Former Tech Mahindra India business head to set up AI startup

Jagdish Mitra, former India business head at Pune-headquartered IT giant Tech Mahindra, has set up an Artificial Intelligence-focused startup with a proposed initial investment of Rs 65-80 crore, news agency Press Trust of India reported.

The startup is likely to commence operations in the next three months, according to the agency.  

"We will start going to customers in 8-12 months. Initially, we will invest $8-10 million," Mitra told Press Trust of India.

"Cost arbitrage factor, driven by manpower, is going to be seriously impacted. It will be driven by values. We need to move from a cost-driven proposition to a value-driven proposition... We are going to focus on value proposition. Our firm will start operations within a quarter," said Mitra, who moved out of Tech Mahindra in April.

The startup will focus on manufacturing, retail, and sportstech, and will operate both from the US as well as India, Mitra said without disclosing the name of the company, according to the PTI report. 

He also said that his firm will look at using Artificial Intelligence for enhancing productivity.

"Everyone will not develop ChatGPT models. It will cost a huge amount of money. Our focus will be on short language models and delivering value in factory output... There should be a share in the value of outcome that the AI model achieves in factory output. The future of the tech industry is not about the cost of resources developing AI models but it will have to be based on the value it delivers," Mitra added. 

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