Category technology

ASUS Concludes 2025 Community Tour with the Fourth Edition of ‘Beyond Incredible with ASUS’ in Kolkata

Kolkata, Dec 13: ASUS, the Taiwanese tech giant, successfully concluded the fourth and final city edition of its 2025 community initiative- Beyond Incredible with ASUS, in Kolkata. After successful chapters in Bangalore, Pune, and Hyderabad, the Kolkata session brought together 85+ tech enthusiasts, creators, students, and regional media for an afternoon of hands-on learning and conversations around technology, design, and product innovation. This edition also served as a year-end recap of ASUS’s major gaming and non-gaming launches in 2025, setting the stage for expanding the initiative further in 2026.

The event showcased a mix of ASUS’s ROG and notebook lineup, featuring products such as the Zenbook models, Vivobook models, and the ROG Strix and Zephyrus series, giving attendees an immersive experience of the brand’s latest innovations across consumer and gaming categories.

Addressing the event, Mr. Arnold Su, Vice President, Consumer and Gaming PC, ASUS India, said,

“With every chapter of ‘Beyond Incredible with ASUS’, our goal is to bring technology closer to people in a way that feels personal, immersive, and inclusive. This initiative is not just for creators or professionals – it’s for anyone passionate about tech and eager to understand how innovation can empower their everyday lives. Kolkata has reinforced how meaningful these interactions can be, and as we wrap up 2025, we look forward to nurturing this community further, city by city, building stronger connections and deeper brand resonance.”

The event opened with a Brand Story segment that included a walkthrough of the company’s community and education-driven efforts in India, including its CSR programs, ProArt meet-ups, ROG Showdown tournaments, ROGVerse initiatives, and ASUS Live sessions. Finally the event covered ASUS’ evolution across consumer, ROG, and creator portfolios.

Adding to the excitement, two popular Kolkata-based influencers, Rabir Das and Bipradev Roy, also joined the gathering, interacting with participants and amplifying the event’s digital presence. The session highlighted how ASUS and ROG laptops launched in 2025 integrate these technologies, demonstrating practical use cases for creators, gamers, and everyday users. To keep the energy high, the event featured a lively quiz, followed by a thrilling gaming tournament, and exclusive photo ops and giveaways for attendees.

With the Kolkata edition, ASUS concludes the 2025 leg of Beyond Incredible with ASUS. The brand has so far reached over 200+ people through community events held in Bangalore, Pune, and Hyderabad, further strengthening its local tech engagement footprint.  The brand will expand the initiative with a broader city lineup and more specialized sessions in 2026, continuing its effort to create consistent, informative, and accessible tech experiences across the country.

Human resources platforms use digital tools to simplify how organisations manage hiring, payroll, attendance, performance tracking, and day to day workforce operations. By automating routine and time intensive tasks, these systems reduce manual effort, improve accuracy, and create more consistent employee experiences.

More importantly, such platforms help organisations make better decisions through real time data and clearer visibility into workforce trends. They support faster and more effective recruitment, improve transparency across people processes, and enable businesses to adapt quickly to changing talent needs. In a fast evolving workplace, these solutions play a key role in helping companies remain agile, productive, and competitive.

 Zoho is a cloud-based software company offering a wide range of affordable, user-friendly business applications such as Zoho CRM, Zoho Books, Zoho People, Zoho Mail, and many more to help organizations streamline workflows, improve productivity, and manage everything from sales and finance to HR, marketing, and operations in one integrated ecosystem

Unstop is an Indian platform that helps students and fresh graduates build skills and access opportunities through hackathons, quizzes, assessments, mentorship, and job/internship applications, while offering companies tools for employer branding, candidate assessment, and streamlined hiring all in one ecosystem.

Keka HR is a cloud-based HR management software from India that streamlines and automates payroll, attendance, leave tracking, performance management, recruitment, and onboarding to reduce manual work, improve accuracy, and enhance the overall employee experience for small to medium-sized and growing businesses.

InCruiter is an AI-powered HR platform offering products like automated interview scheduling, resume screening, video interviews, coding assessments, and end-to-end candidate evaluation to help companies streamline hiring, reduce manual work, and make recruitment faster and more data-driven.

Darwinbox is a cloud-based HR platform offering unified products for recruitment, onboarding, payroll, attendance, performance management, employee engagement, and workforce analytics, using AI automation, mobile-first design, and customizable workflows to make HR operations seamless and scalable for medium to large organizations.

Workline is a cloud-based, highly configurable HRMS offering products for hiring, onboarding, attendance, payroll, performance management, and employee engagement, enabling organizations to customize workflows, use real-time analytics, and integrate systems to streamline HR operations and improve workforce efficiency.

 GreytHR is a cloud-based HR and payroll software offering products for attendance, leave management, payroll processing, statutory compliance, employee self-service, and onboarding to help businesses automate routine tasks, reduce errors, and deliver a smoother employee experience.

Global demand for electricity is climbing at one of the fastest rates in decades, up 4.3% in 2024 alone, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Dec 11: A significant source of demand comes from data centers, where artificial intelligence is driving an unprecedented appetite for power. And while that story has captured the spotlight, there is another factor driving electricity demand: millions of electric vehicles.

In some countries, the growth in demand is putting strain on electricity grids because most people are charging at home.

“When consumers build out charging infrastructure in the residential electrical network, the consumer is forcing a utility to make significant investments in infrastructure in order to maintain reliability of the system network, as the number of vehicles needing charging increases,” said IEEE Senior Member Shawn Chandler.

How EVs Impact the Grid

By 2030, IEA expects more than 150 million electric charging stations to be installed worldwide, two-thirds of them private home chargers.

That pattern matters because home charging pushes demand directly onto local distribution circuits that were never designed for it. Chandler notes that a single EV battery can be 75 kilowatt-hours or more; recharging it in just a few hours can draw seven to ten times the load of a typical household.

While utilities have managed gradual increases in demand before, the sudden wave of EV charging is different. That’s why utilities are increasingly looking at “managed charging” programs — shifting charging times or spreading load across the day — as they plan for the next decade of electrification.

How Data Centers Drive Electricity Demand

The data centers that power artificial intelligence are expected to account for approximately 3% of global electricity consumption by 2030, up from 1.5% in 2024. But that demand could be uneven. A large, hyperscale data center may use as much electricity as a small city, and many data centers are clustered in tight geographic areas.

“AI data centers require extremely high and concentrated loads,” said IEEE Member Mauricio Salles. “They pose challenges for transmission system operators. The production of green hydrogen, the electrification of transportation and the electrification of everything also contribute to this increase.”

And because data centers tend to be clustered in developed countries, that means they will likely take up a greater proportion of electricity in those countries, in some cases up to 9%. In developed countries, for every five megawatts of new electricity that comes online, one is dedicated to data centers. In developing countries, that figure is one in twenty.

That buildout of data centers shows no signs of slowing down, at least for the next few years. In “The Impact of Technology in 2026 and Beyond: an IEEE Global Study,” a recent survey of global technology leaders, close to half (49%) of respondents expected that it would take five to seven years to build the global data center infrastructure required to meet growing AI development and demand.

“Because of the rapid growth of AI and worldwide demand for its use, more and more electricity will be needed to maintain AI systems,” said IEEE Senior Member Otavio Andre Chase.

Other Sources of Electricity Demand

Artificial intelligence and electric vehicles aren’t the only sources of new electricity demand.

Increasingly, manufacturing and infrastructure have come to rely on electricity as a power source, rather than fossil fuels. That means that while demand for electricity is increasing, it doesn’t directly translate to overall energy demand.

To meet demand while maintaining clean energy goals, experts have increasingly looked toward nuclear power, alongside wind and solar energy.

“The need to combine wind and solar with traditional generation is on the table,” Salles said. “The balance lies in creating a generation portfolio that is clean but also flexible enough to handle the variability of renewables. Ideally, climate goals and energy planning would be integrated so that capacity expansion simultaneously meets growing demand and emissions reduction obligations.”

Keeping The Grid Reliable

Aside from building additional capacity, grid operators and utilities are exploring a couple of other strategies.

At the top of the list is the force of markets, incentivizing EV owners to charge during off-peak times by charging less. Data centers are also shifting workloads to off-peak hours. Those sorts of incentives, usually referred to as dynamic pricing or managed charging, often require regulatory approval.

Scottish utilities also successfully demonstrated the ability of massive, grid-scale batteries to help smooth power demands. They’re also modernizing transmission lines and transformers to be able to handle the load.

Salles said utilities need to expand the use of transmission and distribution systems and adopt high sophisticated load forecasting systems.

“It is crucial that the entry of new intensive electricity demand centers be coordinated with the expansion of the necessary infrastructure,” Salles said.

Grids are also crossing national borders.

“Interconnection with other electrical systems also brings improvements in flexibility and energy exchange between locations with surpluses and deficits,” Salles said.

India’s fintech revolution is accelerating faster than ever, driven by agile innovators who are breaking barriers, simplifying payments, and building accessible financial ecosystems for millions. From sound-based transactions to AI-driven credit and merchant-first solutions, these companies are reshaping how the country sends, spends, and manages money. Here are seven fintech pioneers leading this transformation

1. ToneTag – Sound-Based Payments for a Contactless Future

ToneTag is transforming digital payments with its unique sound-wave technology that enables secure, contactless transactions even without the internet. By eliminating hardware dependency and enabling payments on basic devices, ToneTag is making digital adoption seamless for millions across India.

2. PhonePe – Driving UPI Leadership at Scale

PhonePe has become synonymous with digital payments in India, offering fast UPI transfers, insurance, investments, and merchant solutions. Its deep penetration across metros and smaller towns continues to accelerate India’s shift to a cashless economy.

3. Razorpay – Powering India’s Digital Businesses

Razorpay is the backbone of thousands of Indian startups and SMEs, offering payment gateways, vendor payouts, payroll, and financing solutions. Its full-stack financial platform is redefining how businesses manage money.

4. Paytm – Creating an Integrated Financial Ecosystem

Paytm remains a major driver of India’s digital payments revolution with its wallet, UPI, QR ecosystem, and offline merchant network. It continues to innovate with lending, wealth management, and commerce solutions.

5. CRED – Turning Credit Discipline Into Rewards

CRED gamified credit card bill payments and transformed financial responsibility into an engaging experience. With lending, travel, and commerce integrations, it is reshaping how aspirational consumers engage with finance.

6. BharatPe – Bringing Digital Payments to India’s Merchants

BharatPe revolutionised offline payments with its interoperable QR codes and merchant-first approach. Its lending and POS innovations are empowering small businesses across Tier 2 and Tier 3 India.

7. Slice – Reinventing Credit for Young India

Slice is modernising credit access for millennials and Gen Z through simple onboarding, transparent usage, and flexible repayment options. Its focus on usability and affordability is reshaping consumer credit.

New Delhi, Dec 11: Beyond Key, a global leader in intelligent digital solutions, made a strong mark at TechCon Dallas 2025, presenting how Microsoft 365, Copilot, Power Platform, AI innovations, and modern data solutions are reshaping enterprise productivity. The annual technology conference welcomed global IT leaders, CIOs, digital architects, and transformation-driven organisations, creating the perfect platform for Beyond Key to spotlight the evolving landscape of AI-powered work.

Across the event, Beyond Key engaged attendees with insights on how organisations can blend Microsoft 365, Copilot, Power Platform, and data intelligence to modernise workflows, enable automation at scale, and accelerate secure decision-making. The team focused on practical, real-world adoption models that businesses can implement without disrupting their existing digital ecosystem.

“AI isn’t the future anymore, it’s the foundation of how modern teams work,” said Piyush Goel, Founder & CEO, Beyond Key. “At TechCon Dallas, we emphasised how Microsoft 365 and Copilot, supported by Power Platform and strong data governance, are enabling enterprises to work smarter, innovate faster, and make decisions rooted in intelligence. Our focus remains on keeping AI meaningful, ethical, and deeply human-centered.”

Beyond Key also hosted a high-value knowledge session titled “Unlocking the True Potential of Microsoft 365 & Copilot: From Data to Decisions,” covering responsible AI adoption, Power Platform-driven automation, Microsoft 365 collaboration enhancements, and the role of unified data estates in enabling trustworthy AI systems.

With its impactful presence at TechCon Dallas, Beyond Key reinforced its commitment to helping organisations adopt AI with clarity, confidence, and long-term vision. The company continues to work with enterprises across the U.S., India, and Europe, delivering integrated solutions combining AI, cloud, Microsoft technologies, data analytics, and automation to drive sustainable digital transformation.

“TechCon Dallas 2025 wasn’t just an event—it was a roadmap for what tomorrow’s workplaces will look like,” Piyush added. “The conversations we led there are already inspiring how we co-create AI-driven solutions with our global customers.”

Lenovo today announced an expansive series of new data storage, virtualization solutions and data management services, designed to help customers modernize their IT and data infrastructure for powering enterprise applications and AI ready capabilities. Today’s new offerings include new Lenovo ThinkSystem and ThinkAgile data storage and virtualization solutions, announced in tandem with data management services. Designed to provide a modern foundation for enterprises and mid-size businesses achieving AI innovations, this announcement combines complementary hardware, software and services offerings to help deploy, manage, and unleash the true potential of enterprise data.

Sixty-three percent of organizations either do not have or are unsure if they have the right data management practices for AI, according to a survey by Gartner ®.1  Customer unique data is the differentiation that will drive their competitive advantage and most accurate results, however 80% of storage deployed in the last 5 years is on slower hard drive-based storage (according to IDC reporting) that is not optimized for AI. At the same time, customers are challenged with new virtualization and containerization requirements that demand open solutions. Businesses must mitigate this risk by ensuring their enterprise data systems and practices are modernized for advanced use cases.

“With rapid shifts in virtualization and the growing demand for AI-ready data, many organizations are looking for open, modern infrastructure that can support both. Lenovo’s new storage solutions and services provide that foundation by improving performance, security, and operational simplicity,” said Sumir Bhatia, President, Asia Pacific, ISG, Lenovo. “These offerings help customers prepare their data, streamline deployment, and extract more value from their existing environments as they advance their AI strategy.”

“Enterprises in India are moving from experimentation to scaled AI adoption, but many are still constrained by legacy data environments. With our new storage and virtualization solutions, we’re helping customers eliminate these bottlenecks and build a more secure, efficient, and flexible foundation for AI outcomes. Our priority is simple – give customers the agility to modernize at their pace and turn their data into real business impact”, said Amit Luthra, Managing Director – India, Lenovo ISG. 

Flexibility and Choice for Virtualization and Data Needs 

Businesses today need the efficiency and cyber resiliency of their systems to run parallel to performance, simplicity, and scalability with an option to deploy on-prem and hybrid so that the data can stay in place for compliance while AI workloads run where appropriate. Lenovo has introduced new Lenovo ThinkSystem and Lenovo ThinkAgile Enterprise offerings optimized or AI, virtualization and storage bottlenecks, including:

• Lenovo ThinkSystem DS Series Storage Arrays: All-flash and protected Storage Area Network (SAN) block storage systems that are simple to deploy and manage for virtualized environments, improving performance and efficiency for virtualization and data modernization.
• Lenovo ThinkAgile FX Series: Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI) that delivers an open architecture that supports seamless conversion between select HCI solutions without replacing hardware, delivering maximum investment protection and flexibility.
• Lenovo ThinkAgile MX Series for disaggregated storage for Microsoft Azure Local: As a hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) integrated appliance provider with Microsoft, we are expanding support for disaggregated external Fibre Channel Storage Area Networks (SAN to deliver greater enterprise storage support for virtualization customers.
• Lenovo ThinkAgile MX Series with NVIDIA RTX Pro 6000:   Integrated next generation GPU support to power advanced AI performance capabilities for enterprise inferencing with Microsoft Azure Local.
• Lenovo ThinkAgile HX Series for AI Lenovo’s HCI offering features Nutanix Enterprise AI (NAI) software stack to enable customers running in virtualized and distributed containerized environments to deploy, run, and scale AI models in minutes.

Complete Lifecycle Services Optimized for Advanced Workloads including AI  

To help customers fully realize the benefits of their new systems and prepare their data for AI, Lenovo is extending this momentum with a broad portfolio of hybrid cloud and data lifecycle services. These offerings modernize environments, strengthen reliability, and support evolving storage and AI workload demands. This includes Lenovo Deployment Services for ThinkAgile and ThinkSystem to accelerate time to value, along with flexible storage services available individually or through Lenovo TruScale to enhance performance and agility across the data lifecycle.

To guide long-term strategy, Lenovo’s Hybrid Cloud Advisory Services help organizations align on-prem and hybrid environments with compliance, data protection, and operational goals, while Lenovo Migration Services optimize data and workloads by combining cloud flexibility with existing infrastructure.

As part of the expanded Data Management Services portfolio, Lenovo Premier Enhanced Storage Support provides storage-focused, expert-led assistance for critical workloads. With proactive monitoring, performance optimization, and guided issue resolution, customers gain the resilience and protection needed to support AI innovation and hybrid cloud growth.

Fortis Nagarbhavi Launches Next Generation Mako Robotic Technology for Knee Joint Replacements; Inaugurated by South Indian Actress Sudha Rani

Bengaluru, Dec 11: Fortis Hospital, Nagarbhavi today announced the launch of the Next Generation Mako Robotic System (Mako TKA 2.0), marking a transformative leap in knee joint replacement surgery in Karnataka.  The Mako Robotic System represents the latest frontier in robot-assisted knee replacement surgery, integrating CT-based 3D modelling, AI-enabled surgical planning and haptic-guided robotic-arm assistance.

Designed to achieve sub-millimeter accuracy, the Mako system enables superior implant positioning while preserving healthy bone and soft tissue. This precision translates into reduced post-operative pain, faster recovery, improved functional outcomes, and long-term joint stability, significantly enhancing the patient experience.

Speaking at the launch, Ms. Sudha Rani, renowned South Indian actress said,

“It’s heartening to see world-class medical technology is now accessible in our city. The MAKO Robotic‑Arm Assisted Surgery System represents a major leap forward for patients, offering safer surgeries and faster recovery than ever before. My heartfelt congratulations to the entire team at Fortis Hospital Nagarbhavi for bringing such advanced care to the community.”

Dr. Manjunath Kodihalli, Senior Consultant Orthopedic Surgery, Fortis Hospital, Nagarbhavi, said,

“Our initial experience with the Mako system has been exceptionally promising. Unlike other robotic platforms, Mako uniquely combines CT-based 3D planning with real-time robotic guidance, allowing us to personalize the surgery to each patient’s anatomy with sub-millimetre accuracy. This level of predictability and precision is what influenced our decision to opt for Mako for our patients. The platform’s precision, consistency and tissue-sparing capabilities are significantly elevating the quality of knee replacement surgery. We are seeing patients regain mobility faster, experience less post-operative discomfort and achieve more stable joint function early in their recovery. Mako represents a transformative step in how we approach joint replacements, enabling outcomes that are more predictable and personalized than ever before.”

Among the early beneficiaries of the Mako robotic system was 60-year-old Mrs. Shailaja (name changed), who was suffering from severe left knee osteoarthritis for 3 years that restricted her daily mobility. The personalized surgical planning enabled by Mako resulted in precise implant alignment and minimal soft-tissue damage. The patient experienced reduced post-operative pain, early mobilisation, and was discharged with marked functional improvement

Another patient, a 54-year-old Mrs. Zeenath (name changed), who had been suffering from left knee osteoarthritis for 5 years, underwent Mako-guided knee replacement using the platform’s haptic precision. The robot-assisted approach ensured balanced joint alignment and optimal bone preservation. Her post-operative recovery remained smooth, and she was discharged with excellent early mobility outcomes.

With the installation of the Mako TKA 2.0 platform, Fortis Hospital, Nagarbhavi further strengthens its position as a regional hub for advanced orthopedic, robot-assisted joint replacement and trauma care, ensuring patients across Karnataka gain access to cutting-edge, precision-driven surgical solutions.

Mr. Ratheef Naik, Facility Director, Fortis Hospital, Nagarbhavi, said,

“Introducing the Mako Robotic System represents a major leap in our commitment to advanced, technology-driven healthcare. Robot-assisted surgery ensures consistency, accuracy and better predictability of outcomes, improving both patient safety and satisfaction. By offering this globally benchmarked platform, Fortis Hospital Nagarbhavi is ensuring that patients in our community have access to the same advanced orthopedic care available at leading international centres.”

New york, Dec 11: Lightrun, a leader in software reliability, today launched its new Model Context Protocol (MCP) solution, enabling the industry’s first fully integrated Runtime Context for AI coding agents. This new capability is a step change in autonomous code writing that gives tools like Cursor and GitHub Copilot full visibility into how code behaves after deployment, filling a missing piece of the AI development ecosystem for enterprises.

AI assistants can generate code rapidly, but studies from Stanford and Google have shown that it fails at high rates once exposed to real-world traffic, dependencies, and workloads. Furthermore, once the code leaves the Integrated Development Environment (IDE),  AI cannot see what takes place in staging, pre-production, or production. As a result, teams report spending up to 17 hours a week debugging and refactoring bad code and 60–70% of teams’ time spent debugging and a 41% rise in bug rates.

Lightrun’s Runtime Context directly addresses this problem by bridging the gap between the IDE, the AI assistant, and runtime, providing crucial context to the agent and the developer behind it. Developers can now ask their coding assistant to check environment traffic before writing a module, investigate a production failure, or add the instrumentation needed to validate behavior. Lightrun’s MCP acts as the secure bridge, enabling the AI agents to add logs and traces in real time, capture snapshots, investigate issues safely, and even suggest fixes, all without requiring engineers to manually reproduce issues. Runtime context enriches every AI-generated line of code with inline runtime context and observability. This extends across the SDLC and into production, helping engineers move faster while ensuring code remains reliable under real-world conditions

“AI has taken over much of the creative part of coding,” said Ilan Peleg, CEO and co-founder of Lightrun. “However, debugging across environments has remained painfully manual. With Runtime Context, AI can finally participate in the full lifecycle by writing code, validating and debugging it, and remediating issues based on real-world behavior. This is the next evolution of autonomous software development.”

The Runtime Context model enables AI agents to:

• Trigger remote debugging sessions inside staging, pre-production, or production

• Access production-grade telemetry in real time

• Propose fixes based on actual runtime behavior

• Deliver code that is reliable, stable, and deployment-ready

Lightrun customers can now expect faster debugging cycles, higher deployment reliability, and AI-generated code that better withstands real traffic and dependencies.

2026 will be all about Intelligent, Data-Powered Growth for Indian Enterprises Cloudera predicts a re-assessment of data-driven AI adoption methods in these key areas: AI silos, AI agents, Private AI, AI talent, and AI investment strategies

 Bengaluru, Dec 11: Cloudera, the only company bringing AI to data anywhere, announced its 2026 predictions, highlighting the need for organizations to reevaluate and strengthen their data foundations in the year ahead.

“2026 will be a defining year for Indian enterprises as AI moves from pilots to full scale production. Organizations of all sizes are realising that the success of AI depends on having a strong data foundation. The rise of AI silos is already demonstrating that isolated experimentations cannot deliver consistency, governance, or control required to scale. Real progress will come from unifying data environments and enabling AI agents to operate in real-time, governed information, making automation context-aware, explainable, and secure. As regulations evolve and cyber threats intensify, Private AI will become indispensable, especially for sectors where trust and compliance are paramount. But technology alone is not enough. Building AI-literate, ethically grounded teams will be critical to sustaining trust and reducing risk. With economic pressures sharpening the focus on ROI, enterprises must invest where AI meaningfully advances outcomes. Organizations that embed AI deeply into their data fabric with strong governance will lead India’s digital future.” said Mayank Baid, Regional Vice President, India and South Asia.

Here are five predictions that will shape how companies approach AI strategies in the year ahead:

1.     AI silos will emerge as the latest enterprise challenge

When a new technology trend emerges, organizations often rush to adopt it. When GenAI was introduced, everyone wanted to experiment with it, and now that Agentic AI is gaining traction, the same pattern is repeating.

The challenge is that many organizations are doing this in isolation. Different departments choose their own tools, run their own POCs, and deploy solutions independently. Much like the early days of Business Intelligence (BI), we’re beginning to see AI silos forming within enterprises.

This fragmentation makes it difficult to maintain consistency, governance, and control across the organization. Forward-looking enterprises, such as OCBC, have standardized on unified data and AI platforms, ensuring that innovation happens securely and collaboratively, and not in disconnected pockets. Axis Bank, for instance, has built a centralized data foundation that supports personalization across channels, improves operational efficiency, and ensures compliance while enabling innovation to scale securely and collaboratively rather than in disconnected pockets.

2.    More real-world use cases for AI agents are on the horizon

After a year of pilots and prototypes, 2026 will mark the tipping point where AI agents start driving tangible business outcomes. Enterprises are moving beyond experimentation to full-scale adoption, especially in the financial services sector where use cases span everything from Source-of-Weath assistants to intelligent fraud prevention systems.

According to a recent report from Finextra Research, 97% of financial services firms now have at least one AI/ML use case in production, signaling that AI has moved from emerging trend to business essential. Yet, nearly half remain stuck in the “middle stage” of maturity, where scaling, governance, and cost control become key barriers.

The next frontier lies in operationalizing AI agents at scale. This means connecting them to real-time, governed data, and integrating them across business workflows. Enterprises that get this right will unlock automation that is not just intelligent, but context-aware, traceable, and secure.

3.   Private AI will be the next big enterprise priority

As India’s regulations evolve and data sovereignty concerns grow, Private AI will rise as the next major enterprise priority. Highly regulated industries such as financial services, healthcare, and the public sector will accelerate the adoption of Private AI architectures to harness the power of generative and agentic AI without risking sensitive data.

This shift is critical as cybersecurity continues to be a top enterprise priority. Microsoft’s Digital Defense Report 2025 revealed a 32% surge in identity-based attacks in the first half of the year, underscoring how AI is being weaponized for more sophisticated cyber threats.  Private AI frameworks will play a pivotal role here, enabling organizations to deploy models in controlled environments, detect anomalies faster, and minimize exposure to public cloud vulnerabilities. The enterprises that invest in secure, compliant AI now will be the ones to innovate with confidence later.

4. 4.       Companies need to close the AI talent and responsibility gap

As AI becomes mainstream, a new divide is emerging: not between those who use AI and those who don’t, but between those who use it responsibly and effectively, and those who struggle to scale it sustainably.

In 2026, talent development will be a key differentiator . Enterprises that overlook  AI literacy, technical upskilling, and ethical awareness risk operational inefficiencies, inconsistent outputs, and compliance lapses. Employees must not only understand how AI works, but when and how to trust its output.

Organizations that embed responsible AI principles into training, governance, and workflow design will build a more confident and capable workforce. This combination of human skill and structured guardrails can innovate faster, reduce risk, and ensure every AI decision aligns with enterprise ethics and data governance standards.

5.  Companies will need to scrutinize their AI investment strategies

In 2026, economic headwinds will push organizations to shift from “AI for innovation” to “AI for impact.” The next phase of enterprise AI will be defined by a sharper focus on return on investment, efficiency, and purpose-built deployment.

CIOs and CTOs will need to build a strong business case for every AI initiative and recognize not every workload needs high-end GPUs or complex models.Just as only a high-stakes race demands a high-performance machine, only select use cases require advanced AI. Organizations should invest according to their objectives, not the trend. This value-driven mindset is already taking shape. The Future of Enterprise AI Agents report states that 84% of Indian organizations have implemented AI agents within the past two years, with 36% having started in just the last year.

In 2026, AI will separate the builders from the believers. Ultimately, the winners will be those that integrate AI seamlessly into their data fabric, supported by strong data foundations, standardized metrics, and sustainable governance.

Zebra Study: Over 8-in-10 of APAC including India Retailers Believe Gen AI to Have Significant Impact on Loss Prevention

New Delhi, DeE 10: Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: ZBRA), a global leader in digitizing and automating workflows to deliver intelligent operations, today unveiled the findings of its 18th Annual Global Shopper Study. The research shows Gen AI and automation solutions emerging as critical tools, with 87% of retail leaders citing their importance in loss prevention efforts.

“Businesses that increasingly thrive in retail’s future are agile leaders engaging the “phygital experience” through intelligent workflows,” said Subramaniam Thiruppathi, Director, Sales, India and Sub-Continent, Zebra Technologies. “Tapping on AI, automation, and improved workflows, retailers are empowered to deliver the fast, seamless, and personalized experiences that today’s shoppers demand.”

The data indicates shopper satisfaction levels have dipped for the second consecutive year, declining for both in-store (79% globally, 75% in APAC including India) and online experiences (73% globally, 69% in APAC including India). This marks a further decline compared to the past two years, with the highest satisfaction levels recorded in 2023 at 85% globally (for both in-store and online) and 81% in APAC including India (for online experiences).

The research also highlights a shift in shopper priorities. While increasingly drawn to convenience, speed, and value, nearly eight-in-ten shoppers (78% globally, 74% in APAC including India) prioritize discounts and promotions as inflation pressures persist. At the same time, consumers demand operational excellence, expressing frustration with out-of-stocks (68% globally, 63% in APAC including India), locked-up products (70% globally, 67% in APAC including India) or a lack of self-checkout lanes (62% globally, 56% in APAC, including India).

Connecting Frontline Teams with Advanced Technology

Retailers are increasingly recognizing the importance technology plays in enhancing the shopping experience, as delays in accessing information can hinder associates and disrupt service. According to the study, 88% of associates report challenges in obtaining timely assistance or information, up from 82% last year. This is similarly echoed by APAC including India associates, at 85% and 76% respectively.

Providing the right technology alleviates stress and boosts job satisfaction. More than 8-in-10 surveyed associates (87% globally, 84% in APAC including India) believe effective tools make their work more enjoyable and less stressful while helping them provide better service to customers. Plus, the large majority (90% globally, 86% in APAC including India) believe the right technology helps them complete tasks faster. Discover more insights behind this data in this blog post.

Optimizing Inventory and Mitigating Shrinkage Remain Priorities

Unsurprisingly, inventory challenges continue to impact shopper satisfaction and retailer profitability. While improvement is evident year-over-year, almost half of shoppers (Global’s 52% in 2025 vs 57% in 2024; APAC including India’s 47% in 2025 vs 49% in 2024) are still leaving stores without all the items they intended to purchase, often due to out-of-stocks or difficulties locating products.

Retailers acknowledge these gaps, with 84% of global decision-makers (85% in APAC including India) citing real-time inventory synchronization as a top priority for their organizations. In fact, many of them plan to implement advanced technologies such as computer vision (57% globally, 55% in APAC including India), RFID (54% globally and in APAC including India) and Gen AI (51% globally and 62% in APAC including India) over the next five years as they are viewed as essential tools for improving inventory visibility and reducing shrinkage.

Boosting Revenue and Profitability with Improved Workflows

Improving inventory management also has a positive impact on retailers’ bottom line. Based on a recent research study from Zebra in collaboration with Oxford Economics titled, “Impact of Intelligent Operations,” retailers achieved up to 1.8-percentage-point increases in revenue growth and profitability through improvements in their prioritized workflow of inventory management.

According to the Global Shopper Study, retail decision-makers recognize the importance of making these improvements to drive online and in-store sales. Optimizing inventory processes jumped nine percentage points (38% globally vs 36% in APAC including India), as the leading way retailers believe they can boost profits from online orders.

Inventory optimization also ranked in the top three for in-store profitability drivers (38% globally, 36% in APAC including India), topped by automation for more real-time inventory visibility (39% globally and 36% in APAC including India) and in-store digital ads and retail media networks which rose to 43% globally (42% in APAC including India). Likewise, Zebra recently acquired Elo which provides solutions that retailers use to build their own retail media networks and enhance the customer experience.

“Shoppers deserve to fully enjoy a modern store experience – beyond finding great deals and their desired products, retailers should focus on creating meaningful connections and seamless, hassle-free interactions. With advanced retail solutions like ZD421 Desktop Printer, ZT621/ZT611 Industrial Printers, ZT421/ZT411 Industrial Printers, ZQ630 Plus/ZQ620 Plus/ZQ610 Plus Mobile Printers, Elo I-Series 5 with Android, and EloPOS Z30, Zebra is dedicated to building trust, fostering loyalty, and empowering retailers to remain competitive in an ever-evolving landscape,” added Thiruppathi.

Some of the latest solutions from Zebra improve inventory visibility, associate productivity and loss prevention while those from Elo expand in-store engagement and digital media capabilities:

KEY REGIONAL FINDINGS

Asia Pacific (APAC including India)

• 84% of store associates in APAC including India – compared to 89% globally – agree that AI will help them become more productive.

Europe

• 84% of retail decision-makers are under pressure to synchronize real-time inventory across channels to better forecast demand and replenishment; this is 10 percentage points higher than those who feel pressure to improve pricing and promotions management.

Latin America

• Compared to 52% globally, 60% of shoppers surveyed in Latin America say they’ve left a store within the last three months without all the items they intended to purchase.

North America

• This region has the second highest percentage of retail associates (80%) who agreed that maintaining real-time visibility of out-of-stock products is a significant challenge. The highest region is Latin America at 88%.

WHAT IS THE 18TH ANNUAL GLOBAL SHOPPER STUDY?

Zebra Technologies commissioned this global research study to analyze the attitudes, opinions, and expectations of shoppers, retail associates, and decision-makers across various retail experiences. Conducted online by MAVRIX during May and June 2025, the study surveyed over 4,200 respondents from North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. It explores key trends in shopper behavior, technology adoption, and operational strategies shaping the future of retail.

WHO IS ZEBRA TECHNOLOGIES?

Zebra provides the foundation for intelligent operations with an award-winning portfolio of connected frontline, asset visibility and automation solutions powered by AI. Organizations globally across retail, manufacturing, transportation, logistics, healthcare, and other industries rely on us to deliver outcomes today while driving innovation for what’s next. Together with our partners, we create new ways of working that improve productivity and empower organizations to be better every day