Archives May 2026

Vapi raises $50M Series B as it reaches 1 billion calls, powering the next generation of enterprise voice AI

San Francisco, CA – May 13: voice AI startup Vapi announced a $50 million funding round to make all calls extraordinary.  When a customer calls a business, they aren’t looking for another channel. They’re looking for an outcome. But most phone experiences still run on rigid phone trees, scripts, and deterministic systems that can’t listen, adapt, or resolve issues the way a human can. Voice is where intent is highest and expectations are clearest. Vapi, the leading platform for deploying configurable voice agents at scale, was built to make that channel extraordinary. 

Following a 10x in enterprise ARR growth, the Series B round was led by Peak XV with participation by M12, Microsoft’s Venture Fund, Kleiner Perkins, Bessemer Venture Partners, and earlier investors, bringing total funding to $72 million.

Nearly $3 trillion in global sales are projected to be at risk in 2026 due to bad customer experiences. And despite years of investment in chatbots, automation, and self-service portals, customer satisfaction scores haven’t increased. Since 2022, they’ve actually dropped by 2%, and haven’t meaningfully moved since 2017. The problem isn’t that businesses aren’t trying. It’s that the systems behind most customer interactions were never designed to listen, adapt, or meet people where they are. Vapi believes the fastest way to earn trust and resolve issues has always been a real conversation. Voice AI can finally make those conversations happen at scale.

Enterprise customers include Amazon Ring, Kavak, ServiceTitan, New York Life, and Intuit. Amazon Ring uses Vapi to handle inbound customer inquiries about smart home security devices.

When [Amazon] Ring customers call in, they expect fast, high-quality support,” said Jason Mitura, Vice President of Software Development at Amazon Ring. “After evaluating dozens of vendors, Vapi stood out. We went from zero to production in two weeks, and 100% of our inbound volume now runs through the Vapi. Most importantly, we’ve maintained our high bar of support for our customers and CSAT scores have improved. Vapi gives our teams the ability to tune the agent experience without depending on engineering. A lot of AI tools promise great outcomes – Vapi has delivered on them.” 

Vapi is an enterprise voice AI platform for building, deploying, and managing voice agents that deliver the outcomes businesses want at the scale their customers need. The platform is designed to take teams from working prototype to production-scale deployment in days instead of months. Vapi’s platform is optimized for low latency, with the flexibility to swap models and providers, and an API that removes the need to understand telephony internals. Vapi’s mission is to make it easy for any business to build the kind of human interface that lets customers get the help they need.

The platform powers voice AI for businesses that need to handle calls at scale – supporting everything from inbound customer service and outbound collections to candidate screening, sales coaching through simulated dialogue, and autonomous IVR navigation. Customers use Vapi to replace or augment contact centers, automate high-volume qualification workflows, and navigate complex third-party payer systems without human involvement. The company has found its strongest traction in financial services, healthcare, insurance, automotive, and workforce management.

“Vapi has built a differentiated self-serve product for developers and enterprises in the massive voiceAI revolution,” said Arnav Sahu, Partner at Peak XV. “In 10 years, it’s likely most calls will not have a human behind the phone. With its bottom-up, PLG approach, we believe Vapi is the next Zapier and n8n for voiceAI workflows. At Peak XV, we are investors in several developer and bottom-up companies like Supabase, PostHog, Better Auth and ClickHouse and believe Vapi has the potential to be the defining platform for voice AI. We are excited to partner with them.”

Co-founders Jordan Dearsley and Nikhil Gupta met at the University of Waterloo and spent years building products together, including a Y Combinator-backed calendar app that reached profitability. Vapi started almost by accident. In mid-2023, Dearsley built a voice-based AI therapist for his daily walks, chaining models together and optimizing for latency until he had a working phone-based system. The therapy product didn’t take off, but the infrastructure did. Vapi launched publicly on Product Hunt in March 2024.

Most businesses have spent decades of time and effort, only to make their customer experience worse,” said Jordan Dearsley, CEO and co-founder of Vapi. “The real unlock is building agents for your customers that feel human. Vapi gives teams the platform to deploy voice agents that actually solve problems for customers — millions of them, every day.

Today, the company reports more than 1 million developers, over 2.7 million unique agents created, and over 1 billion calls made. 

Vapi sees the next phase of voice AI being defined by governance and predictability. As agents take on higher-stakes workflows, enterprise operators need tighter uptime guarantees, predictable latency under load, and call-level monitoring that treats every conversation as a production workload. That is where the company is focused: deeper reliability, stronger guardrails that keep agents within defined boundaries, and clear escalation paths when a situation calls for a human. The goal is to make it easy for any business to deploy voice agents that deliver measurable outcomes at scale, so that getting help feels as natural as having a real conversation.

 

Narotam Sekhsaria Foundation Grants and Awards 2026

Mumbai, May 12: Narotam Sekhsaria Foundation (NSF) and Salaam Mumbai Foundation (SMF) jointly organised the Narotam Sekhsaria Foundation Grants and Awards 2026 ceremony on 12th May 2026 at Yashwantrao Chavan Centre, Runanubandha Hall, Mumbai. On this occasion, 4 NGO Grantees and 6 individuals from different states in India were felicitated by Dr. Rita Parvade, Assistant Director, Directorate of Health Services, Govt. of Maharashtra. To  strengthen the Tobacco Free Schools Programme, Narotam Sekhsaria Foundation and Salaam Mumbai Foundation annually felicitate individuals who have made significant contributions in creating a tobacco-free and healthy environment at educational institutions as well as village and community levels.

These awardees contribute to the effective implementation and dissemination of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) and Tobacco Free Educational Institution (ToFEI) guidelines under the National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP) of GoI. All these awardees are agents of change in the society, creating awareness at the grassroots among educational institutions and communities.

Founded by Mr. Narotam Sekhsaria in 2002, the Narotam Sekhsaria Foundation (NSF) supports initiatives towards a holistic change in society through the fields of Health, Education and Livelihood as focus areas. The Foundation has three main focus areas within the health domain i.e. cancer care, tobacco control, and palliative care. It has partnered with the Directorate of Health Services, Government of Maharashtra for providing technical support to tobacco cessation centres in 10 districts of the state.

Since 2008, Salaam Mumbai Foundation (SMF) in collaboration with the Departments of Education and Health, has been effectively implementing the Tobacco Free and Healthy Schools Initiative in Maharashtra as well as at the national level.

As part of its commitment to cancer prevention, NSF instituted the NGO Grants and Awards in 2009-2010 to support and encourage grassroots initiatives in tobacco control. It has been offering grants to NGOs and awarding individuals for their outstanding work in the area of tobacco control. NGOs and individuals involved in tobacco control from different parts of the country are selected through a rigorous assessment process in coordination with Salaam Mumbai Foundation. Till date, the Foundation has felicitated 60 individuals and offered grants to 39 NGOs across 13 states in India. Under this initiative, more than 5500 schools have been declared as tobacco-free, 15,62,059 villagers have been sensitised on the harms of tobacco through awareness sessions to support the efforts of the tobacco-free school programme, 2,47,540 stakeholders like panchayat members, police, education officers and others were trained. Around 1,81,797 teachers have been trained to make their schools tobacco-free.

Overall, the NSF Grants and Awards have had a huge impact on the recipients of the awards and have built their capacities to take up leadership roles for tobacco control in their respective contexts as revealed by the data. This in turn has translated into positive changes at village, school and individual levels.

This year, 4 NGOs and 6 individuals have been selected for the grants and awards respectively.  

Mr. Manish Joshi, Director & CEO – Narotam Sekhsaria Foundation commented “As India continues to advance as a global leader in public health, the Narotam Sekhsaria Foundation remain deeply committed to supporting national initiatives designed to curb the tobacco epidemic. As per reports over 1.35 million lives are lost annually to tobacco-related diseases, it is imperative that both the public and private sectors work together. We strongly support the government’s policy intervention like the COTPA 2003, ToFEI guidelines. Also, we welcome the government’s move on expansion of Tobacco Cessation Centers in districts and all health facilities. The Foundation is proud to advocate for a healthier India’s youth and workforce. We are willing to partner more with the state government on Tobacco Cessation.”

Ms. Rajashree Kadam, Trustee – Salaam Mumbai Foundation shared, “We are grateful to the NGOs and individuals who continue to work tirelessly at the grassroots to protect children and communities from the harmful effects of tobacco addiction. Through the Narotam Sekhsaria Foundation Grants and Awards, we are not only recognising their efforts but also strengthening the larger tobacco control ecosystem by building the capacities of schools, teachers, community stakeholders, and local leaders. These partnerships are critical in helping us expand and sustain a strong tobacco control repertoire across districts and communities. The dedication of these organisations plays a vital role in creating healthier, tobacco-free environments for young people to thrive.” 

While the award encourages the individuals to continue the good work, the NGO grants focus on working towards the implementation of a Tobacco-Free school programme in their respective Districts. The NGOs develop innovative strategies for tobacco control and gradually, position themselves as catalysts for changing social attitudes towards the use of tobacco. The school teachers, local NGOs and local activists for change reach out to a larger number of people and sustain the programme at school and community level as they work at the grassroots. 

NSF NGO Grantees for 2026-2027 and NSF Awardees 2026 list 

NGOs

 

NGO

State

Districts for Implementation

Number of Blocks/ Districts to be covered

1

Grameen Swavlamban Samiti

Madhya Pradesh

Tikamgarh

3 blocks

2

Dharti Gramotthan Evam Sahbhagi Gramin Vikas Samiti

Madhya Pradesh

Morena

and Sheopur

4 blocks

3

Jan Lok Kalyan Parishad

Jharkhand

Pakur

6 blocks

4

Balajee Sewa Sansthan

Uttarakhand

State

of Uttarakhand

13 districts

 Individuals

Sr. No

Name of the Individual

State

District

Profession

1

Mr. Ravi Balajirao Dhage

Maharashtra

Nanded

Teacher

2

Mr. Amol Rambhau Kale

Maharashtra

Washim

Teacher

3

Mr. Narendra Balu Patil

Maharashtra

Jalgaon

Social Worker

4

Dr. Shweta Sawlikar Khandre

Maharashtra

Chandrapur

District Consultant, NTCP

5

Dr. Jagdishchandra B Vathar

Maharashtra

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

Public Health Dentist (Dean of Dental College)

6

Mr. Kamlesh Kumar

Rajasthan

Jhunjhunu

District Education Officer

 Key Dignitaries at the event:

·           Dr. Rita Parvade, Assistant Director, Directorate of Health Services, Govt. of Maharashtra

·           Mr. Manish Joshi (Director & CEO – Narotam Sekhsaria Foundation)

·           Smt. Rajashree Kadam (Vice President – Salaam Mumbai Foundation)

·           Mr. Datta BalsarafManager, Yashwantrao Chavan Pratishthan

·           Ms. Tshering Bhutia – Chief Innovation Officer and Sr. VP – Preventive Health, Salaam Bombay Foundation

·           Mr. Gaurav Arora – Chief Growth Officer and Sr. VP – Skills@School & Sports, Salaam Bombay Foundation

hubergroup Chemicals showcases advanced solutions for coatings and inks at Paintistanbul 2026

 

hubergroup Chemicals

At Paintistanbul 2026hubergroup Chemicals will present its broad, advanced portfolio for the coatings and inks industry. The key highlights at company’s stand are the new additive series ELARA

May 13: hubergroup Chemicals, one of the leading manufacturers in the speciality chemicals sector, will once again exhibit at Paintistanbul, taking place from June 17–19, 2026, at the Istanbul Fuar Merkezi (IFM). Visitors can meet hubergroup Chemicals in Hall 6, Booth B11, where the chemical specialist will showcase sustainable, high-performance solutions for coating and ink technologies. Among the key highlights at company’s stand are the new additive series ELARA and the recently launched UV oligomer UHVPI-222200.

Comprehensive portfolio for coatings and inks

At Paintistanbul 2026, hubergroup Chemicals will present its broad, advanced portfolio for the coatings and inks industry. The range includes resins, pigments and concentrates, UV monomers, UV oligomers, and additives, designed to meet demanding performance and regulatory requirements.

Two product innovations will take centre stage this year:

  • ELARA additive series: Developed for paint and coatings applications, the high-performance ELARA additive range addresses increasing technical and regulatory demands. The series is largely PFAS- and VOC-free, enabling more sustainable formulations without compromising performance.
  • UHVPI-222200 UV Oligomer: The newly introduced amine-modified polyether acrylate oligomer UHVPI-222200 enhances the curing behaviour and surface quality of modern UV-curing systems. Thanks to its high reactivity and robust performance even under challenging conditions, it is well-suited for a variety of energy-curable applications, including industrial coatings, UV flexo inks, organic photovoltaic devices (OPVs), and wood coatings.

Furthermore, hubergroup Chemicals will inform about its capabilities in custom manufacturing (CMO), offering tailored solutions to meet specific customer requirements across the chemical industry.

Strengthening partnerships in a key market

Paintistanbul is one of the key industry events in the region, bringing together manufacturers, suppliers, and experts from the coatings and chemicals value chain. For hubergroup Chemicals, the exhibition serves as a valuable platform to strengthen relationships, explore new business opportunities, and gain insights into regional market developments.

“We are pleased to participate in Paintistanbul for the second time and to engage with our partners and customers in this dynamic market,” says Burak Sezerel, Sales and Marketing Director at hubergroup Chemicals. “The event offers an excellent opportunity to present our portfolio and discuss how we can support our customers with high-performance and sustainable solutions.”

hubergroup Chemicals looks forward to welcoming visitors at Booth B11 in Hall 6.

Event details:

June 17–19, 2026 Istanbul Fuar Merkezi (IFM), Istanbul, Turkey Hall 6, Booth B11

Medisca and dsm–firmenich Partner to Expand Access to Pharmaceutical-Grade Vitamin APIs for U.S. Compounding Market

Business Wire India

Medisca, a global leader in personalized pharmaceutical medicine, has entered into a strategic partnership with dsm–firmenich, a leading ingredient manufacturer serving regulated pharmaceutical markets worldwide.

 

Through this partnership, Medisca will make a portfolio of pharmaceutical-grade vitamin active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) available to U.S. compounding professionals, expanding access to ingredients manufactured within European cGMP environments and supported by established quality systems and documentation standards.

 

 

Strengthening the foundation of compounding

 

 

As compounding continues to support increasingly complex and regulated care settings, expectations around ingredient sourcing, consistency, and documentation continue to rise. Pharmacies and 503B outsourcing facilities are seeking partners that enable them to operate with confidence at scale.

 

 

This partnership reflects a long-term commitment to expanding access to high-quality ingredient solutions while preserving the workflows, relationships, and operational models customers rely on today.

 

 

We are grateful to partner with dsm–firmenich, a global organization recognized for its manufacturing standards and commitment to quality,” said Peng Li, Vice President, Strategic Partnerships at Medisca. “Ingredient sourcing is foundational to trust and long-term success in compounding. By bringing dsm–firmenich pharmaceutical-grade API portfolio into the Medisca ecosystem, we are expanding what our customers can rely on today and supporting how the industry continues to evolve.

 

 

The partnership introduces pharmaceutical-grade vitamin APIs through an established commercial and technical model designed to support regulated use and long-term continuity across compounding practice.

 

 

Partnering with Medisca is a meaningful step in expanding access to high-quality, pharmaceutical-grade vitamin APIs for the U.S. compounding market. By combining our global manufacturing expertise and commitment to cGMP standards with Medisca’s deep understanding of compounding professionals, we are strengthening supply reliability and enabling pharmacies and 503B outsourcing facilities to operate with greater confidence, consistency, and quality in patient care.” ~Jennifer McManus, Senior Sales Director, dsm-firmenich

 

 

The dsm–firmenich vitamin API portfolio is available through Medisca in the United States, with additional products expected to be introduced over time. Customers can contact their Medisca sales representative for ordering information, pricing, and lead times.

 

 

About dsm–firmenich

 

 

As innovators in nutrition, health, and beauty, dsm–firmenich reinvents, manufactures, and combines vital nutrients, flavors, and fragrances for the world’s growing population to thrive. With its comprehensive range of solutions, natural and renewable ingredients, and renowned science and technology capabilities, the company creates what is essential for life, desirable for consumers, and more sustainable for people and the planet. dsm–firmenich is a Swiss company with dual headquarters in Kaiseraugst, Switzerland and Maastricht, Netherlands, listed on Euronext Amsterdam, with operations in almost 60 countries and revenues of more than €12 billion. With a diverse, worldwide team of nearly 30,000 employees, dsm–firmenich brings progress to life every day, everywhere, for billions of people. www.dsm-firmenich.com

 

 

About Medisca

 

 

Founded in 1989, Medisca is a leader in personalized medicine and pharmaceutical supply chain solutions, with a vast portfolio of over 2,000 products complemented by a library of 10,000+ proprietary and customized medication formulas, expertise and services in pharmaceutical compounding, continuing healthcare education, and analytical testing. Providing finely-tuned solutions to diverse wellness sectors in numerous markets globally, Medisca is bridging the gaps in healthcare and empowering personalized wellness for all. For more information, visit www.medisca.com and follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.

 

 

 

 

 

Hytera Advances AI-Powered Critical Communications at Global Partner Summit 2026

Business Wire India

Hytera Communications, a leading global provider of critical communications technologies and solutions, successfully concluded its annual Global Partner Summit (HGPS) 2026 on May 8 in Shanghai. Held under the theme “Advancing Together,” the summit brought together more than 500 attendees from over 60 countries to strengthen collaboration, share strategic insights, and explore future opportunities in AI-powered critical communications.

 

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260512161109/en/

 

 

Yelin Jiang, CEO of Hytera Group, delivering the keynote speech at HGPS 2026 in Shanghai.

Yelin Jiang, CEO of Hytera Group, delivering the keynote speech at HGPS 2026 in Shanghai.

 

Reflecting on Hytera’s development from 2025 to 2026, Yelin Jiang, CEO of Hytera Group, shared his outlook on the company’s future growth and innovation strategy. “Looking back on 2025, we grew in business and market, grew in technology, and grew together with our partners,” said Jiang. “Building on that momentum, we are now advancing together into 2026 – with innovation in our genes, and AI taking us even higher. This dual-wheel drive of technology and market advancement is how we will achieve sustainable success together.”

 

“We are moving beyond communications to create greater operational value,” said Stanley Song, Vice President of Sales at Hytera. “As AI reshapes the critical communications industry, Hytera is evolving from a communications provider into a partner for industry solutions and workflow enablement. Together with our ecosystem partners, we are driving long-term growth and accelerating industry transformation.”

 

 

Following the strategic sessions, Hytera’s R&D and product teams shared the company’s latest technology roadmap, highlighting how AI-powered and converged communications technologies are evolving into integrated operational platforms embedded across customer workflows.

 

 

Another major highlight of HGPS 2026 was the immersive exhibition zone, spanning more than 400 square meters and showcasing Hytera’s latest AI-powered innovations and integrated solutions. Covering sectors including public safety, airports, utilities, oil & gas, and enterprise, the exhibition demonstrated how communications, video, AI applications, and command systems are working together to improve operational safety, efficiency, and coordination in real-world scenarios.

 

 

Interactive technology zones further highlighted Hytera’s continued investment in AI-enabled innovation, featuring an AI-powered interactive avatar, glasses-free 3D displays, and a full portfolio of broadband, narrowband, and multi-mode smart terminals.

 

 

The summit concluded with a dinner cruise on Shanghai’s Huangpu River, where partners from around the world gathered against the city’s iconic skyline – reflecting the openness, connectivity, and shared momentum that continue to drive Hytera and its global partners forward as they move toward the future together.

 

 

About Hytera

 

 

Hytera Communications Corporation Limited (SZSE: 002583) is a leading global provider of critical communications technologies and solutions. Hytera has been serving worldwide users over three decades with its innovative portfolio of two-way radios, PMR&LTE convergent communications, fast-deploy communications, body-worn cameras, control room, etc. Learn more at https://www.hytera.com/en/

 

 

 

 

 

AU Small Finance Bank Highlights Credit Card Features Focused on Digital Payments and Card Management

Business Wire India

AU Small Finance Bank has outlined key features across its credit card portfolio, with a focus on digital payments, contactless transactions, card controls, rewards management, and transparent credit card interest rates.

The bank’s credit card range includes multiple variants designed for different spending categories, including everyday transactions, travel, dining, and lifestyle-led spends. These products are designed to address the diverse customer life-stages from first-time credit users and Gen Z / young salaried professionals to digitally savvy customers and affluent achievers. Overall, the portfolio is structured to cater to varied customer requirements rather than a single standard product.

Contactless and Digital Payment Capabilities

AU SFB Credit Cards support contactless payments at NFC-enabled POS terminals. Transactions up to Rs. 5,000 can be completed without PIN authentication, while transactions above this threshold require PIN entry in accordance with payment network guidelines applicable across India.

The Credit Cards are also compatible with digital payment platforms, including Google Pay and Samsung Pay, enabling tokenised mobile-based transactions at supported merchants. Under tokenisation, card details are replaced with a device-specific token during payment processing.

Contactless services can be activated through the AU 0101 mobile banking application or internet banking.

Card Management Through AU 0101

AU Small Finance Bank provides card management features through its AU 0101 mobile banking application. Customers can access transaction history, modify spending limits, manage card usage settings, and block or unblock cards through the app interface.

The platform also enables users to manage contactless payment settings without requiring branch visits or assisted service requests. In addition, customers can conveniently manage their credit card bill payment through digital channels, with options to pay credit card bills online via mobile banking and net banking, supporting a streamlined credit card bill pay experience.

Credit Card EMI Offers

AU SFB Credit Cards offers simple EMI options across all retail credit cards for transactions above Rs. 2000/- with multiple tenure options ranging from 3 to 24 months, at very affordable rates. Customers can spend without worrying about big bills, as multiple offers across EMI are always available, which can be availed either at POS machines or Payment Gateways. Instant Discounts and No -cost EMI offers provide effective purchasing power to customers, ensuring a wide range of brands to select from.

Recently made live EMI on UPI option allows customers to avail EMI during QR scans for UPI payments, available at PSPs like Google Pay, PhonePe, BHIM, and Kiwi.

Even if customers miss EMI conversion during purchase and make a full swipe transaction, they can still reach out to Digital channels like AU0101 App, Chatbot, WhatsApp banking or Customer care for EMI conversion.

EMI becomes part of MAD, and TAD is effectively changed as per the EMI conversion.

Rewards and Redemption

AU SFB Credit Cards offer reward points on eligible spends, with earning structures varying by card type. Reward redemption options include statement balance adjustments, merchandise catalogues, and partner-linked offers.

Fraud Protection Provisions

The bank provides Card Liability Coverage for unauthorised contactless transactions, subject to applicable terms and conditions. Coverage is available where the card has remained active within the preceding 180 days and the issue is reported with card blocking completed within 7 days of detection.

Application Process

Credit card applications are available through the AU Small Finance Bank website and AU 0101 mobile banking app. Existing customers may complete the application journey digitally, subject to eligibility and documentation requirements.

Apex Group of Hospitals Celebrates International Nurses Day Across All Its Hospitals

Mumbai, May 13: Apex Group of Hospitals celebrated International Nurses Day with gratitude and pride across all its Mumbai hospitals, recognising the tireless dedication, compassion, and commitment of its nursing staff who continue to play a vital role in patient care and recovery. Celebrations across all Apex hospitals included special appreciation ceremonies, cultural activities, motivational sessions, and awards honouring exceptional nurses for their service and contribution to healthcare excellence.

Speaking on the occasion, the management of Apex Group of Hospitals said, “Nursing is the backbone of every hospital. Nurses are not only caregivers but also emotional support systems for patients and families during their most difficult moments. Their strength, empathy, and commitment form the foundation of quality healthcare.”

The event highlighted the critical role nurses play in ensuring patient safety, comfort, and recovery. From emergency care and operating theatres to intensive care units and general wards, nurses remain at the forefront of healthcare delivery every single day. Doctors, management teams, and hospital staff joined together to express their appreciation for the nursing fraternity. Several nurses who demonstrated outstanding dedication, leadership, and patient care were felicitated during the celebrations. Nurses play a vital role in India’s healthcare system by providing compassionate care, emotional support, and round-the-clock medical attention to patients. They are the backbone of hospitals, ensuring patient safety, recovery, and comfort at every stage of treatment. From emergency care to rural healthcare services, nurses work tirelessly with dedication and humanity. Their contribution strengthens the nation’s healthcare system and improves countless lives every day.

Apex Group of Hospitals consistently focuses on creating a supportive and growth-oriented environment for its nursing professionals through continuous training, skill development programs, and modern healthcare practices. International Nurses Day, celebrated globally on May 12, marks the birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing. The occasion serves as an opportunity to recognise the invaluable contribution of nurses to society and healthcare systems worldwide. Through this celebration, Apex Group of Hospitals reaffirmed its commitment to supporting and empowering nurses who continue to serve humanity with compassion, courage, and care. 

 

Recast Names Intune and Configuration Manager Expert Shanmugam Senthil as Senior Director of Engineering

MINNEAPOLIS—May 12, 2026—Recast, a leader in modern application and endpoint management, today announced that Shanmugam Senthil has joined the company as Senior Director of Engineering and India Site Leader. Based in Bangalore, Senthil will help establish Recast’s India presence and strengthen the company’s engineering organization to support continued growth. His combination of Microsoft platform expertise and technology leadership experience gives Recast added depth as it evolves its capabilities to help customers manage and secure complex IT environments.

A 30-year technology industry veteran, Senthil has built and led engineering teams at Microsoft, Yahoo!, Samsung, and Sun Microsystems. During his decade at Microsoft, he led engineering teams responsible for evolving core endpoint management capabilities within Intune and ConfigMgr. That experience aligns closely with Recast’s mission and product direction as organizations look for more effective ways to manage, secure, and optimize endpoints across hybrid and cloud environments.

In his new role, Senthil will help shape the structure, culture, and daily operations in India. He will also collaborate closely with Recast’s global engineering and product teams to expand the company’s capabilities in support of its long-term product strategy.

“Senthil brings a strong leadership philosophy and tremendous experience with Microsoft Intune and ConfigMgr,” said Will Teevan, CEO, Recast. “This is exactly the kind of expertise Recast needs to accelerate innovation and deliver greater value to our customers.”

“I’m excited to join Recast at such an important stage in the company’s growth,” said Senthil. “Recast has a clear mission, notable product alignment with the needs of modern IT teams, and a meaningful opportunity to expand its engineering presence in India. I look forward to working with teams across the company to help build a solid foundation for growth, execution, and new advances.”

NetApp Collaborates with Red Hat to Help Advance Data Protection and Scale for Red Hat OpenShift Deployments

Business Wire India

NetApp® (NASDAQ: NTAP), the Intelligent Data Infrastructure company, today announced new NetApp data management capabilities optimized for Red Hat OpenShift that enable advanced levels of resilience and scale for virtualized environments, on-premises and in the cloud. The updates improve the speed and predictability of backup, recovery, and day-to-day operations so customers can migrate, scale, and manage virtual machine (VM) and container environments to enable innovation and agility with greater confidence.

 

According to The state of virtualization report from Red Hat, 90 percent of organizations agree that virtualization supports innovation. Combined with the report’s finding that 71 percent of organizations have over half of their IT infrastructure virtualized, enterprises are expanding their virtualized environments to help them manage the increasing volumes of data that fuel the AI-era. As Red Hat OpenShift virtualized environments grow, backup methods that rely on scanning full VM disks can lead to longer backup windows, unpredictable recovery timelines, and increased operational risk. When migrating to and scaling Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization, enterprises need predictable and efficient backup and recovery with block-level change tracking to help them meet backup and recovery windows and avoid overspending on storage as environments scale. Furthermore, many IT organizations are seeking simplified disaster recovery at scale and flexible deployment options.

 

 

“When IT teams are faced with slow scanning and backup processes, they’re unable to meet recovery point and recovery time objectives,” said Dallas Olson, Chief Commercial Officer at NetApp. “NetApp’s latest innovations with Red Hat enable predictable backup and recovery behavior even as the VM environment grows. Customers can now migrate, operate, and protect large‑scale VM and container environments on Red Hat OpenShift with greater speed, predictability, and operational confidence.”

 

 

The NetApp and Red Hat collaboration provides enhanced hybrid and multicloud consistency, enabling customers to run and move applications and data across on‑premises and public cloud environments. Together, NetApp and Red Hat seek to deliver a mature, enterprise-ready Kubernetes stack. This collaboration continues with new capabilities that help customers build more resilient and scalable virtualized environments, including:

 

 

  • NetApp Backup and Recovery for Red Hat OpenShift and OpenShift Virtualization:NetApp Backup and Recovery is a simple, secure, and cost-effective data protection service for OpenShift applications on NetApp ONTAP® storage. It accelerates backups and restores with incremental-forever backups providing Change Block Tracking (CBT), storage efficiency preservation, and compute offload. These features avoid data rehydration during backups and reduce compute overhead for backup operations. With this update, NetApp Backup and Recovery now enhances support for protecting VMs on OpenShift with comprehensive automation enabling VM-granular protection and recovery workflows along with resource transformations to accelerate recovery times.
  • NetApp Disaster Recovery support for Red Hat OpenShift and OpenShift Virtualization: Customers can now use NetApp Disaster Recovery in public preview for their Red Hat OpenShift and Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization environments, expanding from backup into orchestrated disaster recovery for Kubernetes‑based VMs. This DR-as-a-service offering delivers simple, low-cost disaster protection for virtualized workloads on NetApp ONTAP storage with intuitive, guided disaster recovery failover and fallback workflows.
  • Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization with Red Hat OpenShift on Google Cloud: Google Cloud NetApp Volumes and Trident CSI driver for Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization are now generally available on Red Hat OpenShift Dedicated on Google Cloud environments with certified support. This solution enables organizations to run both VMs and containers in the cloud with simplified operations and seamless scalability.
  • NetApp Trident Parallelism: NetApp Trident now supports improved scalability through parallel execution of operations in the Trident controller for Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP and Google Cloud NetApp Volumes environments. The Trident Parallelism feature removes storage bottlenecks by enabling Trident to execute storage operations concurrently rather than serially.

 

“Legacy disaster recovery models were not built for the scale and pace of today’s virtualized environments,” said Steve Gordon, Senior Director, Product Management, Hybrid Cloud Platforms at Red Hat. “Our collaboration with NetApp directly addresses the most pressing challenges customers face as enterprise virtualized environments continue to grow in scale and complexity. Together with NetApp, we’re helping customers modernize data protection and disaster recovery for Red Hat OpenShift delivering more predictable outcomes and a stronger foundation for hybrid cloud.”

 

To learn more about NetApp’s collaboration with Red Hat, visit the NetApp booth #538 at Red Hat Summit 2026, May 11-14 in Atlanta, GA.

 

 

Additional Resources

 

 

 

About NetApp

 

For more than three decades, NetApp has helped the world’s leading organizations navigate change – from the rise of enterprise storage to the intelligent era defined by data and AI. Today, NetApp is the Intelligent Data Infrastructure company, helping customers turn data into a catalyst for innovation, resilience, and growth.

 

 

At the heart of that infrastructure is the NetApp data platform – the unified, enterprise-grade, intelligent foundation that connects, protects, and activates data across every cloud, workload, and environment. Built on the proven power of NetApp ONTAP, our leading data management software and OS, and enhanced by automation through the AI Data Engine and AFX, it delivers observability, resilience, and intelligence at scale.

 

 

Disaggregated by design, the NetApp data platform separates storage, services, and control so enterprises can modernize faster, scale efficiently, and innovate without lock-in. As the only enterprise storage platform natively embedded in the world’s largest clouds, it gives organizations the freedom to run any workload anywhere with consistent performance, governance, and protection.

 

 

With NetApp, data is always ready – ready to defend against threats, ready to power AI, and ready to drive the next breakthrough. That’s why the world’s most forward-thinking enterprises trust NetApp to turn intelligence into advantage.

 

 

Learn more at www.netapp.com or follow us on X, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.

 

 

NETAPP, the NETAPP logo, and the marks listed at www.netapp.com/TM are trademarks of NetApp, Inc. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

 

 

Red Hat, the Red Hat logo and OpenShift are trademarks or registered trademarks of Red Hat, LLC . or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and other countries.

 

 

 

 

 

Gradiant Delivers HyperSolved, Its AI Data Center Solution, to Leading Global Hyperscalers

Business Wire India

Gradiant today announced that HyperSolved™, its end-to-end cooling water solution for AI data centers, is now deployed with several of the world’s largest hyperscale operators, supporting mission-critical infrastructure across major global markets.

 

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260512006086/en/

 

 

Gradiant's RO Infinity with CFRO.

Gradiant’s RO Infinity with CFRO.

 

AI infrastructure is expanding at unprecedented speed, with global data center capacity projected to increase six-fold between 2025 and 2035. These next-generation facilities demand significantly more power and cooling than traditional computing, driving a sharp increase in water consumption. A single 100MW hyperscale campus can require water equivalent to a city of 80,000 people each day.

 

In many regions, growth is increasingly constrained not only by power and land, but by water availability, permitting complexity, and discharge limits. While compute and energy systems have matured, water infrastructure remains fragmented, forcing operators to manage multiple vendors and disconnected systems, introducing risk and slowing deployment.

 

 

HyperSolved replaces this model by integrating the full cooling water lifecycle, from sourcing to discharge, into a single platform delivered by one accountable partner. Purpose-built for hyperscale environments, it reduces complexity, improves reliability, and accelerates deployment.

 

 

“Water is one of the least integrated and most fragmented layers of data center infrastructure,” said Prakash Govindan, CEO of Gradiant. “We are in the middle of a once-in-a-generation build-out of AI infrastructure, comparable in scale to historic expansions like the railroads in the 1800’s, which connected regions and transformed entire economies. That level of growth demands a new approach. Today, water is still managed through a patchwork of vendors and solutions that were never designed for hyperscale. HyperSolved changes that by treating water as critical infrastructure, designed, delivered, and operated as one integrated system.”

 

 

HyperSolved expands access to alternative water sources, including municipal reuse and other impaired supplies, reducing reliance on freshwater and increasing site flexibility. It protects cooling performance through integrated treatment, CURE Chemicals, and SmartOps AI, and minimizes discharge through high-recovery concentration and reuse, improving environmental performance and easing regulatory constraints.

 

 

“You run the data center. We manage the water layer,” said Sankar Natarajan, Head of Special Projects at Gradiant. “By integrating water into a single system, it performs with the same reliability and accountability as power or cooling. HyperSolved gives operators a clear path to scale with less risk and fewer constraints.”

 

 

Engineered for the pace of AI development, HyperSolved supports rapid deployment through containerized systems, enabling immediate or temporary capacity to support rapid build timelines, and delivers optimized long-term performance through permanent infrastructure. Gradiant also provides end-to-end lifecycle support, from commissioning through operations, ensuring continuity as facilities scale.

 

 

Gradiant is seeing strong commercial adoption of HyperSolved among the world’s leading hyperscale operators, reflecting growing demand for integrated water infrastructure. The company expects data centers to represent approximately 25% of its global business by 2027, as water becomes a defining factor in where and how AI infrastructure can be built.

 

 

HyperSolved is available globally, supporting hyperscalers, data center developers and operators, and engineering partners across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

 

 

About Gradiant

 

 

Gradiant is a Different Kind of Water Company. With a full suite of differentiated and proprietary end-to-end solutions for advanced water and wastewater treatment powered by the top minds in water, the company serves its clients’ mission-critical operations in the world’s essential industries, including semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, food & beverage, lithium and critical minerals, and renewable energy. Gradiant’s innovative solutions reduce water used and wastewater discharged, reclaim valuable resources, and renew wastewater into freshwater. The Boston-headquartered company was founded at MIT and has over 1,400 employees worldwide. Discover us at gradiant.com.