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Google Cloud appoints Sashikumar Sreedharan as new India MD, eyes next phase of AI-led growth
Google Cloud appoints Sashikumar Sreedharan as new India MD, eyes next phase of AI-led growth

Indian Express

time01-07-2025

  • Business
  • Indian Express

Google Cloud appoints Sashikumar Sreedharan as new India MD, eyes next phase of AI-led growth

Google Cloud has named Sashikumar Sreedharan the new managing director for its India operations. This marks a key leadership shift as the company accelerates its AI-led growth in one of its most dynamic markets, said Google. Sreedharan succeeds Bikram Singh Bedi, who will now focus on regional strategic priorities across the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. He previously served as managing director of Microsoft India and has also held senior roles at SAP and IBM. 'It has been an incredible four and a half years… and I am immensely proud of the business we have built,' reflected Bedi. 'I look forward to contributing to APAC's strategic priorities and watching India's continued success in this new chapter under Sashi's leadership.' Sreedharan, who joined Google Cloud in 2023 as the Chief Operating Officer for APAC, brings over three decades of industry experience to the role. According to Google, his leadership will focus on scaling Google Cloud's enterprise business and supporting India's growing developer ecosystem. Commenting on his new role, Sreedharan said, 'My time as APAC COO has deeply affirmed my belief in Google Cloud's winning strategy and powerful AI-first platform. I am excited to return to the field and to work with our customers to advance their innovation agenda.' Backed by strong demand for AI-powered platforms and tools, Google Cloud has seen rapid growth in India over the past year. Businesses like HDFC Bank, Meesho, Manipal Hospitals, Tech Mahindra, and Dream11 are increasingly using their products to 'innovate at scale'. Google Cloud India also continues to work closely with public sector institutions, including ONDC, Nirmit Bharat, and the Government of Uttar Pradesh, among others. 'Google Cloud is uniquely positioned to partner with Indian businesses and the public sector to harness AI's transformative power,' said Karan Bajwa, president of Google Cloud Asia Pacific. 'As Sashi takes on the leadership of our team in India, I'm confident he will further propel our organisation and our customers to their next phase of growth.' (This article has been curated by Arfan Jeelany, who is an intern with The Indian Express)

Eye on creating skilled workforce, UP to project itself as hub for Global Capability Centres
Eye on creating skilled workforce, UP to project itself as hub for Global Capability Centres

Indian Express

time09-06-2025

  • Business
  • Indian Express

Eye on creating skilled workforce, UP to project itself as hub for Global Capability Centres

UTTAR PRADESH is looking to project itself as a future hub for Global Capability Centres (GCC) in the country, officials said on Monday, adding that a conclave on the topic would be organised in Lucknow on Tuesday. As part of this strategy, it is planning to offer subsidies, reduced operation costs as well as skilled manpower, especially in the technology sector, government officials said. Having introduced the GCC policy in the state Cabinet meeting last month, the conclave is aimed at facilitating dialogue with the industry, including several multinational companies, and showcasing to them the incentives offered by the state and presenting UP as a future destination for 'global in-house Centres', apart from off-shore delivery units with easy availability of skilled manpower in IT, digital engineering, financial services etc. At present, Uttar Pradesh has 8,375 higher education institutes. The state also has nearly 1.25 lakh polytechnic seats, where skilled students pass-out from every year. Officials said the idea is to connect the need and requirement of the industry with the availability of skilled manpower, aiming to bring employment to the state and at the same time offering cost effective set-up for the companies. Terming the conclave as a 'strategic' initiative by the government to create 'future ready services eco-system', officials said the idea is to promote the state's capability to provide services in information technology, engineering and finance as well as research and development. Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Singh, along with senior officials from industry, IT and electronics departments will highlight the government's initiatives in this regard. The conclave will see participation of several industry captains, including Varun Ramanan of Microsoft India, Rajeev Agarwal, Founder of MAQ Software, Amitabh Tiwari, Principal Consultant and Centre Head at Tata Consultancy Services, Lucknow, as well as Amit Verma , Regional Head (north India), NASSCOM. Sources inform that while Microsoft is in the process of establishing a 10,000 seat centre in Noida, MAQ software has established a 3000-seat engineering centre. To create skilled manpower as required by the industry, Uttar Pradesh, as part of its GCC policy, is offering to cover upto 50 per cent of the internship cost of upto 50 students with a cap of a maximum of Rs 5000 per student monthly, for internship that should last for at least two months. Further The government would also offer Skill Development Subsidy to the companies with a promise to provide 50 per cent of the training or the required course fee i.e. upto Rs 50,000 per employee, which can be availed by the companies upto 500 employees in three years time. Not only this, the government is also offering payroll subsidy, wherein companies would get reimbursement of upto Rs 1.8 lakh a year for employees who are residents of the state. Officials said that the objective is to showcase these incentives before the firms and also engage in dialogue to understand their needs so that amendments can be brought into the policies in future, if needed.

AI regulations key to safe usage amid possible disruption: Tech experts
AI regulations key to safe usage amid possible disruption: Tech experts

Economic Times

time30-05-2025

  • Business
  • Economic Times

AI regulations key to safe usage amid possible disruption: Tech experts

Artificial intelligence is ushering in a new era of productivity as well as risks that enterprises and the government need to be prepared for, industry leaders said on Thursday. While AI will be a catalyst for India's economic growth, guardrails and governance will be key to adopt the technology safely and to build resilience amid possible disruption, they said. 'If we truly want to move towards Viksit Bharat in 2047, that will be rooted in technological empowerment, inclusive economic growth, and digital sovereignty, and AI truly can be an accelerator,' said Sandip Patel, MD, IBM India & South Asia. AI adoption in India is higher than in other countries, as per a global survey carried out by IBM, Patel said. However, this is more experimentation while adoption at scale still in trust and confidence in the technology are a key reason for this, he said, adding that credible cases with the right ROI are also needed. IBM itself is adopting the technology, with 95% of its HR processes now being done using AI agents, said B Lall, COO, Microsoft India & South Asia, said businesses should look at how to reshape their processes. 'As the world gets more agentic AI, we're hearing of terms like human-in-the-loop, human-on-the-loop and human-out-of-the-loop, as agents get to be more autonomous and they do most of the work by talking to other agents,' he said. At the same time, enterprises need to empower their employees with AI, he added. 'It's not just about giving them a tool that helps them to use AI, it's fundamentally changing the way organisations are looking at talent – do you need somebody with 20 years of experience or you could get somebody with lesser experience with a powerful AI assistant?'AI is bringing a moment of irreversible acceleration where intelligence is not confined to machines but also gets embedded into life itself, said Debjani Ghosh, distinguished fellow, NITI Aayog and chief architect, NITI Frontier Tech Hub.'India will have a very key role to play in shaping this future,' said Ghosh. 'Our tradition of human centric thinking, inclusivity, respect for collective good - this must become our competitive advantage in a world that needs to get anchored in trust for its survival.'There will be bad actors who master the technology much faster, however, and countries need to build resilience to recover quickly when things go wrong, she added. Shiv Siddhant Kaul, co-chair, CII National AI Forum & MD, NICCO Engineering Services, said that CII's AI taskforce has been focusing on outreach and workshops to familiarise businesses with AI, especially MSMEs which may not be engaging much with the is also a generation gap in awareness and use of AI, he said, with the 48–55 year age group lagging.'For most companies, it's going to be existential because newer companies that are empowering younger people are going to figure out how to use AI, and our challenge will be making sure that the companies that are left behind don't leave a big-sized hole in our society in terms of employment,' Kaul Singh Bhamra, founder & CEO, AgNext Technologies, said that startups are embracing AI and tend to do this with precise use cases rather than broad experimentation given their relatively limited resources compared to large it comes to agriculture, AI can play a role in optimising inputs and measuring output quantity and quality, which would be needed to build algorithms that can help us increase food production, he said.

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