India's Drone Power Unleashed: Precision Strikes, AI Surveillance & Game-Changing Edge
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Time of India
35 minutes ago
- Time of India
BFSI's big AI turn to move the business needle for slump-hit IT firms
ETtech Banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), the biggest sectoral purchaser of Indian technology solutions for decades, is expected to provide the much-needed ballast to a $280-billion industry that has recently struggled to boost its topline in a business climate rocked by AI-induced layoffs, towering tariff hurdles, and potentially inflationary geopolitical this backdrop, Wall Street and London City banks have fared relatively better. With banks and financiers of all description taking to AI, the sector is witnessing an increase in payments modernisation, asset servicing, and platform consolidation, boosting the demand for technology inputs, said experts.'The BFSI vertical continues to be a strategic growth driver for Infosys . We're seeing strong client interest in areas like payments modernisation, asset servicing, and platform consolidation, especially as financial institutions look to simplify operations, enhance customer experience while also delivering on new experiences,' said Dennis Gada, executive vice president and global head of BFS at macroeconomic environment is playing a significant role in shaping demand. With ongoing inflationary pressures, interest rate fluctuations, and geopolitical uncertainties, BFSI clients are more focused on balancing innovation with cost efficiency. This is leading to a shift from discretionary digital projects to more integrated cost takeout programs that deliver broader and measurable business outcomes, Gada BFSI accounts for around 30% of the more than $280 billion Indian IT services industry's total revenue, as per industry body Nasscom and adopters of technology, the sector is expected to spend the highest in AI/GenAI and transformation at around 35-40% at $270-290 billion, followed by healthcare at 25-30% in FY26, data from technology-focused platform UnearthInsight data from a BNP Paribas deal momentum report also highlighted that BFSI had cut most deals in May 2024 with six wins of the 17 large deals bagged by major IT the latest third quarter from March to May financial numbers of Accenture, globally largest IT giant, were indicative of the strong momentum trend continuing in the BFSI vertical, which grew the highest at 13% from a year ago.A Nomura report cited similar optimism for Indian IT services with healthy demand in the BFSI vertical, aided by strong results from global banks and no significant impact (unlike core manufacturing sectors) from ongoing tariff issues. 'Demand conditions have largely remained stable given the 90-day pause in tariffs by the US administration in early May. Deals are more centered around cost take-out and vendor consolidation as clients continue to prioritise cost savings. We think a benign tariff outlook may lead to an improvement in discretionary spend in the short term (read 2QFY26F),' the report industry experts have seen select green shoots in BFSI to have persisted, especially in areas of digital banking and regulatory technology.A June report on State of the agentic AI market from technology research and advisory firm ISG stated that BFSI continues to be the beacon for AI innovation with 30% of use cases / POCs (proof of concepts). 'This is driven by the industry's rich structured and unstructured data, which is the first step to successful adoption of agentic AI in critical workflows…As agentic AI picked up pace over the past two quarters, about 70% of agentic AI use cases are concentrated in just three industries: BFSI, retail, and manufacturing.'Bengaluru-headquartered India's second largest IT major Infosys, which has a 28.4% share of BFSI revenue, is working with clients to modernise their technology foundations and transform their core operations and processes.'We are seeing strong momentum in areas like payments, where cloud-native platforms are enabling real-time processing, faster settlement, and improved efficiencies in the cost to deliver and serve. In core banking, many institutions are adopting an approach to progressively modernise their systems by using API architectural solutions with their legacy platforms while gradually migrating key modules, like lending and deposits, to fully digital modern environments. This allows them to deliver operational, and experience benefits progressively as they undertake their modernisation programs,' Gada pointed to him, regulatory shifts, competitive pressures, increasing costs, customer expectations and the market level focus to launch AI-enabled services are pressing financial institutions to act with urgency.'It's no longer just a technology upgrade or a digital program – it's a strategic imperative to adopt AI for immediate and long-term business benefits. AI and cloud are being adopted, not as isolated tools, but as integrated levers to transform end-to-end processes and deliver business outcomes at scale.'
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
Spy planes, minesweepers: Nod for 1L crore purchases
AI generated image for representation NEW DELHI: The defence ministry gave preliminary nod Thursday to three major acquisition projects and seven smaller ones, collectively worth over Rs 1 lakh crore, ranging from specialised spy aircraft and advanced minesweepers to quick-reaction air defence missiles and underwater autonomous vessels. The biggest project to get "acceptance of necessity" (AoN), which is just the first step in the long-winded procurement process, was for the indigenous construction of 12 mine countermeasure vessels for around Rs 44,000 crore, which will take almost a decade, sources told TOI. These specialised warships, each with a displacement of 900-1,000 tonne, will be capable of detecting, tracking and destroying underwater mines laid by enemy forces to choke harbours and ports, disrupt shipping and maritime trade. QRSAMs designed to intercept hostile fighters These specialised warships are crucial amid the expanding maritime collaboration between China and Pakistan. At present, the Navy makes do with just "clip-on mine countermeasure suites" mounted on some ships to plug the major capability gap. The second big project was the Rs 36,000 crore procurement of the new quick-reaction surface-to-air missile (QRSAM) systems developed by DRDO , with three regiments for the Army and three squadrons for IAF. Overall, the Army Air Defence has projected a requirement of 11 such regiments. These highly mobile QRSAMs, designed to intercept hostile fighters, helicopters and drones at ranges up to 30km, will add to the country's multilayered air defence network that played a crucial role in thwarting multiple waves of Turkish-origin drones and Chinese missiles launched by Pakistan during Operation Sindoor May 7-10 hostilities. The third major project was for three ISTAR (intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition & reconnaissance) planes, designed to identify and help target high-value enemy targets on ground with greater precision and accuracy by fighter jets & missiles, for around Rs 10,000 crore. These aircraft will be equipped with a wide array of indigenous sensors & systems developed by DRDO, like synthetic aperture radars, electro-optical and infrared sensors, for gathering "actionable intelligence" in real time on enemy infrastructure, build-ups and movements. Another project granted AoN was for semi-submersible autonomous vessels for ISR missions. They will be acquired under 'Make-II' category project, where prototype development is funded by the industry. AoNs were accorded for procurement of armoured recovery vehicles, electronic warfare systems and tri-Service integrated common inventory management system for better supply chain management.
NDTV
5 hours ago
- NDTV
Will The EU Delay Enforcing Its AI Act?
With less than a month to go before parts of the European Union's AI Act come into force, companies are calling for a pause in the provisions and getting support from some politicians. Groups representing big U.S. tech companies such as Google owner Alphabet and Facebook owner Meta, and European companies such as Mistral and ASML have urged the European Commission to delay the AI Act by years. What Is The August 2 Deadline? Under the landmark act that was passed a year earlier after intense debate between EU countries, its provisions would come into effect in a staggered manner over several years. Some important provisions, including rules for general purpose AI (GPAI) models, are due to apply on August 2. GPAI, which includes foundation models like those made by Google, Mistral and OpenAI, will be subject to transparency requirements such as drawing up technical documentation, complying with EU copyright law and providing detailed summaries about the content used for algorithm training. The companies will also need to test for bias, toxicity, and robustness before launching. AI models classed as posing a systemic risk and high-impact GPAI will have to conduct model evaluations, assess and mitigate risks, conduct adversarial testing, report to the European Commission on serious incidents and provide information on their energy efficiency. Why Do Companies Want A Pause? For AI companies, the enforcement of the act means additional costs for compliance. And for ones that make AI models, the requirements are tougher. But companies are also unsure how to comply with the rules as there are no guidelines yet. The AI Code of Practice, a guidance document to help AI developers to comply with the act, missed its publication date of May 2. "To address the uncertainty this situation is creating, we urge the Commission to propose a two-year 'clock-stop' on the AI Act before key obligations enter into force," said an open letter published on Thursday by a group of 45 European companies. It also called for simplification of the new rules. Another concern is that the act may stifle innovation, particularly in Europe where companies have smaller compliance teams than their U.S. counterparts. Will It Be Postponed? The European Commission has not yet commented on whether it will postpone the enforcement of the new rules in August. However, EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen promised on Wednesday to publish the AI Code of Practice before next month. Some political leaders, such as Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, have also called the AI rules "confusing" and asked the EU to pause the act. "A bold 'stop-the-clock' intervention is urgently needed to give AI developers and deployers legal certainty, as long as necessary standards remain unavailable or delayed," tech lobbying group CCIA Europe said. The European Commission did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
