Amazon and Hyundai Partner for Built-in Alexa in Hyundai Vehicles, Amazon To Sell Hyundai Vehicles Online from Next Year

• Amazon to launch online vehicle sales in the U.S., starting with Hyundai in 2024, making it more convenient for customers to find and buy their vehicle of choice on Amazon.com and pick it up from their local dealer
• Hyundai names AWS as its preferred cloud provider to help facilitate digital transformation of the automaker’s operations, production, and customer service
• Amazon and Hyundai to bring the Alexa Built-in experience to Hyundai’s next-generation vehicles

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Hyundai Motor Company announced a broad strategic partnership to bring innovative new experiences to customers. The announcement was made today at the 2023 Los Angeles Auto Show and a livestream can be viewed here. This strategic collaboration includes Amazon launching online sales of Hyundai vehicles in the U.S. in 2024, Hyundai naming AWS as its preferred cloud provider to help facilitate digital transformation, and the Alexa Built-in experience coming to Hyundai’s next-generation vehicles.

“Hyundai is a very innovative company that shares Amazon’s passion for trying to make customers’ lives better and easier every day,” said Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. “Our broad, strategic partnership should do just that, from changing the ease with which customers can buy vehicles online, to making it simple to use Alexa in Hyundai vehicles for entertainment, shopping, smart home adjustments, and calendar checks, to enabling Hyundai to transform their customer experiences and business operations by moving to AWS. We look forward to inventing together for many years.”

“Partnering with one of the world’s most customer-centric organizations unlocks incredible opportunities as we continue to expand our portfolio, grow our sales network, transition to electrification and realize the future of smart mobility,” said President and CEO of Hyundai Motor Company Jaehoon (Jay) Chang. “Amazon is the ideal partner to help realize our vision of progress for humanity, including improving how people and goods move more efficiently and sustainably. Hyundai is the first automotive company available for full end-to-end transactions in Amazon’s U.S. store and this is another example of how we continue to push for ways to elevate the customer journey together with our outstanding retail partners.”

DATE 2023 in New Delhi to pioneer India's Tech Revolution for Aatmanirbharta

Over 3,000 decision-makers will convene in New Delhi on 23rd and 24th November 2023, to explore India's tech ecosystem, celebrate its growth story, and foster innovation, echoing PM Modi's vision for a future driven by technology.

Way back in 2013, Honorable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi envisioned "IT+IT=IT; Indian talent + Information technology = India Tomorrow." This timeless statement, etched in the annals of time, resonates anew in his recent clarion call that "this era is a golden opportunity for India" and "the work done now will impact the next 1,000 years." It is with this resolute belief that global future tech events leader Trescon, with its Strategic Partner Cyberverse Foundation, proudly presents the inaugural Digital Acceleration & Transformation Expo (DATE) on 23rd and 24th November 2023 in New Delhi, India.

Aligned with Prime Minister Modi's vision of AatmaNirbhar Bharat and echoing the essence of "Make in India," DATE embodies India's audacious strides in technology. The event heralds a transformative epoch where the future is driven by technology, inspiring innovation for the generations to come with streams like artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud, cybersecurity, data analytics, eSports, Greentech, Fintech, IoT, metaverse and more as priorities.

Underpinned by the theme "Tech Reimagined: Unleashing the Power of Tech for Good," DATE marries technology and societal impact, encapsulating the essence of Prime Minister Modi's prophetic words.

"In the heart of India's digital transformation, we introduce DATE, not just as an event, but as a movement that will shape a more inclusive and prosperous future for our nation. DATE is not only a monumental leap in technology but also a commitment to India's growth story" declares Mohammed Saleem, Founder & Chairman of Trescon.

Trescon, a pioneering force in the global business events and services sector, takes immense pride in its close-knit relationship with India's vibrant tech community. With roots embedded in India, Trescon attributes a substantial part of its success to this very community that propels innovation forward.

Naveen Bharadwaj, Group CEO of Trescon, emphasises, "Our roots in India run deep, and the energy of the Indian tech community has propelled us to where we are today. DATE is the embodiment of India's technological prowess and its limitless potential, forging a path that resonates with the Prime Minister's visionary words - "Future is driven by technology."

Shri. Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, Chairman of the Advisory Board at Cyberverse Foundation, a Strategic Partner of DATE

Shri. Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, Chairman of the Advisory Board at Cyberverse Foundation, a Strategic Partner of DATE, perfectly encapsulates the vision, stating, "Cyberverse Foundation's mission resonates deeply with the ideals of DATE. It's about empowering India's tech ecosystem, fostering innovation, and fortifying cybersecurity. This strategic partnership seeks to build a resilient digital future for India."

Amid dynamic initiatives, DATE addresses global challenges through five central themes: Future Tech Frontiers, Green Quotient, Fintech Revolution, Beyond Experience, and To Trust or Not to Trust. The event aims to host over 100 global speakers, across 10 conference streams and 3 stages, with more than 100 exhibitors and 3,000+ attendees, delivering an immersive tech experience.

DATE is supported by Indian organisations, including the Data Security Council of India (DSCI), Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence (CCoE), Karnataka Digital Economy Mission, Government of Telangana, GESIA IT Association, Gujarat, and Digital Lenders Association of India (DLAI), as well as international organisations like UAE’s DIFC Innovation Hub, Indonesia’s KORIKA, Oman IT Society, and Intaj Jordan.

For further details and to be part of DATE, visit www.datewithtech.com.

PwC India and Zoho Announce Strategic Alliance to Enhance Digital Transformation Across the Technology Ecosystem

Today, Chennai-headquartered global technology company, Zoho announced a strategic partnership with PwC India. This alliance brings together Zoho's product portfolio of over 55 products with PwC's proven expertise in driving digital transformation strategy through advisory and consulting services. Through this partnership, PwC India and Zoho will help medium to large enterprises in the country, accelerate their digital transformation journey, enabling them to gain a competitive edge in the market.

Speaking on the partnership, Vivek Belgavi, Partner & Leader – Alliances & Ecosystems, PwC India said, “Zoho is a great addition to PwC India’s expanding alliance ecosystem aimed at technology and digital transformation landscape. Our joint value proposition with Zoho marks an important step towards shaping the future of digital transformation, as we aim to offer the most relevant and agile transformation solutions to drive growth and success for our clients. With Zoho's robust product portfolio and our sectoral and technology expertise, we are in a position to empower organisations in their transformative journeys, delivering human-led, tech-powered innovative solutions.”

Shivendra Singh, Partner – One Consulting, Zoho Alliance Lead, PwC India adds “We are delighted to embark on a transformative partnership with Zoho, driven by our shared vision of empowering our clients in their digital transformation journey. By leveraging Zoho's comprehensive suite of products, we plan to modernise operations and unlock higher efficiency for our clients. With the ability to customise, streamline and automate processes across functions, we are confident that our collaboration will provide strategic solutions that drive tangible results and propel our clients towards sustainable growth. Together, we are well-placed to deliver the future of technology transformation by solving complex client problems.”

“Zoho's partnership with PwC India is an extension of its larger strategy to leverage its SI partners' solutioning expertise to offer industry-specific tailored solutions for enterprises, built on Zoho's technology platform. We are confident that our customers will benefit from the breadth and depth of Zoho’s offering coupled with the industry expertise of PwC. We plan to expand our partnership with PwC to other geographies in the coming years,” said Bishan Singh, Head - Channel Ecosystem, Zoho Corp.

PwC India and Zoho will focus on providing clients and businesses with bespoke transformation solutions such as customer experience platform, custom applications, HR tech, and financial management applications including accounting solutions.

Zoho has a robust portfolio of over 55 products that cater to every business need from customer experience and employee experience to enterprise collaboration, custom solutions and business intelligence. Zoho’s products have been built on a common technology stack, owned by the company, enabling it to offer a truly unified offering. The platform approach ensures that its apps can be easily integrated and extended to fit into the larger technology ecosystem of any enterprise business. Zoho's products can be customised to cater to complex business requirements.

About PwC

At PwC, our purpose is to build trust in society and solve important problems. We’re a network of firms in 152 countries with over 327,000 people who are committed to delivering quality in assurance, advisory and tax services. Find out more and tell us what matters to you by visiting at www.pwc.com. PwC refers to the PwC network and/or one or more of its member firms, each of which is a separate legal entity. Please see www.pwc.com/structure for further details.

About Zoho

With 55+ apps in nearly every major business category, Zoho Corporation is one of the world's most prolific technology companies. Headquartered in Chennai, India, Zoho is privately held and profitable with more than 12,000 employees. Zoho respects user privacy and does not have an ad-revenue model in any part of its business, including its free products. The company owns and operates its data centres, ensuring complete oversight of customer data, privacy, and security. More than 90 million users around the world, across hundreds of thousands of companies, rely on Zoho everyday to run their businesses, including Zoho itself. For more information, please visit: www.zoho.com

eMudhra Acquires 51% of US-based Ikon Tech Services LLC Through Its US Subsidiary

eMudhra Announces 51% Acquisition of Ikon Tech Services LLC, USA Through Its Wholly Owned Subsidiary Emudhra Inc, USA 

The acquisition to strengthen eMudhra’s presence and positioning in the US market

eMudhra Limited (BSE: 543533 NSE: EMUDHRA) today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 51% of Ikon Tech Services LLC, Texas, USA, through its wholly owned subsidiary eMudhra Inc, USA.

Ikon Tech is a technology company in Houston Texas, USA, specialising in digital transformation and cyber security and has been in operation since 2012 and is in the business of providing consulting, solutioning and technology services in cybersecurity, digital transformation with an industry focus of Financial Services, Government, Healthcare and Oil and Gas. Its revenue from digital transformation and cyber security services during the year ended December 31, 2022, amounted to USD 6.7 million.

eMudhra has been in the digital trust, digital security and digital transformation space for the past 14 years. Over the years, eMudhra has established a strong footprint in India and emerging markets with marquee reference customers. eMudhra’s ambition to grow to the next level will depend on expanding into developed markets particularly the US which is the largest software market in the world. This in turn will depend on our ability to show an initial set of reference customers, our ability to hire talent to drive customer relationship management, our ability to provide local support to ensure streamlined delivery in US.

Since Ikon Tech has been in existence for the past 10 years and is engaged in digital transformation and cyber security related IT business, (similar line as eMudhra) acquisition of Ikon Tech will provide:

1. Revenue base in USA
2. Initial set of reference customers
3. Talent to drive customer engagement.
4. Local support to ensure streamlined delivery.

Further, scale and reference customers in the US will provide strong credibility when we go after other developed/emerging markets.

Mr. V Srinivasan, Executive Chairman, eMudhra Limited, said, "The global society is integrating more and more through digital medium. Paperless digital transformation and cyber security have become key needs in such integrated digital society. eMudhra catering to such needs has seen industry leading growths in Indian and other emerging markets. eMudhra has also recently forayed into the developed markets such as US. To cater to its growth aspects in US, eMudhra proposes to acquire 51% of Ikon Tech. This acquisition is expected to accelerate eMudhra’s penetration in the US market. Combined with eMudhra’s product range and Ikon Tech’s solutions and services capabilities, I am sure that we will provide unparalleled value to our customers as they pursue their digital journey."

Mr. Suresh Kathamreddy, President, Ikon Tech said, "While considering strategic alternatives, we found that eMudhra’s management shares a common strategic vision as Ikon Tech. Further, in eMudhra, we found a strong conviction for driving client success through innovation. We are confident of taking eMudhra’s products to our customer base and support eMudhra in its solutioning and support capabilities. I am really excited about the possibilities of what we can do together."

About eMudhra

eMudhra is a global organization aimed at empowering secure digital transformation by offering trust services and developing solutions around identity, authentication and digital signatures. eMudhra is a global trust service provider and largest certifying authority in India having managed over 60 million digital identities. eMudhra is a Board Member of the Cloud Signature Consortium, Chair of the Asia PKI Consortium and is a principal member of the CA/Browser Forum.

eMudhra has a strong marquee client list including Fortune 100 clients, and over 800+ large enterprises who use its products and solutions for their secure digital transformation initiatives. eMudhra has about 800 employees in offices across 7 countries serving customers in over 20 countries.

Tata Technologies Invests in an Innovation Centre in France to Accentuate Product Engineering and Digital Transformation for the Aerospace and Defence Sector

Company will focus on developing a local ecosystem of diverse and skilled innovators that will develop and deliver solutions for the global aerospace & defence companies.

Tata Technologies, a global product engineering and digital services company, inaugurated its innovation centre in Toulouse, France, to cater for the new-age product engineering & digital requirements of the global aerospace and defence sector. As a strategic supplier for Airbus, Tata Technologies brings 3-decades long engineering expertise, having worked with global aerospace customers on a wide range of strategic projects across product engineering, manufacturing engineering and customer services engineering areas. This new centre in Toulouse celebrates the larger Tata Group's commitment to the aerospace & defence sector.

The new centre aims at strengthening Tata Technologies’ relationship with Airbus as an engineering partner and expand its horizon in the industry by leveraging its innovative sustainable solutions for product engineering, manufacturing engineering, customer services engineering, predictive maintenance, tool design, data analytics, factory automation, process design and simulations. These end-to-end solutions are designed to transform digital customer journeys into seamless customer experiences.

Speaking on occasion, Mr Deepanshu Khurana. Second Secretary (Economic & Commerce), Embassy of India said, " I am delighted to be part of the Tata Technologies Aerospace & Defence innovation centre inauguration event which would further strengthen the relationship between India and France. As part of the Tata group, Tata Technologies brings in three decades of product engineering and digital transformation expertise that would provide great potential to the companies in this region. This new centre will provide growth opportunities and foster talent in Toulouse. It will also strengthen the economic ecosystem of the region. This is consistent with the growing economic cooperation between India and France and increasing investments from India into France in important high-quality areas."

Speaking on occasion, Mr Warren Harris, Managing Director, and CEO of Tata Technologies said, "We are excited about the potential of the new innovation centre that we inaugurated in Toulouse, the primary aviation hub of Europe today. This new centre is designed to innovate solutions for Airbus and other Global OEMs leveraging skills of the local talent pool and knowledge of our global team/s spread across the world. We believe that creating a local ecosystem that is diverse, knowledgeable and skilled for our customers in the market will boost our strategic alliance and help us develop better products efficiently."

Tata Technologies leverages its global engineering engagement model to deliver fast and optimized solutions for engineering analysis and modelling, continuous engineering support, cabin interior design and development, passenger-to-freighter conversion, tooling, maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO).

About Tata Technologies: We're a global product engineering and digital services company focused on fulfilling our mission of helping the world drive, fly, build, and farm by enabling our customers to realize better products and deliver better experiences. We’re the strategic engineering partner businesses turn to when they aspire to be better. Manufacturing companies rely on us to enable them to conceptualize, develop and realize better products that are safer, cleaner, and improve the quality of life for all the stakeholders, helping us achieve our vision of #EngineeringABetterWorld. For more, visit us at https://www.tatatechnologies.com/ 

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India’s Global Competitiveness Intricately Tied to Proficiency at Adopting AI: Shri Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog

“The long-term success of the Indian ecosystem and India’s global competitiveness will intricately be tied to our proficiency at adopting and leveraging AI at scale, especially in the larger enterprise context,” said Shri Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog speaking at the 5th edition of the Digital Transformation Summit, organised by Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) today in Mumbai. 

Mr Kant also released a report, titled, ‘From Buzz to Reality: The Accelerating Pace of AI in India’, prepared by Bain & Company in collaboration with Microsoft and IAMAI. Shri Kant said, “Artificial Intelligence is now more important than ever, not only is its use becoming ubiquitous, its adoption is central for private sector companies to remain globally relevant.” Underlining the importance of using AI responsibly, he added, “The promise of AI presents a wealth of opportunities -- there are key privacy, data security and ethical considerations that have to be accounted for. Responsible management of AI in India is key to leveraging benefits of AI while minimising the risks.”

The Summit brought together various stakeholders covering new age technology developers, enterprise solution providers, adopters, policy makers, knowledge partners and think tanks on one platform to analyse and discuss the roadmap of Digital Transformation in the near future.

Over various sessions industry leaders discussed various issues related to AI, Web3, Metaverse. Among those who attended the conference were Mr. MVS Murthy, Head – Marketing, Digital, Corp Comm, Tata Mutual Fund; Mr. Milan Seth, EVP IMEA Region- Automation Anywhere, and Mr. Poorav Sheth, Chief Digital Officer, Godrej & Boyce.

Mr. Milan Sheth, Chair, Automation Committee, IAMAI & EVP IMEA Region, Automation Anywhere, said, "Digital transformation has gone from push to pull, with more organisations demanding integration of newer technologies."

Speaking at a session on data security solutions for digitalized enterprises, Mr. Brijesh Singh, Additional Director General of Police, Govt. of Maharashtra, said, “The regulatory environment is getting tightened in India when it comes to cyber security.”

“Web 2.0 based applications made start-ups much easier to grow and operate, similarly web 3 will make global applications easy to build and use,” said Sandeep Laxman, Head Fintech Business Development, Amazon Web, discussing the future business models with web 3 and metaverse.

Different sessions were held on digital transformation strategy, work management 5.0, future of connected vehicle experience, data security and data-driven decision making. Over 300 delegates, more than 250 companies and over 50 speakers took part in the Digital Transformation Summit.

About IAMAI

Established in 2004, the Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) is a not-for-profit industry body and the country's only organization representing the digital services industry with over 400 Indian and multinational corporations as its members, which include established companies in diverse sectors of the digital ecosystem as well as start-ups. Its mandate is to expand and enhance the online and mobile value-added services sectors. It is dedicated to presenting a unified voice of the businesses it represents to the government, investors, consumers and other stakeholders. IAMAI represents varied sectors such as digital advertising, digital entertainment, TravelTech, online gaming, digital payments, Fintech, digital commerce, Edutech, Healthtech, Agritech, blockchain, Big data, ML, AI & IoT, AR/ VR, LogisticsTech and so on.

Digitalisation in India Will Grow in 2025 Due to the Activity of Middle-Aged and Senior Users

The report by Robocash Group reveals that by 2025, 66% of the increase in the number of Internet users will be attributed mainly to the middle-aged and elderly population. The shares of young adults and middle-aged generations will become roughly equal, resulting in an equivalent impact on fintech.

The young adults and adults (18-34 y.o) in India comprise the largest share (35%) of all Internet users. However, despite the growth in absolute numbers, the age group of young adults has lost almost 20 p.p. of the share for the period from 2013 to 2019 due to the faster growth of other generations.
According to the Robocash Group’s forecast, the share of young adult Internet users will continue to decline, compared to the middle-aged generation (35-54 y.o). The share of the teenage population group will not grow as quickly in the future, resulting in the 3.4 p.p. loss in the coming years. 

Due to government programs and the necessity to use online services, the middle-aged and elderly population will begin actively using the Internet at faster rates. Therefore, by 2025 we can expect an increase in the share of the middle-aged by 32%, and in the elderly generation (55+ y.o.) up to 12.0%.

Thus, 94 million and 62 million from the middle-aged and elderly age groups respectively are forecasted to become Internet users by 2025. This will lead to a shift in the age breakdown structure, as the prevailing share will then belong to the middle-aged people. The shares of the young adults and middle-aged Internet users will become roughly equal, thereby having equivalent potential and influence on fintech services.

Robocash Group’s analysts comment that this change in the structure of Internet users will have a direct impact on the fintech industry, increasing the significance of the middle-aged and elderly population as a target audience. 11% of middle-aged and 14% of seniors will almost certainly start using fintechs frequently or consistently. In this regard, fintech companies will presumably turn to online education and training of the middle-aged and elderly generations in order to expand the target audience.

The report analyses digitalisation in India broken down by four main age groups:1. Teenagers – 12-17 years old; 2. Young adults-Adults – 18-34 years old; 3. Middle-aged – 35-54 years old; 4. Elderly – 55 years old and older.

Robocash Group is a group of companies, which provides fintech services in Asia and Europe. Founded by entrepreneur Sergey Sedov in 2013, the group focuses on providing modern finance solutions for the underserved by the traditional banking system. All products of the group are built completely in-house using artificial intelligence, machine learning and data-driven technologies to provide precise and comprehensive risk management, comfort and speed for customers and efficiency for business. For the time of operation, the group has gained more than 19 million customers and provided financing in the amount of 1.6 billion USD.

Digital Transformation SaaS Startup Nextqore Launched by Leading Industry Experts

Sanjay Behl, Co-founder and India CEO, Nextqore

A team of a Industry experts from Technology, Consumer and Retail sector started with a combined vision to launch a Digital Transformation start-up named Nextqore Incorporation. Microsoft's IoT Signal report released in October 2020 indicated that Covid pandemic has forced 3 in 4 companies to consider increasing or sustaining their IoT related investments in their organisations, despite dramatic cost cuts in all other functions.

Nextqore is a US based SaaS company and launched its Technology Development and Customer Support in India in July earlier this year. India is a natural choice for Technology development and to start building the market. The available talent and the major digital drive in the country is synergistic to Nextqore vision.

Nextqore SaaS integrates IoT technology Service Platforms and Cloud platforms to build its SaaS product, with a vision help businesses generate value by transitioning their practices to Digital and running them effectively. It does so by capturing stream of data signals on existing digital devices or designs digital twins to create a data pipeline and connects with Cloud IoT toolkits to significantly enhance business efficiency across Equipment, People and Operational Practices.

Nextqore has hired the Technical leadership team and the minimum viable product will go live with a leading equipment service company in India over the next few weeks.

Nextqore's founding team has a rich experience in Network and IT integration in large scale Telecom Industry having built customer franchise of over 100 Mn subscribers, across multiple Technologies.

The founder, Suresh Rangachar, has over 3 decades of experience in leading IT and network Integration across Mobility, Enterprise Services, DTH and Data Centres. This will be 5th Turn in building Scale up Network & IT integration from Ground Zero. 

The Co-founder and India CEO, Sanjay Behl, has over 2 decades of experience in Consumer goods, Telco's and Fashion Retail sectors. He has led transformation of large-scale global operations and led many global brands. Sanjay will also head Global Marketing Operations of Nextqore. The other Co-founder Anil Nahata is an expert in IT asset management area with a deep understanding of Software Asset Management and Compliance. He has overseen many managed service deals and global strategic partnerships. 

An early investor and board advisor in the venture, Paul K Singh is Founder and CEO of Rezon8 Capital & Advisory Group, a PE firm that invests in and mentors the founders and CEOs of its tech-driven portfolio companies. He also serves on the boards of InterCentrus Global Data Centers, US Matrix, Opinion meter and ECMC Group. He is a NACD Board Leadership Fellow.

For further information about the company: www.nextqore.com