWS cloud

Ola is migrating its IT workload from the AWS cloud as well, according to sources, after having exited Microsoft’s Azure cloud. For Azure, Ola’s departure would mean a daily revenue loss of ?5-25 lakh. For AWS, this number would range between ?30 and ?40 lakh, as per some estimates and disclosures by Bhavish Aggarwal on X. In another post, he compared the pricing of AWS ($213) and Azure ($93) for cloud computing. “No wonder the biggest cost for Indian startups is cloud costs. @Krutrim cloud will be lower and in ??,” he said.

Check Point Software opens second largest global office in Bengaluru

Cybersecurity company Check Point Software Technologies has opened a 42,700 sq ft, 350-seater office in Bengaluru, making it the company’s 2nd largest globally after its headquarters in Tel Aviv (Israel). The new office features a customer experience centre and AI demo zones, where customers can explore and test cutting-edge security solutions tailored to their unique industry requirements, according to a company statement.

IT's bench strength halves as slump-hit companies eye efficiencies

The bench strength at top Indian outsourcers has nearly halved in a very short span of time, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing for the global service's leaders. Higher utilization and GenAI are helping them drive efficiencies through the talent pyramid as the $254-billion industry rides out its toughest business cycle. Data from recruitment firm Xpheno shows that calibration of the bench across IT majors has occurred since the start of FY25 (April 2023), and the fiscal year ended with an estimated 170,000 bench size.

HCLTech integrates its GenAI platform with Google Gemini

HCL Technologies announced that its GenAI platform -- HCLTech AI Force -- is available on Google Cloud's Gemini models. HCLTech's system-agnostic GenAI platform, which is geared to fast-track the value of GenAI investments, has integrated Google's multimodal large language model (LLM) Gemini to spur innovation at scale, the company said in a release. Along with accessibility and support for Gemini applications, HCLTech AI Force supports robust security and governance measures.

Shardeum to tap emerging Web 3.0, blockchain talent pool in India

Shardeum, an EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine)-based autoscaling blockchain platform, plans to drive the adoption of Web 3.0 technology among students and young developers in India. Through its ‘Proof of Community Backpacking’ tour, the company has reached out to over 7,500 students across 50 educational institutions in 28 Indian States and Nepal. The company further aims to connect with over 100 engineering and technology institutes and over 10,000 students in 12 months.

Reliance Retail starts ONDC pilot via retail platform Fynd

Reliance Retail Ventures has launched a pilot programme on the government-backed ONDC through Fynd, an omnichannel retail platform where the Reliance Industries unit has a stake, according to sources. Currently, one Reliance Retail store called Shri Kannan Departmental Store in Madurai in Tamil Nadu is live on the seller side of ONDC through Fynd. Since its formal launch in January last year till the end of April this year, ONDC has facilitated 57 million transactions.

Newgen Software launches LumYn - a Gen AI-powered hyper-personalization platform for Banks

Newgen Software has launched LumYn, a Gen AI-powered hyper-personalization platform designed specifically for the banking sector. The company claims this growth intelligence platform is set to enhance profitability and significantly improve customer experiences for banks worldwide. LumYn combines predictive intelligence with advanced conversational AI capabilities, enabling banks to build a hyper-personalized understanding of each customer's need, behaviour, preferences and intent to drive deeper engagements while ensuring data privacy and security.

Apple to open first Malaysia store on June 22 in Southeast Asia push

Apple Inc. will open its first retail location in Malaysia next month as it expands its presence in Southeast Asia to augment both sales and operations outside of China. The company’s first store in the country is at the Exchange TRX mall in Kuala Lumpur. The company announced the opening on its website, saying the location will open on June 22 at 10 am local time. Apple already has stores in the wider region, including India, Thailand, and Singapore.

Computacenter inaugurates new office in Bengaluru; plans to double India headcount

Computacenter, a UK-based IT solutions provider, has opened a new office in Bengaluru. The company plans to double its headcount in the next 3 years from 1,800 employees currently, said Mike Norris, CEO of Computacenter. The facility represents a strategic expansion of Computacenter’s existing footprint in India, reflecting the company’s commitment to meeting the evolving needs of its target market customers. The new headquarters will play a crucial role in building scale and efficiency for the company.

Wipro's majority public shareholders oppose ex-CEO Delaporte's $4.33 million severance

More than three-fourths of Wipro's public shareholders had voted against the $4.33 million (?36.15 crore) cash severance to former CEO Thierry Delaporte, shows a regulatory filing by the company. At least 78.4% of the IT major's public shareholders, or 10.31% of its total shareholders, voted against the cash compensation awarded to Delaporte, according to the voting records published on the BSE website.

US payments firm Stripe goes 'invite only' in India, cites regulatory changes

American digital payments major Stripe has moved to an 'invite only' mode in India, meaning merchants will not be able to join the payment aggregator by themselves. They will need to request for an invite from Stripe's India team and wait for approval. In a post published on its website, Stripe said it will only be able to support more Indian merchants by the second half of 2025. The company did not provide any explanation for the same.

Corning expands Indian presence with Digital & IT Centre in Pune

Corning announced the launch of its new Digital & IT Center, a GCC, in Pune. The center will foster new digital talent, helping Corning fill the technology roles of the future and support the company’s growth in the region and globally. The new center will create about 100 new jobs over the next 2 years and enhance the company’s operations in IT, which require expertise in the supply chain, data, cyber, and other digital areas. It is located near the company’s existing R&D and engineering facility, Corning Research Center India.

Jio Financial Services launches app to take on its fintech rivals

Jio Financial Services (JFSL) has launched a new app named Jio Finance, poised to compete with other major fintech applications. The company said the app is currently in the beta testing stage and will be fine-tuned after receiving user feedback. This will put Jio Finance in direct competition with other platforms like Paytm and PhonePe. In its bid to become the full stack finserv player, Jio Finance will also offer savings account services and leverage Jio Payments bank.

ACT Fibernet invests in network solutions startup Aprecomm

ACT Fibernet announced a strategic investment in network intelligence solutions startup Aprecomm without disclosing the financial details. The investment is aimed at strengthening its ability to provide the best home Wi-Fi experience for its customers, the company said in a statement. It said it will integrate Aprecomm’s advanced technology into its Wi-Fi products roadmap. This will provide real-time network visibility into Wi-Fi performance and enable rapid, proactive resolution of last-mile connectivity challenges, the statement said.

Zoho's Sridhar Vembu invests in Tamil Nadu-based drone startup Yali Aerospace

Sridhar Vembu, co-founder and CEO of SaaS firm Zoho, has invested in drone startup Yali Aerospace. Founded in 2022 by Dinesh, Anugraha and Mathuravani, Yali's drones offer easy-to-use technology for civil and military purposes. The Thanjavur-based firm specialises in providing drone solutions for medical, surveillance, and logistics globally. Some of its applications include solutions for precision agriculture, infrastructure inspection, and disaster response.