Latest news with #Somwanshi
New Indian Express
21-05-2025
- New Indian Express
Tell everyone I died in an accident: Ola Krutrim engineer's last message before suicide
According to the India Today report, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Bengaluru South East) Sarah Fatima confirmed the sequence of events. 'The case was reported on May 7. A case of unnatural death has been registered, and our investigation is underway. We are awaiting the postmortem report." Though the incident took place two weeks ago, it drew widespread attention only recently after a Reddit post went viral, linking Somwanshi's death to an allegedly toxic work culture at Krutrim. The anonymous post described 'extreme work pressure,' verbal abuse, and mismanagement at the AI firm. The Reddit user claimed that Somwanshi, who joined Krutrim in August 2024 as a fresher, had been assigned a leadership role following the resignation of two colleagues. The post accused a US-based manager, identified as Rajkiran, of routinely abusing junior staff. 'Rajkiran had no idea how to manage people. He used to bash folks and then disappear,' the post read. It further alleged that even after the engineer's death, there was no introspection at the company, and employees were warned not to discuss the incident. The user described the internal work environment as 'pathetic.'
India Today
21-05-2025
- India Today
Tell everyone I died in accident, Ola Krutrim techie texted friend before suicide
Nikhil Somwanshi, a machine learning engineer at Ola's artificial intelligence division Krutrim, who allegedly died by suicide had messaged his friend to tell everyone that he had died in an body of the 24-year-old IT professional was found in Agara Lake, near his residence in HSR layout, on the morning of May completed his master's degree at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), where he earned a GPA of 9.30, according to sources. During his postgraduate studies, he reportedly worked on a chatbot project using large language models (LLM) and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), funded by the Melinda Gates According to the police, Somwanshi, a native of Jalgaon in Maharashtra, left his shared accommodation on the evening of May 7 and sent a message to his roommate, asking him to inform his family that he had died in an accident. When the roommate failed to reach him on phone, he traced Somwanshi's live location through a linked device and rushed to the last-known spot, where he found a pair of slippers near the lake. The friend then immediately alerted the police by dialling to poor visibility after dark, emergency responders were unable to begin search operations that night. His body was recovered from the lake the following Commissioner of Police (DCP) for the Bengaluru South East, Sarah Fatima, confirmed this. 'The case was reported on May 7. A case of unnatural death has been registered, and our investigation is underway. We are awaiting the postmortem report.'advertisementThough he died two weeks ago, the death became a talking point after a user on Reddit linked Somwanshi's death to toxic work culture at his place of viral Reddit post alleged 'extreme work pressure' and verbal abuse at Krutrim. The post claimed that Somwanshi had been placed in a leadership role despite being a fresher and was burdened with extra responsibilities after two colleagues post also named Somwanshi's US-based manager, alleging that he frequently verbally abused employees, particularly junior staff. 'Rajkiran had no idea how to manage people. He used to bash folks and then disappear,' the post said, further claiming that no behavioural changes followed the engineer's death, and that employees were warned not to talk about it. The user described the company's internal situation as 'pathetic.'Somwanshi was an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) who joined Krutrim in August 2024. Since it became news, Ola faced massive backlash for 'toxic work culture' and extreme pressure. Reacting to the allegations, Ola Krutim said he was on personal leave at the time of the incident and had said he was company confirmed his death and issued a statement expressing its 'thoughts and heartfelt sympathies' to his family. However, the company did not address the work culture-related allegations in the a key part of Ola's AI ambitions, rose to prominence in early 2024 after raising USD 50 million in a funding round led by Matrix Partners India, attaining a USD 1 billion valuation and becoming the country's first AI unicorn.
The Hindu
20-05-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Ola Krutrim says it is extending full support to family of employee who died
Ola's AI arm Krutrim on Sunday said it is extending full support to the family of an employee who allegedly ended his life earlier this month, and the company is in contact with authorities to offer assistance as needed. When reached for comments, a statement by a Krutrim spokesperson noted: "We are deeply saddened by the tragic passing of one of our most talented young employees, Nikhil (Somwanshi), on the 8th of May. Our thoughts and heartfelt sympathies are with his family, friends, and loved ones during this incredibly difficult time." The spokesperson further said, "We are extending our full support to Nikhil's family and our employees during this time of grief. We are also in contact with the relevant authorities and will continue to offer our assistance as needed." Krutrim said Mr. Somwanshi was "on personal leave at the time of the incident". As a company, the statement added, "We are heartbroken by this loss. Nikhil was a valued team member, and his absence will be deeply felt by all who knew and worked with him." An unverified Reddit post, titled 'Suicide due to work pressure at the OLA, the worst place to work,' sparked questions on social media about the treatment of employees in the Indian tech sector. The post was later deleted, however. The investigation is ongoing. Those in distress or struggling with their mental health can find assistance through these helplines.
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Business Standard
19-05-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
After techie's death, police summon Ola Krutrim manager in probe
The police on Monday registered a case of unnatural death following the alleged suicide of a techie working at Krutrim, the artificial intelligence unit of Ola. The death, reportedly linked to work pressure, has triggered scrutiny of the company's work culture. Police have summoned the manager of Ola's AI division for questioning, CNBC reported. The death of Nikhil Somwanshi, a young engineer and recent graduate of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, has drawn public attention after allegations of toxic workplace practices emerged on social media. Somwanshi had joined Krutrim less than a year ago and allegedly died by suicide on 8 May. The case gained traction after an anonymous Reddit post—purportedly written by a colleague—went viral, describing the company's environment as 'traumatic,' especially for freshers. The post alleged that Somwanshi was leading a project with two other teammates despite being a recent hire. After both colleagues resigned, the entire workload reportedly fell on him. The post also claimed that the team's manager was verbally abusive in meetings and worked remotely from the US, while the rest of the team was based in Bengaluru. It further alleged that the company attempted to suppress news of the incident. Also Read: A former Krutrim employee, who had worked closely with the same manager, corroborated the allegations. They said they resigned from the company without another job offer due to the intense pressure and recalled having suicidal thoughts during their tenure. In response, the company stated that Somwanshi was on personal leave at the time of the incident. According to a company spokesperson, he initially reached out to his manager on 8 April, expressing the need for rest, and was granted time off. On 17 April, he informed the team that he was feeling better but requested additional rest, which was granted. 'As a company, we are heartbroken by this loss. Nikhil was a valued team member, and his absence will be deeply felt by all who knew and worked with him,' the spokesperson said. According to Somwanshi's LinkedIn profile, he worked on a large language model (LLM) and a retrieval-augmented generation (RAG)-based chatbot called Saathi as part of his master's thesis, which was funded by the Melinda Gates Foundation.
Time of India
19-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Ola under fire again: Employee suicide sparks fresh criticism of toxic work culture
Ola's artificial intelligence (AI) division, Krutrim, is facing intense scrutiny after a 25-year-old software engineer died by suicide, sparking widespread concerns about toxic work culture. According to reports, the employee was allegedly overworked, handling the workload of three people, and faced harsh management. But this isn't the first time Ola and its founder, Bhavish Aggarwal, have faced criticism regarding work culture. What has happened? The alleged suicide of Nikhil Somwanshi, who was a machine learning engineer at Krutrim since August last year, emerged in a Reddit post on Thursday. As per the post, Somwanshi was under a lot of pressure at work before taking the extreme step. Ola, in a statement to ET, said Somwanshi was on personal leave at the time of the incident. A former Ola Krutrim employee ET spoke to alleged, 'They are doing utterly mediocre work with incompetent management and leadership. Toxicity is through the roof, as is nepotism.' Not the first time Ola Cabs hit the headlines in 2022 when Bloomberg reported about the aggressive and loud behaviour of Aggarwal with staff. As per the report quoted by several publications, the entrepreneur tore up presentations and shouted at staff for small errors like missing page numbers. Many employees had then termed Ola's work culture "hostile" and toxic. Many employees told the publication that Aggarwal lost his temper at work constantly and used Punjabi epithets at the staff, calling his team "useless" more than once. They also said he set unrealistic deadlines, sometimes way into the night. It was also reported that Aggarwal made an employee run laps of an Ola facility after one entry gate was found to be open. "Not here for a nice time" According to reports, he responded to the report, saying that everybody is "not fit for our culture". When asked about this in another interview with YourStory, Aggarwal said he can come across as a "rough and rude" person, but he's straightforward. During the launch of the Ola S1 in October, Aggarwal referenced the controversy. 'We're not here to have a nice and easy time. My own personal style is aggressive. We have a culture of high quality and high execution." Over the years Aggarwal has said he believes in "work-life harmony" but has questioned the conventional notion of weekends. When Infosys cofounder NR Narayana Murthy kicked off a viral debate with his support for 70-hour work weeks, Aggarwal supported him, saying that he works 20 hours a day "all seven days of the week". Aggarwal has faced criticism for being very similar to Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk , who has also faced criticism for fostering demanding work cultures. Both are known to set aggressive targets, which sometimes face delays or challenges. After Musk took over the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under the Trump administration in the US and asked federal employees to explain what they did in a day, Aggarwal followed suit. He mandated that employees submit weekly reports detailing their accomplishments. Called "Kya Chal Raha Hai?" (meaning "What's going on?"), the initiative required employees to send Aggarwal and their managers a weekly update listing three to five bullet points of completed tasks, with no exceptions.
