Gemini AI Dials In: Pixel’s Voice Assistant Now Makes Real Calls for You

Google’s Gemini AI now has a new “Call for Me” feature that can place real-world phone calls on your behalf, handling tasks like reservations, checking product availability, or rescheduling appointments. For now, it’s limited to Pixel 11 users in the US with a Gemini subscription and the beta Phone app.

Google’s Gemini AI rollout roadmap shows rapid expansion: new models like Gemini 3.7 Flash and Gemini 3.5 Transcribe launched in August 2026, with integrations into Pixel 11 devices, Chrome on Android, and desktop apps. However, advanced features such as “Call for Me” remain US‑only for now, with India availability still pending.

📞 What Gemini’s “Call for Me” Can Do

• Business calls: Contact restaurants, stores, or doctors’ offices to book, confirm, or reschedule.
• Automated menus: Navigate IVR systems and wait on hold until a human picks up.
• Information requests: Ask about product availability, service quotes, or appointment slots.
• Reservations: Secure tables at restaurants or place items on hold at shops.
• Summaries: Provide a transcript and outcome summary after the call ends.

⚙️ How It Works

• Calls are made from your own phone number via the Gemini app and Google’s Phone beta.
• Gemini introduces itself as an AI assistant at the start of the call — Google is not trying to disguise it as a human.
• Users can monitor calls live with a transcript and intervene at any time.
• Before dialing, Gemini shows a task summary including the number it will call and any personal info it may share (like your name or contact details).

📱 Availability & Limitations

• Currently restricted to Pixel 11 owners in the US with a Gemini subscription.
• Requires the beta version of Google’s Phone app and device language set to English.
• Not available in India yet, so Gurugram users cannot access it at this time.
• Cannot call emergency services or numbers outside the US.

Why This Matters

This marks a shift from AI assistants being screen-based helpers to becoming agentic platforms that act on your behalf in the real world. It builds on Google’s earlier experiments like Duplex and Hold for Me, but now with more autonomy and transparency.

Risks & Considerations

• Privacy: Gemini may share user-approved personal info during calls — careful review is essential.
• Perception: Businesses may hang up if they mistake Gemini for a robocall.
• Limited rollout: Still experimental, so reliability may vary.

NPCI Unveils MyUPI: Conversational AI Assistant on BHIM App

NPCI BHIM Services Limited (NBSL), a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), today announced the introduction of MyUPI, a conversational AI-powered assistant on the BHIM Payments App. MyUPI offers BHIM users simple, 24/7 multilingual support for their UPI-related needs, helping make payments safer, more convenient and easier to manage. Users can view transaction history, raise and track complaints, view and manage mandates set up through any UPI app, de-link their mobile number, and access fraud-awareness assistance in one place.

MyUPI was launched by NPCI at Global Fintech Fest 2026. For users, MyUPI makes it easier to get assistance and take relevant action without having to look across multiple support channels. MyUPI enables users to converse in everyday language, making it easier to explain what they need without filling detailed forms or going through multiple back-and-forth interactions. MyUPI currently supports English, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and Bengali, with more regional languages planned over time. It is available round the clock within the BHIM Payments App, with all payment-related actions continuing to require user authentication through the UPI PIN.

Ms. Lalitha Nataraj, Managing Director and CEO, NPCI BHIM Services Limited, said, “As digital payments continue to become more integral to everyday life, trust must remain at the heart of every interaction. MyUPI strengthens the BHIM Payments App with a proactive trust layer that enables users to seek information, resolve concerns and take timely action with greater clarity and confidence. By making this experience conversational, multilingual and accessible, we are advancing BHIM’s mission of making digital payments easy to use and inclusive for every Indian.”

MyUPI is visible under Quick Actions in the BHIM Payments App. It introduces the following features:

Transaction assistance: Users can view UPI transactions across linked bank accounts and UPI apps in one place and seek assistance on a particular payment through the MyUPI interface.

Complaint resolution and tracking: Users can raise a complaint for an eligible payment-related concern, receive a complaint reference number and track its progress within the BHIM Payments App.

Pay Safe: Users can enter a UPI ID or upload a QR code to view and verify the payee name before making a payment.

UPI Autopay mandate management: MyUPI provides users with a consolidated view of recurring payments and relevant mandate details across linked accounts and applications. Users can pause, resume or cancel an Autopay mandate, as applicable.

Mandate debit information: Where a debit is made through a mandate without a UPI PIN prompt, MyUPI can help a user identify the relevant mandate and understand the purpose of the debit.

Transaction Replay: Users can re-initiate an eligible earlier UPI payment from their transaction history through the BHIM Payments App. This feature supports both person-to-person(P2P) and person-to-merchant(P2M) payments, including eligible payments originally made through another UPI app, with fresh authorisation through the user’s UPI PIN.

UPI Number de-linking: Users who do not wish to receive payments made to their mobile number can de-link their UPI Number. They can continue to receive payments through their UPI ID, as applicable.

Safety Switch: In situations such as a suspected account compromise, lost phone, unexpected debit or suspicious message, users can block a linked bank account through MyUPI to prevent further transactions on that account.

Fraud awareness assistance: Users can seek information on suspected scam messages and commonly reported UPI fraud methods through a conversational fraud-awareness feature within MyUPI.

AI Is Moving from Assistant to Agent, Human Judgement Will Become More Valuable, Insights From Great Lakes Chennai Research

• AI-driven profiling achieved the same campaign results with outreach to 2 lakh customers instead of 12 lakh
• AI reduced analysis time for 10,000–15,000 records from four hours to just over an hour
• AI evolution: from predicting customer behaviour to enabling real-time product pitch changes
• Consumer shift: non-linear “4S” journey — Streaming, Scrolling, Searching, Shopping

Artificial intelligence is moving beyond assisting marketers to influencing decisions, executing campaigns and shaping customer journeys. As AI takes on more of the work, the marketer's role is evolving from content creator and campaign manager to strategic conductor. These are insights from the new white paper AI in Marketing: From Insight to Action by Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai, launched in the presence of C.K. Ranganathan, Founder, CavinKare.

Prof. Bharadhwaj Sivakumaran, lead author, said: “AI adoption in marketing is not a technology question, it is a leadership question. Organisations are not struggling to access AI; they are struggling to govern it. The marketers who will create lasting advantage are those who know when to let AI execute and when human judgement must step in, to protect brand trust, cultural relevance and the quality of customer relationships.”

AI in Marketing' White Paper by Great Lakes Chennai launched by C.K. Ranganathan, Founder, CavinKare

Authored with Prof. Arti Srivastava and Prof. Kalpana C., the study draws on insights from BFSI, retail, FMCG and services. It identifies a four-stage evolution of AI in marketing:

• Foundational data capabilities
• Predictive modelling
• Collaborative human-AI decision-making
• Agentic stage: autonomous orchestration of campaigns, real-time ad bidding, inventory decisions

The study highlights a fundamental shift in consumer behaviour: traditional linear journeys are giving way to ‘4S’ behaviour — Streaming, Scrolling, Searching, Shopping — creating fragmented paths to purchase and increasing the need for real-time brand responses.

C.K. Ranganathan shared: “Building a successful brand starts with a strong idea, but the real value lies in turning that idea into a differentiated and profitable proposition. As technology and AI reshape marketing, brands will have access to greater speed, data and intelligence, but human judgement will remain critical. The brands that will win, especially in Bharat, will combine technology with deep consumer understanding, quality, convenience and relentless innovation.”

Research findings:

• Analysis of 10,000–15,000 records reduced from ~4 hours to just over 1 hour
• AI-driven profiling reduced campaign outreach from 12 lakh customers to 2 lakh
• Efficiency ≠ effectiveness: AI optimises for scale, but human judgement ensures empathy, context and relationship quality

The research positions the future marketer as a strategic conductor, directing AI while safeguarding brand authenticity, ethics and cultural nuance.

The white paper was presented at the annual Brand Conclave at Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai, themed ‘The Next Billion Customers: Building Brands for Bharat’. It underscored that as AI executes more marketing tasks, competitive advantage will lie in human ability to decide what matters, why it matters and how it should matter to consumers.

About Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai

Founded in 2004 by Padma Shri Dr. Bala V. Balachandran, Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai, is a premier business school known for innovative pedagogy, industry-relevant curriculum and strong corporate engagement. The Institute holds AACSB and AMBA accreditations and NBA Tier-1 status, offering full-time and executive management programmes.

Website: www.greatlakes.edu.in

India Gets Its Ist AI-Powered Crypto Trading Co-Pilot with WazirX

The agent follows an ‘Ask-Understand-Decide’ model to call market-data, technical-analysis, portfolio and order-management into one seamless conversation, helping users evaluate opportunities significantly faster compared to manual evaluations

WazirX today announced the launch of WazirX AI, an intelligent trading assistant designed to help users research crypto markets, understand their portfolios and act on trading opportunities in real time without moving between charts, news feeds, signal groups and trading screens.

The agent is integrated into the WazirX app and website, and users can ask questions, receive researched insights with supporting charts, and approve real trades instantly, all from one unified interface. Before users trade, WazirX AI shows them their live portfolio update. It then uses their risk preferences to recommend the right position size.

Crypto markets operate 24/7, but traders should not have to spend their day moving between charts, news feeds and trading screens,” said Nischal Shetty, founder, WazirX.
“WazirX AI combines market research, portfolio monitoring and trade preparation into one conversation, reducing the time and effort required to evaluate an opportunity and act on it. The AI streamlines the workflow, and enables a faster and easier decision making process.

How it works

• Ask-Understand-Decide model: Coordinates market-data, technical-analysis, portfolio and order-management across a multi-step request.
• Conversational market research: Users can ask about live prices, market news and macroeconomic developments. The co-pilot responds with summaries and charts.
• Portfolio briefings: Live overview of account balances, portfolio value, profit/loss, open positions. Can also be requested as a daily morning brief.
• Trade execution in chat: Orders placed directly within conversation. Approval cards show proposed trades sized to user’s risk settings.
• AI-powered alerts: Users can set monitoring instructions like “Tell me if BTC breaks key support.” Notifications are sent when conditions are met.

A user can ask WazirX AI to screen INR futures for four-hour momentum, retain opportunities meeting a specified risk-reward threshold, validate the shortlist across multiple timeframes and prepare an order showing entry price, leverage, margin, stop-loss, take-profit and estimated loss. The assistant can then prepare an order displaying all these details within the same conversation.

Before placing a trade, traders can spend hours gathering market context, poring over charts, analysing technical indicators, identifying patterns and trends, and working out entry, exit and risk levels. With WazirX AI, that entire process is transitioned into one conversational experience, helping users access relevant insights and complete their analysis in under 10 minutes. The co-pilot continues watching user-defined market conditions and only sends a notification when those conditions require attention.

Paper Trading Sandbox: To democratize access, WazirX is launching a sandbox where every user begins with a simulated US$100,000 balance. This allows exploration of the research-to-trade workflow, testing strategies, and building confidence before using real funds.

Product Specifications and Access

• Spot and futures trading: Supported with instant, real-time price updates.
• Order types: Limit and market orders, short setups, maximum pair-specific leverage.
• Data: Uses live WazirX price data with instant refresh rates.
• Platforms: Rolled out across Android, iOS, and Web.
• Sandbox: $100K paper trading sandbox open to all users.

About WazirX

WazirX is a leading Indian cryptocurrency exchange established in 2018, offering INR-based access to crypto through spot and perpetual futures markets. Users can buy and sell crypto in spot markets and trade INR-settled perpetual futures with features such as leverage, stop-loss and take-profit orders. WazirX supports INR deposits and withdrawals through verified bank accounts and is available on web, Android and iOS. The platform is registered as a Reporting Entity with the Financial Intelligence Unit, India (FIU-IND) and follows KYC and AML processes.

For more information, visit www.wazirx.com

Hulp Raises $2.6M to Bring AI‑Powered Personal Assistance to Urban Indian Households

Co-Founders - Vishal Singh Khutel (L), Neha Kulwal and Tarun Mathur (R) 

A personal assistance and concierge platform, Hulp, today announced a seed fund raise of $2.6 million led by Sparrow Capital and BITKRAFT Ventures, with participation from DeVC (Z47) and a group of prominent angel investors including Yashish Dahiya, Co-Founder and Chairman of PB Fintech (PolicyBazaar).

The fresh capital will enable Hulp to accelerate its vision of providing personal assistance to every urban Indian family. The company will invest in expanding its AI workflows across lifestyle, household, and operational management. This will also enable more effective assistance to help families manage everyday responsibilities with greater ease. The funding will further strengthen Hulp's senior leadership team, deepen its technology and product capabilities, and build the organisational foundation required to scale across India's rapidly growing AI-first consumer economy.

The company is founded by Tarun Mathur, Neha Kulwal, and Vishal Singh Khutel. Prior to co-founding Hulp, Tarun served as Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer at PolicyBazaar (PB Fintech), where he built some of the company's largest product lines.

Addressing the need, Tarun Mathur, Co-Founder & CEO, Hulp said, “Urban life today is short of time and attention for many of the routine tedious tasks in a household. Hulp combines AI with trusted human expertise to simplify everyday living, enabling people to delegate, coordinate and accomplish real-world tasks. We aim to become the trusted assistance platform for millions of urban households in the next two years.’’

Hulp provides trained human personal assistants, available 24x7 on WhatsApp and the Hulp app, for users to delegate tasks with a voice note. The platform enables assistance across 15+ categories, including government documentation, kitchen management, runner services, laundry, gardening, event bookings, restaurant reservations, travel and more.

Speaking on the fund raise, Anuj Tandon, Partner - India & UAE, BITKRAFT Ventures said. "The next shift in consumer Al isn't necessarily about smarter models, it is about who owns the context. The durable asset underneath is a real, accumulated understanding of who a person is and what their household needs, built through conversations over time. Hulp is a forward-looking version of that thesis for us, a human-led assistant, powered by Al, that builds trust with Indian families and drives real efficiency in their daily lives to build a smarter execution layer,"

"India's premium consumer is time-starved and money-rich, and any product built on convenience will see strong adoption in this class. Every week, consumers spend hours on mundane, unplanned chores - imagine having a personal assistant for your household to delegate all of it to. That's exactly what Hulp is building. Solving this at scale isn't just a product problem - it needs operational chops that combine people, process, and Al to solve a large, messy, unstructured space. That's precisely the kind of experience Tarun and the Hulp team bring to the table." said Darshit Vora, General Partner at Sparrow Capital.

Hulp currently operates in Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida with plans to expand in Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad and Chennai. Supported by a 50-member operations team, Hulp handles time-intensive everyday tasks that can otherwise take between 30 minutes to six hours.

About Hulp:

Hulp is a personal assistance and concierge platform for urban Indian households, delegating daily, weekly, monthly and one-time tasks across 15+ categories through dedicated personal assistants and an AI-coordinated operations team. Founded in April 2026 and led by a team with a combined 65 years of experience, Hulp is headquartered in Gurugram and currently operates in Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida.

About BITKRAFT Ventures:

BITKRAFT Ventures is a global investment platform at the intersection of games, immersive

technology, digital assets, and Al. With over $1B in assets under management and more than 130 portfolio companies, BITKRAFT is built by founders for founders. The firm leverages deep domain expertise, a decentralized global presence, and institutional-grade infrastructure to back visionary teams building in interactive media and adjacent verticals. BITKRAFT's core belief is that gaming is not just the largest entertainment sector-it is a catalyst for consumer and technology innovation and a blueprint for the future of digital experiences.

About Sparrow Capital:

Sparrow Capital is a Bengaluru-based early-stage venture capital firm investing at the Seed stage. Founded in 2020, Sparrow has partnered with 40+ start-ups as their first institutional partner. It is a sector-agnostic firm with a focus on Consumer, Fintech, Manufacturing, Al, and Deeptech as key sectors. Sparrow works alongside founders from day zero with deep conviction, hands-on partnership and patient capital.

About DeVC (Z47):

Founded as Z47’s pre-seed / seed fund, DeVC partners with exceptional founders at the earliest stages of company building. Guided by a founder-first philosophy, DeVC backs missionary founders across India and the US, helping them move from zero to one with conviction capital and access to the DeVC Collective of founders, operators, angels and early-stage investors.

Tesla Model Y India Launch Adds Grok AI, Multilingual Smart Navigation Upgrade

Tesla has rolled out the Grok AI assistant to the Model Y in India via a free OTA update, making conversational intelligence available in Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and English. Drivers can now say “Hey Grok” or press the steering wheel voice button to access smart navigation, localized recommendations, and real-time vehicle diagnostics.

Tesla has also officially opened test drives for the 2026 Model Y Premium Rear‑Wheel Drive (RWD) variant across its India experience centres, marking the first rollout of Grok AI in a locally tailored configuration.

With localized AI, Grok AI supports Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and English. This rollout positioned Tesla as most accessible EV in India, undercutting the AWD L Premium variant. In customer Incentives, early buyers receive a complimentary Wall Connector if orders are placed before August 30, 2026.

Key Highlights of Grok AI in Tesla Model Y

• OTA Update: Delivered free of charge in Summer 2026, no subscription required.
• Multilingual Support: Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, plus English.
• Activation: Say “Hey Grok” or press the steering wheel voice button.
• Smart Navigation: Automatic route planning based on driver habits and schedules.
• Local Assistance: Locate Tesla Superchargers, cafes, restaurants, hospitals, ATMs, and toilets.
• Diagnostics: Explains dashboard alerts and warnings in plain language.
• Customization: Adjustable tone, language, and conversational style.

Tesla Model Y India Pricing & Variants

Variant	Price (Ex-showroom)	Seating	Range (WLTP)	Key Features
Premium RWD	₹50.89 lakh	5-seater	~500 km	OTA Grok AI, panoramic roof, ambient lighting
L Premium AWD	₹61.99 lakh	7-seater	~681 km	Enhanced AI, dual motors, premium audio system

Vehicle Specs

• Seating: 5 passengers
• Cargo Space: 2,138 litres (rear seats folded)
• Acceleration: 0–100 km/h in 5.9 seconds
• Range: ~500 km WLTP (Premium RWD); ~681 km WLTP (L Premium AWD)

Context & Global Expansion

• India Launch: First time Grok AI is localized for Indian drivers, with deep language integration.
• International Rollout: Grok has been available in U.S. Teslas since 2025; China uses ByteDance’s Doubao AI for localization.
• Competitive Edge: Rivals like Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6, and BYD Sealion 7 lack comparable multilingual AI assistants.

Risks & Considerations

• Connectivity Requirement: Grok needs Premium Connectivity or Wi-Fi to function.
• Beta Status: Grok is still in Beta, meaning features may evolve or face occasional glitches.
• Privacy: Interactions are processed by SpaceXAI, anonymized from Tesla, but still cloud-dependent.

Local Availability in India

• Test Drives: Now open for the Premium RWD variant across Tesla dealerships in Gurugram, Delhi, Mumbai, and other major cities.
• Target Audience: Tech-savvy Indian buyers seeking EVs with advanced AI integration.

The Premium RWD is Tesla’s entry‑level EV for India, designed to attract tech‑savvy urban buyers with advanced AI integration and competitive pricing. Test drives across major metros signal Tesla’s intent to scale its footprint beyond niche luxury buyers.

Google Launches Gemini Spark in India, The 24/7 AI Helper for Everyday Life

Google has officially launched Gemini Spark in India, a 24/7 personal AI agent for Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers. Powered by Gemini 3.6 Flash, Spark works in the background to automate daily digital tasks across Gmail, Docs, Sheets, and Calendar, giving users more time to focus on what matters.

Gemini Spark is now available to Google AI Ultra and Pro subscribers, redefining the role of AI from a passive assistant into an active partner that takes care of real tasks—even while you sleep. Powered by the speed and efficiency of Gemini 3.6 Flash, Spark is built to manage time‑consuming digital chores under your guidance, freeing you to focus on what truly matters.

What is Gemini Spark?

• Always-on AI agent: Operates continuously, even when your laptop is closed or phone is locked.
• Native integration: Works seamlessly with Google Workspace apps like Gmail, Docs, Sheets, and Calendar.
• User control: You decide which apps it connects to and approve high-stakes actions (like sending emails or spending money).
• Powered by Gemini 3.6 Flash: Optimized for speed and multi-step workflows, enabling proactive automation.

Key Use Cases

• Travel planning: Automatically adds flight and hotel confirmations to a Google Sheet itinerary and finds local events for your trip.
• Weekend planning: Suggests local events every Friday, adds top picks directly to your calendar.
• Sports scheduling: Checks apps for court availability and alerts you based on weather forecasts.
• Wedding management: Organizes RSVPs, dietary restrictions, and drafts emails for caterers.
• Financial monitoring: Audits invoices, flags subscription price hikes, and drafts cancellation emails.
• Entrepreneurship: Scans inbox for customer inquiries, drafts tailored responses, and saves them for review.
• Professional productivity: Builds a personalized “ghostwriter” skill based on your email style guide.

How Spark Differs from Traditional Assistants

Feature	Traditional AI Assistant	Gemini Spark
Mode	Reactive (answers queries)	Proactive (executes tasks)
Operation	Works only when prompted	Runs 24/7 in background
Integration	Limited app connections	Deep integration with Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Calendar
Control	User asks for help	User sets rules, Spark acts automatically
Impact	Informational	Transactional & organizational

Risks & Considerations

• Privacy concerns: Continuous monitoring of emails and apps raises questions about data security.
• User oversight: Spark asks for confirmation before sensitive actions, but users must remain vigilant.
• Dependence on Google ecosystem: Full functionality requires Google Workspace and AI Pro/Ultra subscriptions.

Conclusion

Gemini Spark marks a major leap in AI assistants, shifting from reactive helpers to proactive agents that manage real-world tasks. For Indian subscribers, this means time-saving automation across personal, professional, and financial workflows, all under user control.

Further AI Raises $5 Mn Led By Nexus Venture Partners

Led by Nexus Venture Partners, the new investment will help the AI company advance its commercial insurance AI, add more enterprise integrations, and grow its team.

FurtherAI, the company behind AI assistants that master complex insurance workflows, has raised $5 million in a seed round of funding led by Nexus Venture Partners (through their latest $700 million AI-dedicated fund), with participation from Pioneer AI Fund, South Park Commons, Y Combinator, ConvergeVC and strategic investors such as Xceedance, along with several insurtech angel investors. This brings the total funds raised by the company to over $5 million. FurtherAI is also expanding into the UK, where insurers are accelerating AI adoption to modernize underwriting, compliance, and claims processing.

The funding will be used by the tech firm to grow its AI team, drive strategic industry engagement, and expand and enhance the product’s capabilities.

Purpose-built for the insurance industry, FurtherAI’s AI automates complex document processing and integrates disjointed systems to revolutionize underwriting, compliance, and claims processing at scale. This investment marks a significant milestone as the company continues to drive efficiency and innovation in commercial insurance.

FurtherAI’s innovative technology is already trusted by leading insurers and carriers worldwide, with customers writing more than $15 billion in premiums.

Commercial insurers have long struggled with increasing expense ratios and loss ratios, and a shrinking talent pool. FurtherAI addresses these challenges with a platform that delivers superior accuracy, achieving 95-97% accuracy compared to 70-77% accuracy with manual processing. It also seamlessly integrates into existing systems. Key benefits include:

• Modular Adaptability: A “LEGO block” design that quickly adapts to current workflows.
• Enhanced Accuracy: Achieving 95-97% accuracy for reliable outcomes.
• Seamless Integration & Scalability: Designed to integrate with legacy systems and scale across diverse use cases – from underwriting to claims processing.

Aman Gour, co-founder and CEO of FurtherAI, said, “When we first partnered with the insurance industry, many claimed it was slow to innovate and held back by repetitive tasks. We saw it differently: insurance isn’t inherently sluggish or mundane—it just needed more advanced technology. Now, with large language models, we’re unlocking the industry’s true potential. I’m thrilled that top investors recognize this opportunity, enabling us to drive real change in the industry.”

Sashank Gondala, co-founder and CTO of FurtherAI, said, “We’ve seen a lot of untapped potential because traditional models don’t fully meet the unique needs of specialized insurance. At FurtherAI, we’re committed to building far better and more accurate solutions while upholding the strict privacy and compliance standards that the industry demands."

Commenting on the investment, Jishnu Bhattacharjee, Managing Director at Nexus Venture Partners said, “FurtherAI’s autonomous AI Agents are set to transform the commercial insurance industry: their solution’s accuracy and adaptability not only boost efficiency and competitiveness but also address what has been a long-enduring talent shortage in the industry. By automating tedious tasks, existing teams can focus on high-value, strategic work that not only eases the strain on current teams, but also makes the industry more appealing to the next generation of talent. We are thrilled to back Aman, Shashank and team as they bring advanced AI to change traditional industries for the better”.

FurtherAI’s technology is already making a big impact for many insurers and carriers in several key areas, including:

• A large managing general agent (MGA) handling over $1.5 billion in premiums doubled its underwriter productivity by streamlining submission processes.
• A risk exchange estimates doubling the number of policies audited while cutting compliance audit times by 20%+ in the first year.
• A regional insurer boosted its policy comparison process by over 95%, leading to quicker and more accurate insights.

About FurtherAI - FurtherAI is a San Francisco-based AI company transforming the insurance industry through intelligent automation. Its advanced AI solutions streamline complex workflows by processing vast amounts of insurance data, navigating internal systems, and automating critical tasks such as submission intake, policy comparison, loss runs processing, and underwriting audits. By reducing manual effort, FurtherAI empowers insurers and MGAs to improve accuracy, efficiency, and decision-making at scale. FurtherAI meets the highest security and compliance standards, including SOC 2, ISO 27001, and GDPR.

Founded by AI and insurance experts with backgrounds at Microsoft, Apple, and leading insurance companies and insurtech startups, FurtherAI combines deep technical innovation with real-world industry expertise. Co-Founders Aman Gour and Sashank Gondola bring extensive experience in AI-driven workflow automation, while insurance veteran Ben Grosser has built and scaled underwriting models for top insurance firms. Together, its team is building AI-powered teammates that help insurers eliminate operational bottlenecks, enhance risk assessment, and drive profitable growth. For more information, visit FurtherAI at https://www.furtherai.com

Honeywell Unveils Innovative AI Assistant for Industrial Operators in Honeywell Forge Production Intelligence

Honeywell (NASDAQ: HON) today announced the latest release of Honeywell Forge Production Intelligence, which seamlessly integrates performance monitoring with a new generative AI assistant to help operators and production managers automate tasks and troubleshoot problems.

By leveraging advanced generative AI models, the platform’s new Intelligent Assistant is designed to enhance user experience by allowing engineers, plant managers and business leaders to access key insights through simple, natural language prompts. The tool will also enable industrials to visualize, trend, and troubleshoot production issues from Key Performance Indicator (KPI) deviation contributors and asset relationships.

“As the industry continues to wrestle with the loss of expertise through higher rates of attrition and the challenges of onboarding new talent, it is good to see the incorporation of generative AI copilots, like Honeywell’s Intelligent Assistant, that help to make it easier and faster for users of varying experience to get critical insights about the status of their production operations," said ARC Advisory Group’s Director of Research, Mark Sen Gupta. "Such scalable and replicable solutions are invaluable for companies grappling in a fast-changing business environment.”

The cloud-native platform merges performance monitoring with advanced analytics, enabling rapid root cause analysis of production issues. With the addition of the Intelligent Assistant, users can now summarize deviations and overall insights quicker and more effectively. The capability not only enhances AI insights with greater explainability and usability but also supports closed-loop collaboration workflows with case management integration.

“Honeywell Forge Production Intelligence represents a significant step forward in making data-driven insights accessible to engineers and industrial business leaders globally,” said Pramesh Maheshwari, President of Honeywell Process Solutions. “We understand the challenges faced by our customers and believe that by leveraging generative AI, we can help assets work harder, people work smarter, and systems more efficient.”

Honeywell Forge Production Intelligence is part of Honeywell’s recently announced suite of AI-enabled solutions for industrials which also includes Experion Operations Assistant and Field Process Knowledge System.

For more information on the Honeywell Forge Production Intelligence, visit Honeywell.com.

About Honeywell:

Honeywell is an integrated operating company serving a broad range of industries and geographies around the world. Our business is aligned with three powerful megatrends – automation, the future of aviation and energy transition – underpinned by our Honeywell Accelerator operating system and Honeywell Forge IoT platform. As a trusted partner, we help organizations solve the world's toughest, most complex challenges, providing actionable solutions and innovations through our Aerospace Technologies, Industrial Automation, Building Automation and Energy and Sustainability Solutions business segments that help make the world smarter, safer and more sustainable. For more news and information on Honeywell, please visit www.honeywell.com/newsroom.

Adobe Acrobat AI Assistant Introduces New Generative AI Features to Make Understanding Contracts Easier for Everyone

• Special contract experience and one-click citations can demystify complex language, summarize key terms and identify differences across multiple contracts, helping customers understand and verify the information in these important documents in less time
• Adobe Acrobat works on digital and scanned documents and supports contract workflows from start to signature – including reviews, commenting and e-signatures
• New contract intelligence, powered by Adobe’s responsible approach to AI and deep PDF expertise, now available in Acrobat AI Assistant

Today Adobe (Nasdaq: ADBE) announced new intelligent contract capabilities in Acrobat AI Assistant to simplify working with contracts. The new generative AI features can help customers grasp complex terms and spot differences between multiple agreements so they can better understand and verify the information in these important documents—faster and easier.

From credit card and vendor agreements to loyalty programs and purchase orders, contracts are a fact of life for consumers and businesses. Most contracts are long and complicated, making it difficult and time-consuming to understand their contents. In fact, a new survey by Adobe Acrobat found that nearly 70% of consumers have signed contracts or agreements without knowing all the terms and 64% of SMB owners say they avoided signing a contract because they were not confident they understood the content.

“Customers open billions of contracts in Adobe Acrobat each month and AI can be a game changer in helping simplify their experience,” said Abhigyan Modi, senior vice president of Adobe Document Cloud. “We are introducing new capabilities to deliver contract intelligence in Adobe AI Assistant, making it easier for customers to understand and compare these complex documents and providing citations to help them verify responses, all while keeping their data safe.”

Grow Your Confidence with Contracts

Leveraging contract intelligence capabilities in Acrobat AI Assistant, business owners can quickly identify key dates in vendor contracts or prepare to review a new partnership agreement with their attorney. Finance teams can accelerate reviews of sales contracts and more. Marketers can pinpoint changes in updated scopes of work and quickly find deliverables in brand and advertising partnerships. Consumers can quickly locate occupancy policies in apartment leases, find out-of-country charges in their mobile plans or compare amenities between top venue choices for a special event.

Adobe Acrobat offers a comprehensive set of features and capabilities to help customers understand, review and sign contracts all in one app, including:

• Contract intelligence: Acrobat AI Assistant automatically recognizes when a document is a contract—including scanned documents—and tailors the experience, generating a contract overview, surfacing key terms in a single click, quickly summarizing information and recommending questions specific to customers’ documents.
• Straightforward explanations—verified: Acrobat AI Assistant generates summaries and responses with clear language and clickable citations, making it fast and easy to navigate to the source and verify responses.
• Compare and contrast: Quickly see differences between versions​, check for consistency and catch discrepancies​ across up to 10 contracts—including scanned documents.
• Secure sharing and signing: Easily review contracts with stakeholders and request e-signatures all in one app.

Get More Reliable Responses

Acrobat AI Assistant features are governed by data security protocols and developed in alignment with Adobe’s AI Ethics processes. Adobe never trains the company’s generative AI models on customer data and prohibits third-party LLMs from training on Adobe customer data.

Adobe Acrobat AI Assistant supplements LLM technologies with the same artificial intelligence and machine learning models behind Liquid Mode to provide a highly accurate understanding of document structure and content, which enhances the quality and reliability of AI Assistant’s outputs.

The new contract intelligence capabilities in Acrobat AI Assistant are powered by extensive prompt engineering and an intelligent framework, which help deliver more accurate and relevant responses for contracts.

Adobe Acrobat is a core productivity tool for more than 650 million monthly active users who open 400+ billion PDFs in the app each month. Launched in February 2024, Acrobat AI Assistant transforms how people and businesses work with their documents. With new features and growing adoption, Acrobat AI Assistant saw customer conversations in the app double quarter over quarter in the final quarter of 2024.

Pricing and Availability

Customers can access the new contracts capabilities in Acrobat AI Assistant. Both free Reader and paid Acrobat for individual customers can purchase Acrobat AI Assistant as an add-on for US$4.99 per month. The capabilities are available on desktop, web and mobile in worldwide English; other languages will follow.

IBM Introduces New Generative AI-Powered Cybersecurity Assistant

IBM has introduced a new generative AI-powered Cybersecurity Assistant designed to enhance its Threat Detection and Response Services. This assistant, built on IBM's watsonx data and AI platform, aims to accelerate and improve the identification, investigation, and response to critical security threats.

The AI-powered cybersecurity assistant from IBM operates through a combination of advanced AI techniques and integration with existing security infrastructure.

The assistant integrates with various data sources, including Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems, network telemetry, Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) tools, and vulnerability management systems. This allows it to gather comprehensive data on potential threats.

When a potential threat is detected, the assistant can automatically initiate an investigation. It performs tasks such as historical correlation analysis, cross-referencing with known threat intelligence, and assessing the severity and impact of the threat.

Key features

Accelerated Threat Investigations: By leveraging historical correlation analysis, the assistant can speed up complex threat investigations.

The assistant will also auto-recommend actions based on the historical patterns of analyzed activity and pre-set confidence levels, speeding response times for clients and helping to reduce attackers' dwell time.

Enhanced Insights: It cross-correlates alerts and enhances insights from various sources like SIEM, network, EDR, and vulnerability telemetry.

The conversational feature can automatically trigger relevant actions, including running queries, pulling logs, command explanations or enriching threat intelligence.

Operational Efficiency: The assistant helps reduce manual investigations and operational tasks, allowing security analysts to respond more proactively and precisely.

The assistant automates many routine tasks, such as data collection and initial analysis, freeing up security analysts to focus on more complex and strategic activities. This impoves overall operational efficiency and response times.

This development is part of IBM's broader strategy to integrate AI and automation into its cybersecurity services, aiming to improve overall security posture for clients.

Google Launches Gemini App in India With 9 Regional Languages

Google has introduced its AI assistant, Gemini, in India, extending its support to nine regional languages alongside English. The Gemini app can be accessed via typing, speaking, or even by adding images.

It is now available in Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu. This means users in India can now interact with Gemini using their preferred language, making it more accessible and user-friendly.

If you're an Android user, you can download the Gemini app through the Play Store, and iPhone users will also be able to access Gemini through the Google app in the coming weeks.

Initially launched for Android 12, now Gemini Al can be used for a wider range of devices. The latest version of the Gemini app for Android, will support devices running on Android 10 and 11. This is expected to reduce the minimum system requirements from Android 12.

To access Gemini on Android, download the Gemini app or opt-in through Google Assistant. You can then use Gemini by corner swiping, hitting the power button on select phones, or saying "Hey Google." This enables a new overlay experience with easy access to Gemini and contextual help right on your screen. Many voice features you loved in Google Assistant will be available through the Gemini app — including setting timers, making calls and setting reminders — and we’re working to support more in the future.

On iOS, Gemini access is rolling out directly from the Google app over the next few weeks. Just tap the Gemini toggle and start chatting to supercharge your creativity and productivity.

Adobe Announced Acrobat AI Assistant for Enterprise Customers

Adobe has recently introduced a significant innovation for workplace productivity with the launch of the Acrobat AI Assistant for enterprise users. This new feature is a generative AI-powered conversational engine that integrates with existing Acrobat workflows. It's designed to enhance document-related productivity by allowing users to interact with their documents in a conversational manner, ask questions, and receive quick answers.

The Acrobat AI Assistant offers features like:

Generative Summary: This allows users to get a quick overview of the document's key points, which can be particularly useful for navigating large documents and extracting important information swiftly.

Conversational Interaction: Users can engage with their documents by asking questions and using the responses to craft emails, presentations, and more, helping them sound like experts in seconds.

Voice Prompts: In the mobile app, working on the go is made easier with voice prompts, enhancing the flexibility of document interaction.

It's available for individual users in English and is expected to support additional languages soon. The early-access pricing for this feature ends on June 4, 2024. This tool seems poised to transform how knowledge workers across various roles and industries manage and utilize information, streamlining processes and boosting overall efficiency.

AI for the Enterprise

Acrobat AI Assistant leverages a variety of processes, protocols and technologies so companies can deploy the features with confidence, including:

• Streamlined AI Data Governance: Acrobat AI Assistant keeps companies in control of their information, delivering insights based on documents users provide versus insights from broad enterprise information, helping guard against other types of data being analyzed and used for unintended purposes. No Adobe customer document content is used to train the LLM Acrobat AI Assistant leverages.
• Enhanced Reliability: Adobe supplements LLM technologies with the same artificial intelligence and machine learning models behind the award-winning Liquid Mode to provide a highly accurate understanding of document structure and content, which enhances the quality and reliability of AI Assistant’s outputs.
• Guardrails for LLMs: When working with third-party LLMs, Adobe contractually obligates them to employ confidentiality and security protocols that match the company’s standards. Adobe specifically prohibits third parties from manually reviewing or training their LLMs on Adobe customer data.
• Enterprise Controls: AI Assistant features admin-level granular controls, including the ability to select users/user groups for access and enable just-in-time provisioning.
• Data Security Protocols: AI Assistant features in Reader and Acrobat are governed by data security protocols, including testing and evaluation methodologies in engineering processes and pre- and post-processing.
• AI Ethics Testing and Reviews: Acrobat AI Assistant features go through Adobe’s responsible AI Ethics governance process and are developed and deployed in alignment with the company’s AI Ethics principles of accountability, responsibility and transparency.
• Keeping Humans in the Loop: AI Assistant includes attributions in generated responses, making it simple for employees to confirm where the information came from; an in-app message reminds them to double-check the source of the answers AI Assistant provides.
• A Shared Responsibility: The generative AI output of AI Assistant in Reader and Acrobat is based largely on documents provided by users themselves. When users leverage Acrobat AI Assistant, they agree to use the features responsibly.

For more information about the steps Adobe is taking to protect enterprise customers' data, read this blog.

Pricing and Availability

Starting 8th May, early access pricing is available to enterprise customers in Reader and Acrobat on desktop, web and mobile in English, with additional languages coming soon. More prices & plans here.

Salesforce Unveils Einstein Copilot, A Conversational and Gen AI Assistant for CRM

• Salesforce’s Einstein Copilot: The Conversational AI Assistant for CRM that Delivers Trusted AI Responses Grounded with Your Company Data
• Einstein Copilot delivers trusted responses because it’s grounded in your company’s unique data and metadata, enabling it to deeply understand your business and customer relationships
• Einstein Copilot is natively embedded across Salesforce applications to deliver a consistent user experience that can answer questions, generate content, and dynamically automate any action to deliver better productivity, deeper customer relationships, and higher margins
• Salesforce customers can access Einstein Copilot by upgrading to Einstein 1 Editions of Salesforce that include Data Cloud, AI, and CRM in a single offering

Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), the #1 AI CRM, has just announced the public beta availability of Einstein Copilot, a new customizable, conversational, and generative AI assistant for CRM.

Unlike other AI assistants or copilots that lack adequate company data to generate useful responses, Einstein Copilot enables Salesforce customers to generate responses using their own private and trusted data, while maintaining strict data governance and without requiring expensive AI model training. As a result, Einstein Copilot can answer questions, summarize content, create new content, interpret complex conversations, and dynamically automate tasks on behalf of a user, all from a single, consistent user experience embedded directly within Salesforce’s #1 AI CRM applications.

This is made possible by combining a conversational UI, a foundational large language model, and trusted company data that enables Salesforce users to tap into the power of generative AI and interact with their applications in entirely new ways.

“AI is the single most important moment in the history of our industry. It will deepen customer relationships, increase productivity and drive higher margins at every company,” said Marc Benioff, Chair & CEO, Salesforce. “Our new Einstein Copilot brings together an amazing intuitive interface for interacting with AI, world-class AI models and above all deep integration of the data and metadata needed to benefit from AI. Einstein Copilot is the only copilot with the ability to truly understand what is going on with your customer relationships.”

Einstein Copilot is the only copilot with the ability to truly understand what is going on with your customer relationships — MARC BENIOFF, CHAIR & CEO, SALESFORCE

86% of IT executives believe that generative AI will have a major impact on their companies, and according to new research from Slack, AI use in the workplace accelerated 24% in the past quarter alone. And, 80% of employees using AI say that it is already improving their productivity. This increased AI adoption indicates that AI is becoming a crucial tool for accomplishing practical business tasks throughout an organization.

How customers can purchase Einstein Copilot:

Customers can tap into the full power of Salesforce with Einstein 1 Editions, simplified technology packages for businesses looking to accelerate growth and speed productivity with the #1 AI CRM. Einstein 1 Editions provide organizations in every industry access to the best of Salesforce technology, including CRM, Einstein Copilot, Data Cloud, Slack, and Tableau in a single offering, helping them transform their business and deliver stronger customer experiences.

Einstein Copilot Capabilities

Grounding prompts in Data Cloud: Einstein Copilot grounds its responses with trusted business data from Data Cloud to provide the necessary context for the highest quality outputs. This allows Einstein Copilot to generate more precise and tailored responses based on trusted company data.

Out-of-the-box “actions”: Einstein Copilot comes with a library of out-of-the-box actions – pre-programmed capabilities, automated responses, or business tasks performed by Einstein Copilot – that the AI can perform for the user when prompted. Actions can be combined to execute dynamic multi-step plans. For example, a customer service agent can ask Einstein Copilot to close a case and open a sales opportunity or sell an add-on, and Einstein Copilot will understand the user’s intent and can execute the task — or tasks — in the flow of the service experience. With Einstein Copilot there are no silos between applications or data.

Customize Einstein Copilot for specific business needs: Einstein Copilot can be customized to accomplish specific sales, service, marketing, commerce, and IT tasks, ensuring company and industry policies are applied. Copilot Builder can create custom actions for Einstein Copilot, Prompt Builder activates custom prompts in the flow of work, and Model Builder uses proprietary AI models to power custom Einstein Copilot functionality.

Reasoning engine to interpret intent and choose the best action: Einstein Copilot’s reasoning engine – the process that interprets and processes information to make informed decisions, solve problems, or generate insights – interacts with an LLM by analyzing the full context of the user’s prompt, determining the actions or series of actions to take, and generating the output. For example, if a sales rep asks Einstein Copilot, “Help me recommend a new product tier to my customer,” Einstein Copilot can determine which products the customer currently has, understand the upgrade options, and transition the customer into a new high-value marketing segment. Finally, Einstein Copilot can update the information across multiple systems with MuleSoft and Salesforce Flow.

Generating trusted responses and actions: Einstein Copilot serves up trusted AI interactions with privacy and security measures provided by the Einstein Trust Layer. The Einstein Trust Layer is part of the Einstein 1 Platform and performs functions like masking personally identifiable information (PII), scoring outputs for toxicity, and helping to protect information from unauthorized access and data breaches through zero-data retention from Salesforce’s LLM partners.

Pricing

Customers can access Einstein Copilot by purchasing Einstein 1 Editions or by adding it on to Enterprise or Unlimited Editions. Detailed pricing information is available here.

Global availability

• Einstein Copilot is available in beta globally for Sales Cloud and Service Cloud, with Commerce Cloud and Marketing Cloud available later in 2024.
• Einstein Copilot currently supports data residency in the United States and the English language.
• Einstein Copilot for Tableau will be launching later this year in H2. Currently Tableau supports generative AI capabilities with Tableau Pulse and Tableau Copilot (now in Beta).

Sample Use Cases

Einstein Copilot revolutionizes how teams and industries use AI to enhance productivity and personalization, conveniently within their flow of work. Using natural language prompts, salespeople can accelerate deal closures by summarizing records or generating customized communications to provide more personalized client engagement. Customer service and field service agents can streamline case resolution and boost customer satisfaction by surfacing relevant answers, offers, and data from disparate systems. Financial service companies can simplify client onboarding and craft personalized financial plans by automating data collection and analysis, enabling advisors to dedicate more time to client relationships and strategic advice.

Paperpal, An AI-powered Assistant for Researchers, Crosses 200K Users Worldwide

Paperpal, the CACTUS brand offering AI-powered assistance for language and technical compliance checks and translation for research manuscripts, crossed the 200K user mark worldwide on 20th May, 2023. This milestone took only 8 weeks after Paperpal hitting the 100K mark in March 2023. This can be attributed to the growing engagement around AI tools on various social platforms and signifies that researchers are enthusiastically adopting Paperpal for its relevance in academic writing.

Abhishek Goel, CEO, and Co-Fborounder, CACTUS, said, "We launched Paperpal to help researchers write better papers, edit them on the go, and make them publication ready within a very short duration. This tool is convenient; it can be plugged into MS Word and provides suggestions that are relevant to academic research. It gives us great joy when we find researchers praising Paperpal for helping them get published and recognising it as a tool specifically purpose-built for them.”

With over two decades of experience in delivering high-quality academic language editing services to researchers across the globe, CACTUS launched Paperpal, the AI-powered manuscript screening tool to facilitate researchers’ academic writing journey, in October 2020. Paperpal’s AI has been trained on millions of published articles and manuscripts edited by professional academic editors who have extensive experience enhancing manuscripts to meet the requirements of top journals. Paperpal helps improve authors’ chances of publication by flagging common errors and omissions in language and technical reporting prior to journal submission.

Nishchay Shah, Chief Technology Officer, CACTUS said, “Language solutions based on artificial intelligence (AI) are transforming the scholarly communication landscape. Academic writing assistants are witnessing a revolution with the exponential advancements in AI, especially with the explosion in Large Language Models (LLMs) due to the commercial success of chatGPT. Presently, authors have at their disposal a multitude of language editing tools or academic writing assistants that can aid them in their journey of writing a research paper. However, researchers have to use many different tools to get their paper ready for publication, which involves writing; translating; checking for technical journal compliance; reviewing the paper for clarity, style, and consistency; etc. At Paperpal, we blend the best AI tech developed inhouse and leverage bleeding-edge language models from the open-source community to build an integrated solution that seamlessly guides the author in their publication journey.”

Language editing is an essential part of the manuscript preparation process, and AI tools can greatly enhance the quality of academic texts. While AI language editing tools are increasingly being used to ensure clear, error-free writing, there are very few tools that are specifically designed for academic writing, such as Paperpal.

To know more, please visit: https://paperpal.com/

Paperpal is developing superpowers for academic researchers. We believe that brilliant product design and advanced machine learning can help researchers find, write, and submit better science faster. Paperpal is backed by Cactus Communications (cactusglobal.com), a science communications and technology company. CACTUS solves problems for researchers, universities, publishers, academic societies, and life science organizations through innovative products and services developed under the brands Editage, Cactus Life Sciences, Researcher.Life, Impact Science, Paperpal, and Cactus Labs. CACTUS has offices in Princeton, London, Aarhus, Singapore, Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul, Tokyo, and Mumbai; a global workforce of over 3,000 experts; and customers from over 190 countries.

Founded in 2002, Cactus Communications (cactusglobal.com) is a science communications and technology company that aims to advance society by making science accessible globally through innovation and technology. CACTUS solves problems for researchers, universities, publishers, academic societies, and life science organizations through innovative products and services developed under the brands Editage, Cactus Life Sciences, Researcher.Life, Impact Science, Paperpal and Cactus Labs. CACTUS has offices in Princeton, London, Aarhus, Singapore, Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul, Tokyo, and Mumbai; a global workforce of over 3,000 experts; and customers from over 190 countries. CACTUS is considered a pioneer in its workplace best practices and has been consistently ranked a great place to work over the last several years.