Latest news with #HimanshiLohchab
Economic Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Economic Times
AI helps Big Tech score big numbers
Each company in the big technology pack—including Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon—surpassed market expectations with stellar performance in the April-June quarter. Himanshi Lohchab brings out what stood out. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads The April-June quarter of 2025 proved stellar for the big technology pack: Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon, with each company surpassing market expectations. Alphabet's revenue showed that AI-led search is boosting earnings instead of outperformed estimates due to AI-powered ad optimisation and Zuckerberg's aggressive vision for personal Azure cloud surpassed $75 billion in annual run rate for the first time, zooming the stock to $4 trillion valuation – a feat achieved hitherto by AI hardware titan capital spending across these firms ranges between $331 billion and $377 billion, and consumes up to 40% of sales and 80% of operating cash flow at some companies.
Time of India
15-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
VC funds flow into AI, but only to a few
ETtech ETtech AI has emerged as a strong magnet for venture capital in 2025, attracting a substantial 53% of all global VC funding in the first half of the year, the latest data from PitchBook shows. This figure is even higher at 64% for US based the numbers suggest that the AI investment wave is far from slowing, market observers have cautioned over the increasing concentration of capital in a small group of companies—largely American. For instance, in Q2, over one-third of all US venture dollars were allocated to just five firms. Himanshi Lohchab breaks down the sharp rise and growing skew in AI funding trends
Time of India
27-05-2025
- Time of India
Global trends in AI computers and gadgets
Artificial intelligence is rapidly evolving, moving beyond phones and laptops and enhancing everyday objects. Earphones adapt to moods, mattresses provide sleep coaching, and even more. These advancements showcase a significant rise in the IQ of common devices, highlighting the increasing integration of AI into hardware. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads As the line between the physical and digital world blurs, the next frontier in GenAI will be about machines that sense, think and act in real just phones and laptops, AI is making many other devices earphones that adapt to your mood to mattresses that coach you to sleep better, everyday objects are getting a serious IQ are the global trends in AI in hardware space? Subhrojit Mallick and Himanshi Lohchab decode.
Time of India
29-04-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Meet your new human resource executive: AI
The human resource sector has been one of the early adopters of GenAI tech solving several challenges, mainly in recruiting. With multimodal capabilities, AI has become the new hiring assistant which can screen resumes, do a pre-hiring video chat and help candidates prep for interviews. ETtech Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories GenAI has reduced companies' timeto-hire as it can now assess candidate fit considering both skill and non-skill factors (example, cultural fit). However, bias and ethics are some of the bugs which autonomous HR systems still struggle to overcome. ET's Himanshi Lohchab curates how GenAI is changing the recruitment process and tools
Time of India
29-04-2025
- Business
- Time of India
The AI impact: Rethink, rework, reboot
Executives say the traditional relationship between headcount and revenue growth will no longer be linear as AI boosts employee productivity. AI is nudging the largest IT companies as well as the engineers, to go back to the drawing board and rethink skills and strategy. Prachi Verma, Himanshi Lohchab & Annapurna Roy decode Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads The rapid ascent of artificial intelligence and automation is reshaping India's technology hiring landscape, with entry-level workers getting impacted the most. As AI takes over basic testing, coding, and web development tasks, engineering graduates may no longer be the bulk pick for IT firms. Instead, some Tier-3 colleges are noting enhanced selective recruitment with added rounds of screening and assessments during placements. The bottom layer of the hiring pyramid is shrinking with IT companies reporting lowest-ever fresh hires, as they sharpen focus on tapping skilled mid-level AI/ML say the traditional relationship between headcount and revenue growth will no longer be linear as AI boosts employee productivity. The scenario is further compounded by an accelerated talent drain towards global capability centres (GCCs) which offer lucrative salaries and experts believe that as AI automation and sophistication grows, fewer people may be needed for entry-level tasks. IT services firms hired between 60,000 and 70,000 freshers in FY24—the lowest intake in two decades—according to FY20 and FY25, while revenues at seven large-cap and 10 mid-cap IT firms collectively surged by around 60%, their headcount expanded by 33%, showed data shared by specialist staffing firm Xpheno. At the same time, for every rupee spent on employees, companies were generating `1.77 in revenue in 2020, which climbed onlymarginally to `1.82 in 2025, the data means that productivity shifts are not visible evidently yet, though this may change soon. C Vijayakumar, MD undefined what we saw in the last 30 years is a fairly linear scaling…. we have been challenging our teams on how you can deliver twice the revenue with half the people,' he said. 'As AI takes up more rule-based entry-level work, it would be wise to assume that the diamond structure will only get further sharper,' noted Kamal Karanth, cofounder at Xpheno. 'The new talent distribution structure does and will have a big-fat-middle layer.'Educational institutions are also experiencing a transition in campus placements, especially among IT firms who are more 'cautious' and rigorous with their hiring processes. 'Campuses are witnessing delayed offer rollouts, reduced intake and a growing emphasis on pre-placement internships/skill assessments as filters,' said Manoj Kumar Pandey, director at Amity School of Engineering & Technology. 'The demand for entry-level roles is declining. Instead of bulk hiring, firms are now opting for selective recruitment, targeting people with niche skills,' said largest IT company TCS highlighted that 40% of its new hires are trained in advanced technologies—up from 17% last year. And half of lateral hires possess digital or Gen AI experience, the Tata Group company said in an analysts' call earlier this month. On their part, students are also beefing up the resumes to fetch higher salary packages. They are contributing to open-source projects, building AI models, and publishing GitHub repositories. 'Companies are expecting the students to help fields to handle AI tools. However, programming skills are still a must have. AI skills are considered essay flair on the basic skills,' said Ebin M Manuel, placement officer, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Technology, in Kottayam, Pandey said earlier, solving a few coding questions could have been considered sufficient for entry-level hires. However, companies are currently focusing on system design during technical rounds, which was not the norm previously. Recruiters are adding real-time debugging or whiteboard sessions. 'Many organisations are introducing complex tests,' said Maya Nair, ED, Elixir Consulting at global talent firm GI Group Holding. 'Emphasis is being given to demonstrating problem-solving skills and critical thinking.' But others believe hiring at lower levels will continue unabated to manage costs as margins are under unfolding scenario is compounded by a rising skill gap. 'The rapid growth of GCCs has resulted in a talent drain from traditional IT firms, particularly in Tier-1 cities. There's a shortage of 200,000 skilled professionals in areas like AI, cloud, and cybersecurity,' said Krishna Vij, VP at TeamLease Digital. Staffing firm Quess says emerging tech roles are being offered 30-50% higher salaries in GCCs than in IT services companies, with entry-level roles offering up to `11.8 lakh annually. 'As the GCC workforce in India is projected to reach 2.5 million by 2030, IT firms must evolve from being service providers to strategic talent destinations,' said Kapil Joshi, CEO at Quess IT Staffing.
