Meet Sachin Katti, the IIT Bombay grad leading AI, tech and now strategy at Intel
While Kumu eventually wound down in late 2024, the innovation it brought to wireless communications lives on. Katti's work on full-duplex radios has the potential to cut spectrum usage in half, which brings with it the benefit of multi-trillion-dollar implications for global telecommunications.Equally important is Katti's passion for openness. In 2016, he co-founded the xRAN Forum, which later evolved into the O-RAN Alliance. As co-chair of its Technical Steering Committee, Katti helped dismantle the industry's reliance on closed, proprietary telecom infrastructure, promoting standardisation and competition. This ethos of openness mirrors Intel's current battle against Nvidia's tightly controlled CUDA ecosystem, making Katti a natural choice for the role.In 2016, Katti also co-founded another startup called Uhana, which applied artificial intelligence to optimise mobile networks. VMware acquired the company in 2019, and Katti joined as Vice President of Telco & Edge Strategy. He then moved to Intel in 2021, rising quickly through the ranks – from CTO of its Network and Edge Group to General Manager, and now, Chief Technology and AI Officer.Katti will now oversee Intel Labs, the company's product roadmap, and manage its startup and developer ecosystem engagements. His elevation marks a shift in how Intel views AI, not as a side project embedded within its data centre business, but as a core function deserving dedicated leadership.advertisementHis appointment also follows the retirement of Greg Lavender, the previous CTO who had followed Gelsinger from VMware. The shake-up is part of CEO Lip-Bu Tan's vision to flatten Intel's hierarchy and bring product development closer to the top. For the first time, Intel's key chip divisions will report directly to Tan.But this transition comes with its challenges. Last week, Intel announced major layoffs with over 100 jobs at its Santa Clara headquarters alone, with broader global cuts affecting up to 20 percent of its workforce. The company also shut down its automotive division, laying off most of the employees in the unit. Engineering roles, from chip designers to software architects, are being impacted. The company is even outsourcing parts of its marketing operations to Accenture, with AI set to play a significant role in automating customer communications.For Katti, being part of this shift is more than a personal milestone. It places him alongside a growing cohort of Indian-origin leaders shaping global technology, from Satya Nadella at Microsoft, Sundar Pichai at Google, and more recently Trapit Bansal who has joined Meta's superintelligence team.- Ends
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Economic Times
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- Economic Times
IITian gets trolled for using death in IIT to talk about his startup: 'Can't even let him rest in peace'
Synopsis An IIT Bombay graduate is facing criticism. His LinkedIn post about a student's death sparked controversy. The post mourned Rohit Sinha's death. It then promoted the founder's recruitment startup. Reddit users accused him of insensitivity. They felt he exploited the tragedy for business. Rohit Sinha, a final-year student, allegedly died by suicide. Agencies An IITian recently received backlash from Reddit for using a fellow IITian's death to promote his company. An entrepreneur, who graduated from IIT Bombay, has found himself at the centre of a storm on the Reddit forum LinkedIn Lunatics for an emotionally charged tribute post that many accused of being self-promotional. The founder, who helms a recruitment startup, took to LinkedIn to mourn the death of Rohit Sinha, a fourth-year student from IIT Bombay, who died at the age of 22. While his message began with sorrow, it quickly shifted focus to his company and its mission to support students in securing employment—drawing ire from netizens who felt it was an insensitive pivot. The alumnus opened his post by expressing grief over the passing of Sinha, who was a student of metallurgical engineering at IIT Bombay. The student reportedly died by suicide at Hostel 17 (H17) on campus. Although the specific cause behind the incident has yet to be determined, the entrepreneur noted how the tragedy hit close to home, emphasizing shared experiences within the same reflected on the high-pressure environment in elite academic spaces, particularly concerning internships and job placements. He described how the intensity and isolation that come with such expectations had once affected him deeply too. It was from that difficult emotional terrain, he claimed, that his recruitment startup was born—to offer support and job pathways for students navigating similar his closing lines, he encouraged struggling students to speak to friends or family and to seek help if burdened by academic or placement-related anxiety. He emphasized that life is valuable and that his platform is open for users did not take kindly to the post. Comments on the LinkedIn Lunatics subreddit skewered the founder for what many saw as an opportunistic move. One sarcastically paraphrased the tone as, 'Rest in peace, dead guy. Now let me tell you about my startup.' Another mocked the shift in narrative with, 'Let's centre this tragedy around me.'Another quipped, "Can't even let him rest in peace."Some compared the tone of the post to exploitative advertising, with one user imagining a commercial message wrapped in grief—likening it to someone announcing a child's death followed by a diaper discount promo. Another respondent commented bitterly that the deceased student likely would not have appreciated his memory being used as a segue to market a Sinha was a final-year student in the Meta Science department at IIT Bombay and hailed from Delhi. As per a statement from the Mumbai Police, Sinha allegedly jumped from the rooftop of his hostel building. He was rushed to a hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival. Authorities confirmed he had recently completed his BTech degree and was awaiting job placement. No suicide note was found at the scene. This tragic loss has reignited conversations around mental health, pressure in academic institutions, and the responsibilities of public figures when speaking about sensitive issues.
Time of India
5 hours ago
- Time of India
IITian gets trolled for using death in IIT to talk about his startup: 'Can't even let him rest in peace'
An entrepreneur, who graduated from IIT Bombay , has found himself at the centre of a storm on the Reddit forum LinkedIn Lunatics for an emotionally charged tribute post that many accused of being self-promotional. The founder, who helms a recruitment startup , took to LinkedIn to mourn the death of Rohit Sinha , a fourth-year student from IIT Bombay, who died at the age of 22. While his message began with sorrow, it quickly shifted focus to his company and its mission to support students in securing employment—drawing ire from netizens who felt it was an insensitive pivot. Explore courses from Top Institutes in Please select course: Select a Course Category Design Thinking Public Policy Data Analytics Management Digital Marketing Finance MBA Artificial Intelligence Leadership PGDM Operations Management others Others CXO Technology Project Management Cybersecurity Healthcare Degree MCA Data Science healthcare Product Management Data Science Skills you'll gain: Duration: 22 Weeks IIM Indore CERT-IIMI DTAI Async India Starts on undefined Get Details Skills you'll gain: Duration: 25 Weeks IIM Kozhikode CERT-IIMK PCP DTIM Async India Starts on undefined Get Details Tribute Post Blends Personal Loss with Business Messaging The alumnus opened his post by expressing grief over the passing of Sinha, who was a student of metallurgical engineering at IIT Bombay. The student reportedly died by suicide at Hostel 17 (H17) on campus. Although the specific cause behind the incident has yet to be determined, the entrepreneur noted how the tragedy hit close to home, emphasizing shared experiences within the same institution. He reflected on the high-pressure environment in elite academic spaces, particularly concerning internships and job placements. He described how the intensity and isolation that come with such expectations had once affected him deeply too. It was from that difficult emotional terrain, he claimed, that his recruitment startup was born—to offer support and job pathways for students navigating similar stress. In his closing lines, he encouraged struggling students to speak to friends or family and to seek help if burdened by academic or placement-related anxiety. He emphasized that life is valuable and that his platform is open for outreach. Reddit Reacts: Accusations of Insensitivity and Opportunism Reddit users did not take kindly to the post. Comments on the LinkedIn Lunatics subreddit skewered the founder for what many saw as an opportunistic move. One sarcastically paraphrased the tone as, 'Rest in peace, dead guy. Now let me tell you about my startup.' Another mocked the shift in narrative with, 'Let's centre this tragedy around me.' Another quipped, "Can't even let him rest in peace." Some compared the tone of the post to exploitative advertising, with one user imagining a commercial message wrapped in grief—likening it to someone announcing a child's death followed by a diaper discount promo. Another respondent commented bitterly that the deceased student likely would not have appreciated his memory being used as a segue to market a business. Details About Rohit Sinha's Death Rohit Sinha was a final-year student in the Meta Science department at IIT Bombay and hailed from Delhi. As per a statement from the Mumbai Police, Sinha allegedly jumped from the rooftop of his hostel building. He was rushed to a hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival. Authorities confirmed he had recently completed his BTech degree and was awaiting job placement. No suicide note was found at the scene. This tragic loss has reignited conversations around mental health , pressure in academic institutions, and the responsibilities of public figures when speaking about sensitive issues.
Time of India
7 hours ago
- Time of India
Advantage India: Global Capability Centres (GCCs)
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel What do Google, IBM, Intel, UBS, Deutsche Bank, SAP, ArcelorMittal, PepsiCo, Wells Fargo, and Heineken have in common?They are all relocating their global capability centres (GCCs), either partially or entirely, from Eastern Europe to is transferring its software engineering and quality assurance teams from Kraków to India. Likewise, IBM is relocating cloud services positions from Warsaw. Intel is expanding its engineering activities in India. UBS and Deutsche Bank are consolidating their technology, risk, and compliance divisions in Pune, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru. SAP downsized its operations in Eastern Europe while increasing recruitment in Bengaluru and Gurgaon. Manufacturing giants such as ArcelorMittal, consumer names like PepsiCo, and banking entities such as Wells Fargo are setting up or expanding their operations in Global Capability Center (GCC), also known as the Global In-house Center (GIC) or Captive Center, is a strategically situated, entirely owned unit of multinational corporations (MNCs) that performs specialised services such as IT, finance, R&D, and customer support. GCCs use global talent pools and innovative technologies to reinforce their internal capabilities and boost business transformation. GCCs are significant for achieving cost savings, increasing collaboration between parent companies and their offshore affiliates, and accessing talent pools. Unlike typical outsourcing organisations, since GCCs are part of the parent organisation, they are integrated into the company's processes and provide better control, seamless alignment, and ownership of work and intellectual has evolved into the destination of choice for global corporations as they seek to expand, innovate and pursue strategic R&D to capitalise on its dynamic ecosystem. With more than 1,800 GCCs established and a market value exceeding $46 billion, India has consolidated its position as a global hub for GCCs. India, home to more than half of the world's GCCs, offers unmatched advantages, including a sizable skilled workforce, cost-effective operations, and cutting-edge technological infrastructure. India is no longer known for cost arbitrage alone; instead, the world perceives the country as a hotbed of innovative ideas, deep domain knowledge, and top-tier talent. The country is widely recognized for its adoption of emerging technologies, innovation-fostering ecosystem, and value creation, besides operational excellence. With a rapidly booming digital economy, world-class infrastructure, and steady government incentives, India's impressive growth in GCCs highlights the country's progress in the international economy. India's income from GCCs has increased at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.8%, even with the worldwide economic downturn that affected industrial and economic expansion in the last four years, According to industry experts, India is expected to have an estimated 2,400 GCC companies by 2030 that are likely to generate over 4.5 million jobs and have a market value of approximately $100 GCCs in India are transforming how the world operates in the healthcare, retail, BFSI, and technology sectors. The country has evolved into a crucible for AI-powered enterprise transformation, strong R&D, and cross-industry digital acceleration. What were earlier seen as back-end support centres, India's GCCs are now taking on high-value work such as product engineering, artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, financial services, and analytics. India offers a better cost-to-skill ratio, especially in areas like AI, analytics, and digital 1.9 million employees are employed in GCCs, with more than 82,000 of them in tier-II and III cities, who support innovation and operational excellence. India's tier-II and III cities are becoming more popular with GCCs because of an evolving ecosystem, government aid, and state incentives. This shift opens new ways for inclusive development, creates jobs outside of big cities, and eases the burden of infrastructure constraints in big corporations (MNCs) are relocating their GCCs to India in unprecedented numbers as geopolitical tensions escalate and Eastern Europe grapples with surging salaries and scalability constraints. Amid rising operational costs, talent saturation, and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, MNCs are shifting from countries like Poland, Romania, and the Czech Republic to India, where strong digital skills and lower salaries make it cheaper to deliver quality results. Hiring talented digital and technology employees in India is about 50% cheaper than in cities like Krakow, Bucharest, or Prague. India has a larger pool of skilled workers at a lower cost than Eastern Europe, especially in fields like AI, cybersecurity, and analytics. The GCC shift is more about accessing India's talent pool and its ability to handle complex and strategic tasks, according to up a GCC in India by MNCs has emerged into a strategic imperative for ensuring a global growth trajectory. There has been an exponential shift in India's GCCs, from labour arbitrage to capability arbitrage. India is not a conventional offshore hub; it is a high-value innovation epicentre as it offers an exceptional blend of deep technology knowledge, digital-first assets, policy-driven incentives, and an unrivalled reservoir of STEM talent. India's AI-infused GCCs, strong regulatory frameworks, and hybrid work ecosystems are likely to make businesses more flexible, supply chains more resilient, and industries more innovative. To extract maximum strategic value, global enterprises must adopt a future-ready, AI-enabled, ESG-compliant, and ecosystem-integrated GCC strategy that seamlessly aligns with India's rapidly advancing industrial and digital transformation landscape. Companies that take advantage of India's Industry 4.0 developments, generative AI adoption, and policy-driven innovation hubs will not only achieve superior operational efficiencies but will also emerge as global technological innovators and market leaders.
