Top 10 Talks from AIM Conferences in 2024
AIM organises some of the tech industry’s most impactful conferences to bring together experts and innovators from various fields. These events cover a broad spectrum of topics, from promoting diversity and inclusion in technology to delving into the latest breakthroughs in generative AI. Whether you’re a data engineer, AI startup founder, developer, or corporate leader, AIM’s conferences provide important opportunities to learn, connect, and stay at the forefront of the advancing tech landscape. We have cherry-picked the top 10 talks from the 2024 AIM conferences, which offer exclusive insights into the future of AI, the challenges it presents, and how India is positioning itself as a global leader in the field. 1. ‘Is GenAI for Real’ by Zerodha CTO Kailash Nadh At Cypher 2024, Zerodha CTO Kailash Nadh expressed his scepticism about the timeline for achieving Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), calling claims of its arrival in two to five years “unrealistic”. He attributed the definition of AGI to Western AI companies and pointed out that it has always been “five years away”. He dismissed such predictions as likely motivated by business or valuation reasons. Nadh also highlighted the vital role of open-source technology in the generative AI boom. He noted that open-source tools and models often outperform proprietary ones and also mentioned that Zerodha is using large language models (LLMs) to automate certain tasks. On the topic of AI and jobs, Nadh reassured that Zerodha would not allow job losses due to AI. 2.‘Lessons in Bravery, Integrity & Leadership for Tech Professionals’ by Kiran Bedi At Rising 2024, Kiran Bedi, who became India’s first woman Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, shared her journey and insights on women’s success in male-dominated fields. Bedi explained that her first priority was always her career and making herself self-reliant and self-sufficient. Despite the challenges of working in the IPS, where women were underrepresented and faced discrimination, Bedi said she never questioned her abilities and confidently pursued her goals. Discussing the low representation of women in leadership roles, Bedi pointed out that lack of career prioritisation and family support were key barriers. She recalled how her parents supported her through difficult times. Bedi highlighted that women need to plan and manage their personal lives effectively and advised that motherhood and family life should be carefully managed to avoid conflicts with career goals. 3. ‘India Proves Sam Altman Wrong!’ by Former Tech Mahindra CEO CP Gurnani At the MachineCon GCC Summit 2024, CP Gurnani, co-founder of AIonOS and former CEO of Tech Mahindra, challenged OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s claim that India couldn’t develop its own LLMs. Gurnani revealed that Tech Mahindra developed an Indian LLM for local languages and over 37 dialects in just five months with a budget of under $5 million. Gurnani used companies like IndiGo and Airtel as examples of how they have competed with giants like Jio to discuss how India’s success hinges on “frugal innovation.” He also introduced his new venture, AIonOS, which aims to disrupt industries like travel and logistics through AI. Tech Mahindra also launched Project Indus, an indigenous LLM focused on Indic languages and dialects to improve linguistic inclusivity in AI. 4. ‘Scaling AI for Billions: The Indian Perspective’ by Wadhwani AI CEO Shekar Sivasubramanian At Cypher 2024, Wadhwani AI CEO Shekar Sivasubramanian discussed the concept of applied AI and the challenges of working in India’s vast and diverse ecosystem. He pointed out that applied AI lies in bridging the gap between the chaotic, unstructured AI ecosystem and the rigorous, systematic research world. In India, deployment must come before AI development with a focus on solving real-world problems rather than abstract ones. Sivasubramanian also highlighted the importance of a “market-of-one” approach, where AI solutions are tailored to specific needs, particularly in government and rural settings. He outlined the differences between designing AI for ‘India’ – the urban, well-connected population – and ‘Bharat’ – where users often have limited experience with technology. He stressed that AI must be simple, intuitive, and practical for everyday users. 5. ‘Navigating Data Chaos: Using Gen AI to Extract Structured Insights from Unstructured Customer Data’ by NoBroker Data Sciences and Engineering Director Zaher Abdul Azeez At AIM’s Data Engineering Summit 2024, Zaher Abdul Azeez, director of data sciences and engineering at NoBroker, discussed the potential of GenAI in transforming customer-facing services by extracting valuable insights from unstructured customer data, such as conversations. Azeez pointed out that customer conversations, which tend to be subjective and informal, are extremely valuable for businesses, particularly those centred around customer experience. Traditional methods of analysing these interactions are manual and labour-intensive. However, GenAI, especially LLMs, offers a more efficient solution by understanding and processing unstructured data from these conversations. 6. ‘Generative AI and the Road to Singularity’ by Tech Whisperer Founder Jaspreet Bindra At MLDS 2024, Jaspreet Bindra, founder of Tech Whisperer and CEO of Ai&Beyond, opened his keynote by exploring the concept of singularity and its implications for AI. He raised the question of whether AI could surpass human intelligence to become self-sufficient and leave humans obsolete. Bindra delved into the varying predictions of AGI timelines. He cited experts like Sam Altman and Ray Kurzweil, who have different definitions and timelines for AGI’s arrival, ranging from 2026 to 2030. 7. ‘The Next Tech Superpower: How India Can Lead the World in AI Innovation’ by Former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai At Cypher 2024, former Infosys CFO and board member Mohandas Pai spoke about the growing technological partnership between India and the United States, positioning them as leading global digital powers. He contrasted this collaboration with China’s isolation due to its restrictive digital firewall, which limits outside influence and internal connectivity with the global tech ecosystem. Pai drew attention to the close ties between Bengaluru and Silicon Valley, as well as their shared innovation culture and extensive research collaborations. Although Bengaluru boasts the world’s largest talent pool of chip designers, testers, and embedded software professionals, with over 3.50 lakh experts, Pai noted that the city requires more capital and competitive investment to maximise its potential. Despite political differences, Pai described the US and India as “connected at the hip” in technology, serving as a “force multiplier” for mutual growth. In contrast, he criticised Delhi for its lack of progress on domestic issues like pollution. 8. ‘Powering India’s AI-First Ambitions With Shakti Cloud’ by Yotta CEO Sunil Gupta Sunil Gupta, co-founder, managing director and CEO of Yotta, spoke at AIM Cypher 2024 and shared key developments regarding the company’s advancements in AI infrastructure. Yotta, backed by the Hiranandani Group, had made significant progress in acquiring GPUs to support the AI boom in India. Last year, the company announced plans to acquire 32,000 NVIDIA GPUs over the next two years and had already secured 16,000 NVIDIA H100 GPUs. As an elite NVIDIA partner, Gupta shared that Yotta’s partnership had ensured access to the latest GPUs. This enabled the company to meet a wide range of AI use cases in India, from developing large-scale models to smaller ones. 9. ‘Voice Based AI Agents’ by Sarvam AI Co-Founder Vivek Raghavan At Cypher 2024, Sarvam AI co-founder Vivek Raghavan discussed the company’s mission to develop voice-based AI solutions tailored to Indian languages and dialects. He highlighted that India’s culture of conversation drives its focus on voice-led models in local languages. Raghavan demonstrated Sarvam’s voice agents, which operate via telephone and WhatsApp, allowing users to interact in languages like Kannada and Hindi for tasks such as booking appointments and customer support. 10. ‘Impact Investing in AI Merging Profit with Purpose’ by Ronnie Screwvala At Cypher 2024, upGrad co-founder Ronnie Screwvala talked about how AI can help India achieve its Viksit Bharat vision by 2047 by aiming for a GDP growth from $3.4 trillion to $30 trillion. He said that AI should be seen as a tool for enhancing capabilities rather than a threat. Screwvala stressed the importance of AI in maximising intellectual property creation and fostering innovation. Read: 6 Must-Attend Conferences for Developers by AIM in 2025
Former CEO CP Gurnani revealed that Tech Mahindra developed an Indian LLM for local languages and over 37 dialects in just five months with a budget of under $5 million.
AIM organises some of the tech industry’s most impactful conferences to bring together experts and innovators from various fields.
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Siddharth is a media graduate who loves to explore tech through journalism and putting forward ideas worth pondering about in the era of artificial intelligence.