Meet Sonali Sahu, who received record-breaking job offer due to AI Skills; got recruited at.., not from IIT, IIM, IIIT, BIT, VIT, NIT, but..
Sonali Sahu did not go to IIT. She completed her Bachelor of Technology, Information Technology degree from Banasthali Vidyapith. Later, she took admission at Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, to complete her Master's degree in Artificial Intelligence. Where did Sonali work before Microsoft?
Earlier, she spent over four years at Walmart Global Tech India. She began her journey there as a Software Development Intern, later becoming a Software Engineer II from August 2020 to August 2022, and then promoted to Software Engineer III from August 2022 to May 2024. At present, she is working at Microsoft. She is currently a Software Engineer -II serving at Microsoft.
'Currently part of Microsoft's innovative tech sphere, my journey in software development continues to be fueled by a rigorous Master's in AI from BITS Pilani. With a solid foundation in backend development, I'm adept at crafting scalable solutions and optimizing data storage, having previously enhanced Walmart's form-building platform and API efficiency,' reads her LinkedIn bio.
Her LinkedIn bio reads, 'My technical toolkit, enriched by certifications in Kafka and AI, complements my hands-on experience with cloud platforms like Azure and GCP. As I navigate through complex technical challenges, my focus remains on driving impactful software advancements that align with business objectives and user needs.'
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Economic Times
2 hours ago
- Economic Times
India needs to seriously step up influence-building efforts in Mar-a-Lago/Washington, quickly
A key feature of Donald Trump's public outpourings is the alacrity with which he replaced China with India as the target of attack. The tariff on Chinese goods has slipped from 245% to 30% within three months. He has now passed an executive order that will double the tariff on Indian goods to 50% by August 28. Just one set of numbers would demonstrate the absurdity of the president's decisions. India's trade surplus against the US was $49.5 bn, about 1/6th of China's, in 2024. China is also the biggest buyer of Russian oil, followed by India. But Trump may be going easier on China on tariffs because, as author of The Myth of Chinese Capitalism Dexter T Roberts told me, he's trying to pull off a 'grand deal' with Xi Jinping in Beijing in the coming months. Taking a tough stance on China's oil imports from Russia could stymie those prospects. American businessmen like Jensen Huang, Bill Gates and Elon Musk have publicly spoken in China's favour, even as many regard it as a security risk for the US. One rarely hears about American businessmen or legislators speaking up for India. India needs to step up influence-building efforts, even if it means tapping the half-a-dozen Indian-origin Congressmen and scores of CEOs in business groups including Microsoft, Google and Adobe. They may not speak up publicly, but they can guide Indian promotion efforts. This is where major Indian companies need to play a key with the US is no more a government-to-government business. It's not merely a dispute over Russian oil, or import of American agriculture goods. One needs to get real about dealing with a glory-seeking individual's insecurities and ambitions. Seen from Trump's PoV, India is different from all other countries that tussled with him on trade. The second bout of tariffs shows that his angst towards India is driven by both business and personal has stood up to him on three counts - trade, refusal to stop buying Russian oil, and his claims about ending the India-Pakistan conflict. The last claim - repeated 27 times, so far - is tied to his pathological desire to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for resolving six different conflicts. Even his growing affinity towards Pakistan should be seen as getting back at India, and the line after concluding a deal with Islamabad last month, 'Who knows, maybe they'll be selling oil to India some day!' a jibe. Could leaders of BRICS countries jointly come up with a plan to resist Trump's tariff policies? Brazil's Lula da Silva has already called for a meeting on the issue. Narendra Modi is expected to discuss it at the Tianjin SCO summit when he visits China end of this month. These are tentative moves, and one cannot pin much hope that BRICS countries will be able to challenge Trump's tariff policy within weeks. Each country has a different problem with the US. But China is likely to procure a fairly good deal because it enjoys monopoly control over rare earth resources, which the US defence industry needs needs to consider whether it will bite the bullet and offer a headline-grabbing deal for a phased reduction in the purchase of Russian oil. This is easier said than done. Sumit Ritolia of energy and shipping data and analytics platform Kpler, believes any forced shift away from Russian oil is not just a political challenge but a commercial one as well. 'Indian refiners have adapted their systems to accommodate Russian crude. If flows are disrupted, they would have to move to expensive and logistically tighter alternatives among other grades of crude,' he told the backdrop of Trump's latest tariff salvo, Modi publicly stated that India will 'never compromise on the interests of farmers... even though we will have to pay a heavy price for it', effectively rejecting Washington's desire for Indian purchase of US agriculture products. Experts argue that accepting US demand for purchase of GM seeds and crops would not only hurt Indian agriculture but also damage exports to the EU, since EU countries usually reject consignments of agriculture produce that come from GM stock. India could, though, allow certain specific types of products - like premium cheese, meat, edible oils, and fruit like blueberries - be imported for those who can afford them without hurting the regular Indian farmer. Such imports can create new markets and encourage some innovative farmers here in India to start producing them. But this is a sensitive area both in political and economic terms. GoI needs to weigh the pros and cons carefully. Tariff retaliation, too, is not a ready option. The US controls the world monetary system, and Trump has shown he can be vindictive. There's also the matter of India's opposition politicians grabbing the opportunity for gains. There are complex wheels within wheels. But one thing is clear. India cannot afford to alienate both great powers. Recent history has shown that Chinese troops tend to create border trouble each time leaders of China and the US try to resolve their countries' differences. This is why India can't move away from its policy of strategic autonomy, whether Trump - or, for that matter, Xi - likes it or not.
Economic Times
2 hours ago
- Economic Times
OpenAI launches GPT-5 in GitHub Copilot public preview —the biggest leap yet in AI coding assistants?
Synopsis OpenAI GPT-5 is now available in public preview for GitHub Copilot, bringing a major upgrade to how developers code with AI. With smarter suggestions, faster responses, and deeper understanding, GPT-5 makes coding easier for professionals and beginners alike. This update is part of Microsoft's broader rollout across Copilot tools in GitHub, Microsoft 365, and Azure. Whether you're building apps, debugging, or exploring new languages, GPT-5 now acts like a real coding partner—right inside your tools. As of August 7, 2025, OpenAI's most advanced model yet, GPT-5, is now available in public preview for GitHub Copilot users across all paid plans. This powerful update brings smarter, faster, and more intuitive AI coding support to developers on GitHub, Visual Studio Code, and even mobile. Backed by Microsoft's broader rollout across Microsoft 365 and Azure platforms, GPT-5 introduces a new era of AI-assisted development—one that's more human, more helpful, and more capable than ever before. OpenAI GPT-5 now available in public preview for GitHub Copilot users- In a major development that's making waves across the developer and AI communities, OpenAI's GPT-5 has officially entered public preview as of August 7, 2025, for all users of GitHub Copilot. This long-anticipated rollout marks a significant leap forward in how AI is integrated into software development workflows, promising smarter coding assistance, faster reasoning, and a more intuitive user experience. With GPT-5 integration, GitHub Copilot users across paid plans—whether individual developers or large enterprise teams—can now leverage the power of the most advanced OpenAI model yet. Here's a complete, user-friendly breakdown of what this means, why it matters, and how to get started with this powerful update. GPT-5 is OpenAI's latest large language model (LLM), building on the capabilities of GPT-4 with significant improvements in code generation, reasoning accuracy, and context awareness. Developers using GitHub Copilot will now experience a more seamless coding assistant that not only understands code but can also reason through more complex tasks, suggest smarter edits, and deliver context-sensitive help. GPT-5 introduces better natural language understanding, more advanced multi-turn conversations, and a boost in developer productivity by helping reduce repetitive coding tasks. It's designed to assist whether you're debugging, refactoring, or building entire modules from scratch. This update is a direct answer to developer feedback and the growing demand for AI copilots that feel more like collaborators than tools. GitHub officially announced on August 7, 2025, that GPT-5 is now in public preview and available for users across all paid GitHub Copilot plans. This includes: Individual plans GitHub Copilot for Business GitHub Copilot for Enterprise Users don't need to wait anymore—GPT-5 is available right now through GitHub Copilot Chat, Visual Studio Code, and even on GitHub Mobile. However, enterprise and business organizations must opt in to access GPT-5. Admins can do this by enabling a new GPT-5 policy in their Copilot settings, offering fine-grained control over how and where the new model is used across teams. Microsoft, in collaboration with OpenAI, is also rolling out GPT-5 across all its Copilot offerings, including: Microsoft 365 Copilot Azure AI Copilot GitHub Copilot This integration is powered by a newly introduced 'Smart Mode', which intelligently switches between faster, lightweight models and the powerful GPT-5 model depending on the complexity of your request. For example, if you're writing a quick email in Microsoft Word, the system might use a smaller model for speed. But if you're asking for a deep analytical summary or writing an advanced Excel macro, GPT-5 kicks in for greater depth and accuracy. This hybrid model approach ensures a balance between speed and intelligence, tailored to what you need in real time—something that's already being hailed as a game-changer in enterprise AI applications. The new GPT-5 update brings a host of improvements to GitHub Copilot, especially when it comes to developer efficiency, code comprehension, and workflow support. Here's what you can expect: Smarter auto-completions : Code suggestions are now more relevant, less redundant, and better tuned to your coding style. : Code suggestions are now more relevant, less redundant, and better tuned to your coding style. Contextual understanding : GPT-5 can retain longer context, making it easier to work across large codebases and understand your intent. : GPT-5 can retain longer context, making it easier to work across large codebases and understand your intent. Refactor and edit support : You can now ask GPT-5 to restructure a messy function, rename variables consistently, or modernize legacy code. : You can now ask GPT-5 to restructure a messy function, rename variables consistently, or modernize legacy code. Multi-modal reasoning : GPT-5 can now analyze code, user prompts, and documentation more cohesively, offering holistic coding help. : GPT-5 can now analyze code, user prompts, and documentation more cohesively, offering holistic coding help. Natural conversation: Ask GPT-5 for help in plain English, and it responds with answers that are both technically accurate and easy to understand. These upgrades allow developers to spend more time on solving real problems and less time wrestling with boilerplate or documentation. If you're on a paid GitHub Copilot plan, GPT-5 is now automatically accessible on: (Copilot Chat) Visual Studio Code (Agent, Ask, and Edit modes) GitHub Mobile app For Business and Enterprise users, access to GPT-5 requires an admin to opt-in through GitHub's Copilot policy settings. This is a one-time setup that lets your organization take full advantage of the GPT-5 preview. To enable GPT-5 for your org: Go to your GitHub Copilot settings. Find the 'Model Policy' section. Enable 'Use GPT-5 (Preview)' and save changes. Instruct users to restart their IDEs to apply changes. Early users of GPT-5 in Copilot have reported substantial benefits: 'It's like pair programming with a senior developer who never gets tired.' 'Code explanations are clearer, and refactor suggestions are actually useful.' 'I asked it to explain my own code—and it did it better than I could.' With improved latency, response quality, and multi-language support, GPT-5 is being seen not just as a model upgrade, but a full-on transformation of how developers work with AI assistants. This update is part of a broader strategy by Microsoft and OpenAI to integrate GPT-5 across all key AI-powered tools. Whether you're writing in Word, analyzing data in Excel, querying data in Power BI, or deploying models via Azure AI Studio, GPT-5 will be your engine under the hood. This positions GPT-5 as the backbone of Microsoft's AI ecosystem, driving both personal productivity and enterprise-level AI adoption. The release of GPT-5 in public preview for GitHub Copilot is not just another software update—it's a milestone in the evolution of AI-powered coding tools. With smarter reasoning, deeper understanding, and more helpful interactions, GPT-5 sets a new standard for what developers can expect from AI copilots. Whether you're a solo coder, an open-source contributor, or leading a large development team, the combination of GitHub Copilot and GPT-5 gives you a reliable, intelligent, and fast coding assistant that keeps getting better. And with Microsoft's smart mode strategy, you get the perfect mix of performance and power—ensuring GPT-5 is used where it really counts. If you haven't tried it yet, now is the perfect time to explore what GPT-5 in GitHub Copilot can do for your workflow. Q: What is GPT-5 in GitHub Copilot and how does it help developers? A: GPT-5 brings smarter, faster code help to Copilot, making coding easier and more efficient. Q: How can I use GPT-5 in GitHub Copilot now? A: If you're on a paid plan, GPT-5 is already available—just activate it in your settings.
NDTV
2 hours ago
- NDTV
OpenAI Releases 'Significantly Advanced' ChatGPT-5 As AI Race Accelerates
OpenAI on Thursday released a keenly awaited new generation of its hallmark ChatGPT, touting "significant" advancements in artificial intelligence capabilities, as a global race over the technology accelerates. ChatGPT-5 is rolling out free to all users of the AI tool, which is used by nearly 700 million people weekly, OpenAI said in a briefing with journalists. Co-founder and chief executive Sam Altman touted this latest iteration as "clearly a model that is generally intelligent." "It is a significant step toward models that are really capable," he said. Altman cautioned that there is still work to be done to achieve the kind of artificial general intelligence (AGI) that thinks the way people do. "This is not a model that continuously learns as it is deployed from new things it finds, which is something that, to me, feels like it should be part of an AGI," Altman said. "But the level of capability here is a huge improvement." GPT-5 is particularly adept when it comes to AI acting as an "agent" independently tending to computer tasks, according to Michelle Pokrass of the development team. "GPT-3 felt to me like talking to a high school student -- ask a question, maybe you get a right answer, maybe you'll get something crazy," Altman said. "GPT-4 felt like you're talking to a college student; GPT five is the first time that it really feels like talking to a PhD-level expert in any topic." Vibe Coding Altman said he expects the ability to create software programs on demand -- so-called "vibe-coding" -- to be a "defining part of the new ChatGPT-5 era." As an example, OpenAI executives demonstrated the bot being asked to create an app for learning the French language. With fierce competition around the world over the technology, Altman said ChatGPT-5 led the pack in coding, writing, health care and much more. Rivals including Google and Microsoft have been pumping billions of dollars into developing AI systems. Altman said there were "orders of magnitude more gains" to come on the path toward AGI. " have to invest in compute (power) at an eye watering rate to get that, but we intend to keep doing it." ChatGPT-5 was also trained to be trustworthy and stick to providing answers as helpful as possible without aiding a seemingly harmful mission, according to OpenAI safety research lead Alex Beutel. "We built evaluations to measure the prevalence of deception and trained the model to be honest," Beutel said. ChatGPT-5 is trained to generate "safe completions," sticking to high-level information that can't be used to cause harm, according to Beutel. The debut comes a day after OpenAI said it was allowing the US government to use a version of ChatGPT designed for businesses for a year for just $1. Federal workers in the executive branch will have access to ChatGPT Enterprise essentially free in a partnership with the US General Services Administration, according to the artificial intelligence sector star. The company this week also released two new AI models that can be downloaded for free and altered by users, to challenge similar offerings by US and Chinese competition. The release of gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b "open-weight language models" comes as the ChatGPT-maker is under pressure to share inner workings of its software in the spirit of its origin as a nonprofit.
