Ex-TechM CEO, IndiGo MD in AI deal
Former Tech Mahindra CEO CP Gurnani and IndiGo’s group managing director Rahul Bhatia on Tuesday launched a joint venture that will offer AI services, including generative AI, to clients in the travel, transport, logistics and hospitality (TTLH) industry.
While the exact investment ratio was not disclosed, the new firm, Aionos, is majorityowned by IndiGo’s parent firm, InterGlobe Enterprises. The announcement comes at a time software firms have been claiming a growing revenue from their artificial intelligence operations.
“We’re plagued by several issues (in the aviation industry), and we need change in how we deal with data and internal systems. It’s ironic that aircraft are at the cutting edge of technology, but what goes to get the aircraft to fly is still very archaic. Technology is the bedrock of an aviation business, and if we can make a large change in this, the value it brings to our company is enormous. That’s why we wanted to get into this space,” Bhatia told Mint.
Gurnani, who stepped down as CEO and MD of India’s fifthlargest IT services firm Tech Mahindra on 19 December last year, said that the company is working with the likes of Amazon and Microsoft to source their large language models (LLMs) for AI operations in the TTLH industry. At the same time, the company is also developing its own LLM.
“We’re talking to smaller, AI firms, as well as hyperscalers such as Amazon and Microsoft, and are also writing our own LLM by setting up a dedicated foundry service for the clients,” Gurnani said, adding that development of Aionos’ LLMs catering to the hospitality and logistics industry is being done out of a development hub in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. “In the near term, we’ll expand it to Hyderabad and Chennai,” he added.
The launch of Aionos comes at a time top IT services firms, which typically lead capability building, training and outsourcing projects across India’s technology industry, have made large claims about rising business from AI operations. K. Krithivasan, CEO of Tata Consultancy Services, India’s largest IT firm, said on 12 April that the company has earned $900 million in revenue from AI deals, a figure that is expected to grow.