New Delhi, 25th February 2022.

Industry experts have expressed the need for organisations to focus on innovation and skilling in future technologies like Metaverse to make India emerge as a major hotspot for innovation and frontend technology development in the coming Techade. Encouraging people to learn, adapt and understand new technologies will transform culture in organizations leading to more innovations in new tech like Web 3.0, Blockchain and Metaverse.

The experts also highlighted that SaaS-based startups will be leading future innovation in AI globally. Data will be the driving force  of the future  and companies need to leverage solutions to make the most out of these data for better decision making and revenue building. Large enterprises will increasingly be collaborating with startups to take Indian innovations globally.

The views were expressed by Sanjeev Malhotra, CEO, NASSCOM Centre of Excellence for IoT and AI, Jagdish Mitra, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Growth, Tech Mahindra, Rushi Bhatt, Sr. Director and Head of AI at Compass IDC. and Avishkar Misra, Head of Data Science, TracFone Wireless in a webinar organized by technology analytics, research and consultancy firm TechArc in association with Compass IDC, the overseas development centre of  US-headquartered real estate technology platform Compass Inc. dealing with the inculcation of new age technologies such as AI & ML in Real Estate.

Sanjeev Malhotra, CEO, NASSCOM Centre of Excellence for IoT and AI, said, “The startup culture in India has grown significantly over the last few years. We are adding 10% more startups every year and making India the third largest ecosystem in the world. There are many startups in terms of applications, core research but we have made a real mark on the SaaS side of things. There are a lot of innovations in cost effective healthcare detection, education, and environment. There are companies who are already working towards digital transformation, which is a vast space for one company to have a complete hold on.”

Rushi Bhatt, Sr. Director and Head of AI at Compass IDC., said, “India is poised to reshape the coming techade for the world and, given the premium talent in the country, India's IT and Technology landscape is emerging as a major hotspot for innovation and frontend technology development. For years, India has been linked to low-end processing and outsourcing, but this trend has changed rapidly in the past decade, with an increased amount of work being carried out across new-age technology domains such as big data analytics, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, mobility, IoT, blockchain etc. At Compass, on a global level, a large chunk of the technology-related work, ranging from product engineering to designing, is carried out from the India Development Center. In fact, Compass's Android app is entirely based out of India, indicating our faith in the country's technological prowess.”

Jagdish Mitra, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Growth, Tech Mahindra, said, “We have a strong skill base consisting of engineering and software programming talent. However, there are certain things that we can further build on, such as a huge base of technologically mobile people focused on creating opportunities around products, transformative solutions and tech based digital businesses. I believe we have a tremendous opportunity to become a global R&D hub or Engineering hub because we have the hunger and the appetite to create something bigger.”

According to Avishkar Misra, Head of Data Science, TracFone Wireless, "Having talent, with the right skillset and the right mindset, is going to be extremely important to ensure increased AI adoption across the globe. The biggest challenge with AI is not just carrying out the AI research, but actually turning it into feasible, viable product solutions and experiences that enrich the lives of customers. This is a global problem as there are not enough data scientists, AI researchers, ML scientists, or technical experts, who can invent and create such algorithms and think about solutions and products. If we can create an appropriate culture and mindset, then we can truly realize the actual benefits of AI.”

The event was moderated by Faisal Kawoosa, Founder & Chief Analyst, TechArc, he said “India will play a very significant role in any innovation that's going to take place in the technology or digital domain, during the next decade or so, as the Indian tech talent and resources will be utilised to develop innovative solutions. India’s role won't just be limited to basic rudimentary jobs. Rather, the country will be pivotal in furthering advanced technologies like AI, big tech, etc.”, in his opening remarks today.

The key takeaways that emerged from the panel discussion were that India is no longer an outlier when it comes to frontend technology outsourcing. Innovation will be at the heart of the country’s future and, to promote R&D expansion, the government needs to step up further. Creating an enabling ecosystem will go far towards encouraging corporates and businesses to shift base to India. The Metaverse is another area where India can look forward to transformative experiences with real estate and AI use cases leading the change.