On June 22, 2024, I had the pleasure of attending the Innov AI Conference, hosted at the prestigious Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIMB). The lush, sprawling IIMB campus provided the perfect backdrop for a day filled with insightful discussions and groundbreaking innovations in artificial intelligence.
This event, hosted by E2E Networks in collaboration with IIM Bangalore, was themed “Shaping the Future with AI Innovation” and brought together AI enthusiasts, industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and educators, offering valuable insights into the entrepreneurial potential of AI. The conference was highly successful, attracting over 300 participants, 20+ speakers, 50 AI startups, and 6 demo sessions.
On Stage
The event kicked off with a “Welcome Note” by Prof. Rishikesha T. Krishnan, Director of IIM Bangalore, who emphasized the critical synergy between technology and business. This was followed by an enlightening keynote address on “AI Opportunities for Entrepreneurs in India” by Sharad Sharma, Co-Founder of the iSPIRT Foundation.
Sharad Sharma highlighted the importance of companies embracing AI and discussed the diffusion of AI in India. He categorized AI players into integrators, builders, and enablers, and advised aspiring AI professionals to focus on modular AI rather than integration.
Prof. Suresh Bhagavatula delivered an insightful talk on the evolution of entrepreneurship post-COVID. He elaborated on how the pandemic has reshaped entrepreneurial dynamics, encouraging innovation and resilience among new and existing businesses.
Panel Discussions
AI In Education
The first panel discussion was on “AI in Education – Transforming Teaching and Learning.” This discussion featured industry leaders like Sumod K. Mohan, CEO of AutoInfer, Arjun Reddy, CEO of HaiVE and AI Venture Factory, and Aman Arora, Co-founder & CTO of Leverage Edu.It was Moderated by Prof. Jitamitra Desai of IIMB, the panel explored the promise of AI in personalizing education and the transformative potential of virtual mentors. Arjun Reddy shared insights on Malar, an AI tool for personalized learning. The conversation covered the balance between online and offline learning, and the role of AI in enhancing educational outcomes.
AI In Opportunities and Challenges in Startups
The second panel discussion was on “The Future of AI – Opportunities and Challenges for Startups,” moderated by Ankit Bose, Head of Nasscom AI. This session featured insights from Prayank Swaroop, Partner at Accel, Ajay Ramasubramaniam, Founder & CEO of Startup Réseau, Nirant Kasliwal, Consulting AI Engineer, and Tanvi Lall, Director of Strategy at People + AI. The discussion focused on identifying customer needs and the infrastructure essentials for scaling AI capabilities effectively.
Industry-Focused Talks
- AI in Automotive: Rachit Mathur from Mercedes Benz discussed innovative AI solutions for electric vehicles and AI’s role in reducing component failures.
- AI for Digital Manufacturing: Gaurav Kataria of ITC Limited highlighted the use of computer vision and Generative AI to automate manufacturing processes.
- AI in Agriculture: Dev Aggarwal, CTO of Gooey.AI, showcased “Farmer.CHAT,” an application designed to assist Indian farmers with real-time, multi-lingual cultivation advice.
- AI in Healthcare: Kalyan Sivasailam, CEO of 5C Network, discussed the potential of multi-modal AI Agents for autonomous medical image diagnosis.
- AI in Media: Divya Tak, Co-founder of Joyus Studio, highlighted AI’s disruptive force in media and entertainment.
- AI in Finance: Priyesh Srivastava, CTO of OnFinan, spoke about lean strategies for Generative AI in finance, emphasizing rapid innovation in this sector..
Innovation Showcase
Shehzaman Salim Khatib presented XenCapture, a solution for converting images or videos of physical objects into 3D models. Notably, it offers faster and more accurate results than traditional methods. Moreover, this innovative solution is accessible to people of all skill levels.
Ravi Theja Desetty developed LlamaParse + LlamaIndex, a tool that answers questions about annual reports by setting up a service to query those reports.
Ganapathy Shankar introduced TensorHub Technologies, a low-code platform for building generative AI applications. Specifically, this platform enables the creation of new data, such as text, code, or images. Consequently, it simplifies the development process for users, thereby making it more efficient and accessible.
Amol Umbarkar showcased the TIR-GenAI Platform, which empowers users to develop, deploy, and manage AI models effectively. Its functionalities streamline the entire AI development lifecycle.
Adithya S Kolavi presented OmniParse, an API that ingests any data and extracts information from it. It can handle tables, images with captions, audio/video transcriptions, and various file types, including markdown, video, and JSON.
Samuel Jerome introduced SentientMatters, a company dedicated to democratizing access to AI news. Their goal is to deliver the latest AI news to people from diverse backgrounds.
Conclusion
The Innov AI Conference 2024 was a tremendous success, providing a platform for AI enthusiasts, industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and educators to explore the transformative power of artificial intelligence. As Tarun Dua, Founder and Managing Director of E2E Networks, stated, “We believe that AI has the potential to revolutionize every industry, and we are excited to see the innovative products and solutions that have emerged from this conference.”
The event underscored the need for AI modulers rather than just integrators, stressing the importance of responsible AI and highlighting the negative consequences of social media. Furthermore, the conference showcased the collaborative effort needed to harness AI’s full potential for a better tomorrow.
What innovative AI applications are you most excited about implementing in your industry? Share your thoughts and ideas! 😊
