Crafting Bharat - S2, powered by AWS Startups and an initiative by NewsReach, launches ninth episode with Dr. Raunak Bhinge, MD of Infinite Uptime

Business Standard

9 hours ago

VMPL
New Delhi [India], July 8: Artificial Intelligence offers India a unique opportunity to revolutionize its manufacturing sector, positioning it as a cutting-edge factory and service center for the global economy. By harnessing AI-driven automation, predictive analytics, and digital innovation, India can boost productivity, quality, and competitiveness across industries from automotive to pharmaceuticals. This promises sustainable growth and solidifies India's leadership. AI adoption is vital to the Viksit Bharat vision, driving India's evolution into a developed nation by 2047.
The "Crafting Bharat - Season 2" powered by AWS Startups, an initiative by NewsReach, in association with VCCircle, and production partner - HT Smartcast, explores how startups are harnessing the power of the cloud to accelerate growth, optimise operations, and building solutions that will define the India of Tomorrow. This series is hosted by Gautam Srinivasan, famed for hosting a diverse range of TV and digital programs, currently consulting editor at CNBC (India), CNN-News18, Forbes India, and The Economic Times.
In this episode, we spotlight Dr. Raunak Bhinge, MD of Infinite Uptime, who are innovating to deliver production outcomes so that Indian companies can truly embrace the fourth industrial revolution. He shares insights about Industry 4.0 technologies, their digital-first approach and how AWS is helping them scale and optimize their value preposition.
In this series, explore inspiring startup stories that are shifting gears and sparking innovation across sectors, all contributing to India's transformation into a developed nation by 2047 in this captivating series.
https://youtu.be/dMJZQUJDouU
Edited Excerpts:
Segment 1: Ignite
What's a big client win that you fondly remember in terms of outcomes delivered?
Startups often struggle at the outset. We were championing a forward-looking concept before the digital revolution fully arrived--educating clients on what's possible and the industry's trajectory over the next five to ten years. One standout early engagement was with JSW Steel's Vijayanagar plant in Karnataka, four hours by road from the nearest city. At COVID's outset, their visionary digital leader teamed up with us--and on August 14th at midnight, we were installing IoT sensors on critical equipment to demonstrate this innovation to Mr. Jindal during the August 15th celebrations.
How did your product roadmap evolve to address customer challenges around connecting isolated data sources and scalability limitations by creating a plug-and-play solution to integrate modern analytics into their existing infrastructure?
Initially, we tried integrating with legacy manufacturing systems for richer context, but found data siloed, fragmented, and non-interoperable. So, we designed an independent product roadmap that maximizes diagnostic insights and predictive accuracy without altering control systems, forming the backbone of our complete product stack.
Many companies struggle with the upfront cost. How did you approach this issue when talking to potential clients?
There are 2 things to this - ROI and how do you get them to start consuming - which brings into the business model. We decided to eliminate them having to put a lot of money upfront in advance on the table. You don't need to have Capex model, instead have an Opex model which is consumption based. We use a "show-and-grow" model: clients pay monthly only once they see value. As returns and benefits emerge, they scale usage. This consumption-based approach lets you start small and then scale, creating mutual gains.
Segment 2: Launch
In serving such a diverse array of customers with vast amounts of data to be processed, how has Infinite Uptime managed its own tech back-end to scale with higher and more varied demands of customers?
We've developed a scalable approach--both technologically and organizationally--without needing industry-specific teams. Since most equipment is used across multiple sectors, we apply a common, replicable stack to predict faults. Only niche assets require custom AI models. For those few industry-specific machines, we build separate models, while all standard equipment diagnostics run on our universal platform. This lets us efficiently serve diverse industries with minimal per-segment adjustments.
Sub-segment: Boost
Take us through the highlights of how AWS enables Infinite Uptime to optimise its value proposition?
We outgrew our previous cloud provider and, after evaluating architecture, capabilities, support, and costs, consciously migrated to AWS. Since then, AWS's built-in scalability, optimization tools, and dedicated support have enabled us to refine our architecture and scale globally. We're partnering with AWS to extend our reach and ensure our solution can support and grow with organizations worldwide.
Segment 3: Orbit
What are the lessons in smart manufacturing that India can learn from the world and vice-versa?
India is rapidly embracing smart manufacturing and digital transformation--a promising shift. I witnessed China adopt similar practices back in 2017-18, even before terms like "digital factories" were popular. India's edge lies in frugal innovation--delivering high-impact, ROI-driven solutions that global industries can adopt cost-effectively, unlike complex, high-cost models in the West.
What is your view on drivers for upskilling and reskilling in frontier technologies that are changing the manufacturing landscape in India as we speak?
AI is transforming manufacturing by enabling data-driven decisions on the shop floor, replacing intuition with real-time insights and helping teams upskill, ultimately driving efficiency and value across the industry.
By aligning sectoral growth with sustainability and inclusivity, India is well-positioned to achieve a $23-$35 trillion economy by 2047. This transformation can enhance quality of life, strengthen global influence, and position India as a leader in economic progress, technological innovation, and social development on the world stage.
Stay tuned to Crafting Bharat - Season 2 as we bring you these inspiring entrepreneurs for insightful and candid discussion with Gautam Srinivasan.