SAP To Embed IBM Watson Artificial Intelligence Into SAP® Solutions

SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) and IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that IBM Watson® technology will be embedded into SAP® solutions to provide new AI-driven insights and automation to help accelerate innovation and create more efficient and effective user experiences across the SAP solution portfolio.

SAP will use IBM Watson capabilities to power its digital assistant in SAP Start, which provides a unified entry point for cloud solutions from SAP. With SAP Start, users can search for, launch and interactively engage with apps provided in cloud solutions from SAP and SAP S/4HANA® Cloud. New AI capabilities in SAP Start will be designed to help users boost productivity with both natural language capabilities and predictive insights using IBM Watson AI solutions built on IBM’s trust and transparency and data privacy principles.

“This milestone collaboration with IBM aims to provide SAP customers a better user experience, faster decision-making and greater insights to help transform their business processes,” said Christian Klein, CEO and Member of the Executive Board of SAP SE. “Working together to incorporate additional AI, machine learning and other intelligent technologies into SAP solutions can lead to better business outcomes for our joint customers. Today’s news, along with the recent news of our expanded use of Red Hat Enterprise Linux is a prime example of how the rich, 50-year partnership between our companies continues to grow stronger and move the industry forward.”

New digital assistant capabilities in SAP Start will be extended across SAP solutions to help answer diverse questions for managers and employees. By automating and speeding up common tasks, the capabilities are designed to help unlock employee productivity to focus on more strategic work. SAP Start will allow customers to benefit from intelligence at the point of decision-making with the ability to use AI and machine learning to extract information from a variety of data sources and answer user questions across lines of business. Today, IBM technology currently available in the TripIt mobile app from SAP Concur is helping nearly 13 million users easily access AI-derived weather insights to make more sustainable travel choices before and during their trips.

IBM delivers market-leading AI capabilities with Watson products deployed by more than 100 million users across 20 industries. In addition, SAP and IBM Consulting are currently supporting customers with 25 joint intelligent industry solutions that use IBM Watson capabilities underpinned by SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP). These industry solutions help customers across industries such as retail, manufacturing and utilities accelerate their business transformation and use data to make more informed decisions.

“IBM and SAP are joining forces to give businesses new and exciting ways to harness the transformative power of AI and use it as a source of competitive advantage,” said Arvind Krishna, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, IBM. “With this announcement, we are infusing IBM Watson’s powerful, enterprise-grade AI capabilities into SAP’s leading ERP platform to help businesses reimagine customer experiences, boost productivity and fuel growth.”

In addition to natively embedding IBM Watson AI capabilities into SAP solutions, SAP and IBM are collaborating on generative AI and large language models aimed to deliver consistent continuous learning and automation based on SAP’s mission-critical application suite.

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About SAP

SAP’s strategy is to help every business run as an intelligent, sustainable enterprise. As a market leader in enterprise application software, we help companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best: SAP customers generate 87% of total global commerce. Our machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics technologies help turn customers’ businesses into intelligent enterprises. SAP helps give people and organizations deep business insight and fosters collaboration that helps them stay ahead of their competition. We simplify technology for companies so they can consume our software the way they want – without disruption. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables business and public customers across 25 industries globally to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and make a difference. With a global network of customers, partners, employees, and thought leaders, SAP helps the world run better and improve people’s lives. For more information, visit www.sap.com.

About IBM

IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider, helping clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Nearly 3,800 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM's hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently, and securely. IBM's breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM's legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity, and service. For more information, visit www.ibm.com.

Apollo Tyres Goes The Distance To Accelerate Digitalization With SAP Cloud

SAP, the world leader in enterprise application software and cloud solutions, today announced, it is supporting Apollo Tyres Limited (ATL), one of the leading tyre manufacturers, in moving their digital core onto the cloud and transforming the company into an intelligent, sustainable enterprise.

SAP’s “business transformation as a service-” RISE With SAP brings the right products and tools in one package enabling companies to speed their cloud journey regardless of size, industry, cloud readiness, customization, volume, or departure point. ATL’s decision to adopt RISE With SAP, underscores their commitment to gain a distinctive competitive advantage in the market and become future ready through process simplification, cost reduction, transition to net zero and future proofing its global supply chains. 

“Agility and business innovation is crucial to address changing market dynamics and consumer expectations. It adds an extra dimensional layer to our efforts to reduce costs, improve processes, and nurture our top-line, bottom-line as well as green-line growth,” said Hizmy Hassen, Chief Digital Officer, Apollo Tyres Ltd. “SAP on Cloud adopts Business Transformation as a Service approach that aligns with our ambitious growth goals, further  consolidating our leadership in the domestic market and achieving the revenue goal of $5 billion by the financial year 2026.”

Under Apollo Tyres’ digitalisation efforts, moving to SAP’s integrated and secure cloud platform, will enable the company to secure the outer perimeter of its key systems, sweat its assets, innovate new products and services faster, and provide superior customer experiences.

“The Indian automotive industry today races towards a new world that is driven by changing consumer preferences and a pivot to a more sustainable world.” said, Manish Prasad, Vice President – Metal, Mining, Miscellaneous & Automotive Industry SAP India “Extending support to our long-time customer Apollo Tyres is timely, as cloud migration becomes the foundational enabler of any business transformation. We’re confident that SAP’s industry centricity and process will support their cloud journey and drive the next phase of growth for ATL.”

Allen Career Institute Appoints Nitin Kukreja As The New CEO

* First professional manager as CEO in 35 years of the company; target to scale impact and reach to 2.5 crore students from current 3.0 lakh students.

Allen Career Institute Private Limited (“Allen Career Institute” or “Allen”), India’s pioneering education company, has announced the appointment of Nitin Kukreja as its new Chief Executive Officer. Nitin is mandated to build a world-class education company of the future and bridge the wide education deficit in India. Nitin and his team will focus on combining Allen’s deep-rooted academic excellence with technology to deliver these objectives on scale.

Commenting on the appointment, Brajesh Maheshwari, Chairman, Allen Career Institute, said, “Nitin has been associated with Allen as a board member and made invaluable contributions in defining the strategic roadmap for Allen. We are excited to welcome and support him in the avatar of our Chief Executive Officer. Nitin is a values-driven leader with exceptional strategic capabilities and strong experience in scaling businesses. He will combine the two Ts of Teaching and Technology to offer outcome-driven learning to students. We look forward to Nitin helping realize the full potential of Allen’s pioneering position and its 35-year-old legacy.”

Under Nitin's leadership, Allen Career Institute will focus on delivering a digital-first consumer experience at scale, expanding Allen’s reach from 3.0 lakh students to 2.5 crore students. Since announcing the strategic partnership with Bodhi Tree in April 2022, Allen has augmented its exceptional academic team with talent from large technology companies. Allen plans to further scale its digital team based in Bangalore to 200 by the end of the year.

“I am thrilled to lead the transformational journey of Allen. Education has massive impact on the lives of learners and is an important contributor to nation-building. Allen has a legacy of delivering this impact to more than 28 lakh learners over the last 35 years. I firmly believe that technology can multiply Allen’s positive impact manifold. I look forward to building a future-ready Allen and deliver on the aspirations of crores of learners,” said Nitin Kukreja. “I’m confident that the Board’s vision, Allen’s brand and our strong team will help us tremendously in this journey.”

Nitin Kukreja has over two decades of experience in leadership, strategy and investing roles across various sectors. In his last role, he was the Managing Director of Marigold Park Capital Advisors (formerly Lupa Systems, India), leading investments in consumer-tech companies. Prior to that, Nitin was CEO of Star Sports where he transformed the sports broadcasting landscape in India and made Star Sports the premier destination for Indian sports fans. Nitin was associated with Star India between 2007 and 2017 and was part of the core leadership team that drove the transformation of Star India into one of Asia’s largest media companies. In 2015, Mr. Kukreja was recognized in the Economic Times and the Spencer Stuart list of “40 under 40: India’s Hottest Business Leaders under the age of 40”. Prior to Star, Nitin worked in the Private Equity division of Morgan Stanley. He is a Chartered Accountant and an alumnus of Shri Ram College of Commerce and IIM Ahmedabad.

About Allen Career Institute:                                                           

Founded by Rajesh Maheshwari in 1988, Allen Career Institute is India’s pioneering, leading and most respected test-prep brand that has had transformational impact on over 28 lakh young lives since its inception. Allen has a Pan-India base with more than 200 classroom centers in 53 cities, a team of highly dedicated and renowned faculty members, and a pedagogy that has been perfected over three decades. The institute offers a range of programs, including classroom coaching, distance learning, online tests, and study material, tailored to the needs of students at different levels. Allen has helped thousands of students realize their dreams of cracking prestigious exams such as NEET, AIIMS, JEE Main, and JEE Advanced.

apna lLeverages Cloud Solutions From MongoDB Atlas To Empower 30 Million Job Seekers In India

* With MongoDB’s high-performance, scalable platform, apna will increase engagement and optimize the user experience

* apna is leveraging MongoDB’s developer data platform to boost developer productivity by 40%

apna, India's largest jobs and professional networking platform, has revealed its adoption of MongoDB Atlas, a leading cloud-based solution, as part of its efforts to enhance user experience while prioritizing security. With MongoDB’s expertise, apna will be better positioned to help its users seek more opportunities. The current initiative is in sync with apna’s objective of innovating and making its platform more personalized, thereby helping match the right person with the right job.

Since implementing microservices architecture and adopting MongoDB, apna has experienced a significant reduction of 90% in downtime incidents and a notable increase of 40% in developer productivity. Moreover, with MongoDB Atlas capable of handling 30 million active users, apna has successfully improved user engagement on its platform, enhancing the overall user experience. By leveraging MongoDB Atlas, apna has been able to utilize its high-performance platform and flexible data model to iterate quickly, gather feedback from users, and optimize the user experience. MongoDB Atlas serves as the primary data source for apna's content management system, facilitating all interactions that occur on the app.

Talking about the initiative, Suresh Khemka, Head of Platform Engineering, apna said, “We have been constantly innovating and evolving to offer the best recruitment solutions. With MongoDB’s expertise in cloud solutions, we will be able to significantly improve user experience on our platform. We are witnessing a commensurate increase in developer productivity and remain confident that the data model will help 30 million job seekers with better job opportunities. We no longer need to be concerned about setting up or managing additional solutions, as MongoDB Atlas has become our go-to choice for new services due to its reliability and flexibility.

Sachin Chawla, VP India, MongoDB said: "The gray collar economy is hugely important for India, but it hasn't always been easy to connect talent to opportunity. apna is using software and data to give people and businesses a way to solve that. Their team is an excellent example of how a small group of developers can have a huge impact when they have a clear mission, strong culture and great technology. I'm so excited by how apna is helping connect millions of Indians to better opportunities."

Besides the above initiative, apna is expanding its developer functionality and gathering richer data for reporting and analytics. Apna can now explore how to use data to address societal challenges, such as India’s employment inequality, with the aid of more sophisticated analytics and the appropriate technology. For instance, the app currently connects job seekers with opportunities. In future, however, apna will possess the potential to determine what skills are in demand in specific regions and assist job seekers in making informed decisions about whether to invest in particular training programmes via its enhanced analytics.

Learn more about apna’s initiative with MongoDB here: mongodb.com/customers/apna

About MongoDB

MongoDB is the developer data platform company empowering innovators to create, transform, and disrupt industries by unleashing the power of software and data. Headquartered in New York, MongoDB has more than 40,800 customers in over 100 countries. The MongoDB database platform has been downloaded over 365 million times and there have been more than 1.8 million registrations for MongoDB University courses.

About apna.co

Founded in 2019, apna.co is India’s largest jobs and professional networking platform dedicated to helping India’s rising workforce to unlock unique professional networking and skilling opportunities. Having secured more than $190 million from marquee investors such as Tiger Global, Owl Ventures, Insight Partners, Lightspeed India, Sequoia Capital India, Maverick Ventures, GSV Ventures, Greenoaks Capital and Rocketship.vc, apna is on a mission to enable livelihoods for billions in India. With more than 30 million users in 70-plus cities and counting and more than 300,000 employers that trust the platform, India has a new destination to discover relevant opportunities.

Go Airlines Filed With The National Company Law Tribunal For Resolution Under Section 10 Of The Insolvency Bankruptcy Code

GO FIRST has had to take this step due to the ever-increasing number of failing engines supplied by Pratt & Whitney’s International Aero Engines, LLC, which has resulted in GO FIRST having to ground 25 aircraft (equivalent to approximately 50% of its Airbus A320neo aircraft fleet) as of 1 May 2023. The percentage of grounded aircraft due to Pratt & Whitney’s faulty engines has grown from 7% in December 2019 to 31% in December 2020 to 50% in December 2022. This is despite Pratt & Whitney making several on-going assurances over the years, which it has repeatedly failed to meet.  

More precisely, GO FIRST has been forced to apply to the NCLT after Pratt & Whitney, the exclusive engine supplier for GO FIRST’s Airbus A320neo aircraft fleet, refused to comply with an award issued by an emergency arbitrator appointed in accordance with the 2016 Arbitration Rules of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC).That order directed Pratt & Whitney to take all reasonable steps to release and dispatch without delay to GO FIRST at least 10 serviceable spare leased engines by 27 April 2023 and a further 10 spare leased engines per month until December 2023, with the objective of GO FIRST returning to full operations and achieving GO FIRST’s financial rehabilitation and survival. 

If Pratt & Whitney were to comply with the orders in the emergency arbitrator’s award, GO FIRST would be able to return to full operations by August/September 2023. Despite the emergency arbitrator’s order, however, at the date of this press release, Pratt & Whitney has failed to provide any further serviceable spare leased engines at all, and has stated that there are no further spare leased engines available for it comply with the emergency arbitrator’s award.  

GO FIRST deeply regrets the disruption and inconvenience that this will cause to its customers, travel partners, creditors, and suppliers and, in particular, to its own employees who have remained loyal to and grown with GO FIRST over the years. GO FIRST has taken today’s step in order to protect the interests of all stakeholders. It has been forced to take this step despite the infusion of substantial funds to the tune of INR 3,200 crores by the promoters into the airline in the last three years, INR 2400 crores of which were injected in the last 24 months, and INR 290 crores in April 2023 alone. This brings the total promoter investment in the airline since its inception to approximately INR 6,500 crores. GO FIRST has also received significant support from the Government of India’s exceptional Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme, for which it is extremely grateful.  

However, even this collective and significant support has not sufficed to prevent the enormous damage caused by Pratt & Whitney’s defective and failing engines.  

The grounding of close to 50% of its A320neo fleet due to the serial failure of Pratt & Whitney’s engines, while it continued to incur 100% of its operational costs, has set GO FIRST back by INR 10,800 crores in lost revenues and additional expenses.  

Moreover, GO FIRST has paid INR 5,657 crores to lessors in the last two years of which approximately INR 1600 crores was paid towards lease rent for non-operational grounded aircraft from the funds infused by the Promoters & Government of India’s Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme. 

In order to recover these (and other) losses, GO FIRST has sought compensation of approximately INR 8000 crores in the SIAC arbitration. If GO FIRST is successful in the arbitration, it is hoped that, GO FIRST will be able to address the liabilities of its creditors, small and large. However at this stage, in the absence of Pratt & Whitney not providing the required number of spare leased engines in accordance with the order issued by the emergency arbitrator, GO FIRST is no longer in a position to continue to meet its financial obligations.  

While GO FIRST awaits admission into the NCLT proceedings, it is committed to attending to as many queries as possible from its stakeholders. In the interim, detailed FAQs are available at https://www.flyGO FIRST.com/. Once the NCLT processes GO FIRST’s application under section 10 of IBC, an Interim Resolution Professional (“IRP”) will take over and operate GO FIRST. GO FIRST’s Board & Management will cooperate fully with the IRP and trusts that the IRP will address the concerns of GO FIRST’s stakeholders as appropriate. 

GO FIRST has been forced to apply to the NCLT because of the recurring and persistent issues with the GTF (geared turbofan) engines supplied by Pratt & Whitney, coupled with Pratt & Whitney’s failure to repair those engines and/or provide sufficient spare leased engines as it was required to do pursuant to its obligations under the relevant agreements entered into between GO FIRST and Pratt & Whitney. GO FIRST’s management repeatedly sought to engage with Pratt & Whitney on the engine issue, but Pratt & Whitney did not respond constructively. Instead, despite its contractual obligations to provide a spare leased engine within 48 hours of failure, it refused to provide sufficient spare leased engines to GO FIRST and refused to repair GO FIRST’s engines.   

As a result, GO FIRST was left with no option but to commence an arbitration against Pratt & Whitney under the 2016 Rules of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) – seeking compensation in excess of INR 8000 crores and other final relief – as well as to seek interim, emergency relief as permitted by those Rules. By an award dated 30 March 2023, an emergency arbitrator appointed in accordance with the SIAC Rules found that GO FIRST’s current financial position was due in large part, if not wholly, to the number of grounded aircraft caused by the unavailability of Pratt & Whitney’s engines. Among other things, the emergency arbitrator ordered Pratt & Whitney to take all reasonable steps to release and dispatch without delay to GO FIRST at least 10 serviceable spare leased engines by 27 April 2023, and a further 10 spare leased engines per month until December 2023.  

Pratt & Whitney has refused to comply with the emergency arbitrator’s order and to date, it has provided no spare leased engines at all nor provided any certainty with respect to the timeframe for the provision of spare leased engines in the future. It has also failed to induct faulty engines for repair.  

After Pratt & Whitney failed to comply with the emergency arbitrator’s order, GO FIRST approached the emergency arbitrator again, the emergency arbitrator confirmed the orders in the emergency arbitrator’s award in a second award dated 15 April 2023. Had Pratt & Whitney complied with the emergency arbitrator’s award, all of GO FIRST’s aircraft would have been operational by August/September 2023, ensuring profitable operations in the fast-growing Indian aviation market. As a result of Pratt & Whitney’s failure to comply with the emergency arbitrator’s award, GO FIRST is being driven to take steps to enforce the award in the U.S. and other international jurisdictions. 

GO FIRST deeply regrets the current situation, which has forced it to apply to the NCLT. With Pratt & Whitney failing to abide by the directions in the emergency arbitrator’s award by providing spare leased engines, and with further engine failures expected in the next 3-4 months, the operations of GO FIRST will be made unviable.  

The additional consequence of Pratt & Whitney’s actions has also driven some lessors to repossess aircraft, draw down letters of credit and notify further withdrawal of aircraft. The culmination of these actions will result in a severe depletion in the number of aircraft available for GO FIRST to operate going forward, thereby making it further unfeasible for GO FIRST to continue its operation and meet its financial obligations. 

Prior to the acute issues caused by the serial failure of Pratt & Whitney’s engines, GO FIRST enjoyed a market share of 10.8% in FY’20, and was consistently profitable from 2010-2020, with a comparable EBITDAR to its largest competitor from 2016-2020. In FY’22 GO FIRST reported EBITDAR better than that of the largest competitor by almost 3.4%. The operating costs of the company continued to be lower than that largest competitor from 2020-2022.  

For over 17 years, GO FIRST has proudly served 84 million passengers. GO FIRST anticipates and expects that that once the application under section 10 of IBC is admitted, the appointed Interim Resolution Professional will sustain GO FIRST’s operations, allowing it to serve many more passengers in the years to come. 

Around 13000 Students Of Aakash BYJU’S Students Clear JEE Mains 2023; 4088 Score 95 Percentile And Above

* 11 under AIR 100 and 45 under 500 

Marking a stupendous result in JEE Mains 2023, around 13,000 students of Aakash BYJU’S have cleared the JEE Mains 2023. Out of the 13,000, 4088 students from across the country inked an impressive score of 95 percentile and above, 968 have scored 99 percentile and above. 11 students have secured ranks under AIR 100 and 45 found place in top 500. The results were announced by the National Testing Agency earlier on 28th April, 2023.  

The Top scorers in the Classroom course at Aakash Institute are Dhruv Sanjay Jain, Chhattisgarh State Topper with AIR 8 and Kamyak Channa, Chandigarh city topper with AIR 21, Anoop Singh, Prayagraj city topper with AIR 46; Aakarsh D. Reza, Bhatinda city topper with AIR 64 and Nikhilesh with AIR 89.  

JEE is considered the world’s toughest entrance exam. The students attributed their entry into the elite list of top percentiles in JEE to their efforts in understanding the concepts, and their strict adherence to their learning schedule. “We are grateful that Aakash BYJU’S has helped us with both. But for the content and coaching from the institute, We would not have grasped many concepts in different subjects in a short period of time,” they said.  

Congratulating all the students, Mr. Abhishek Maheshwari, CEO, Aakash BYJU’S, said, “We are proud of our students who have excelled in the JEE Main 2023 results. The credit goes to the hard work put in by our students, the support of their family and our faculty, as well as the quality test preparation imparted at Aakash BYJU’S. I wish them all the best for their future endeavours”. 

JEE (Main) is conducted in two sessions to give multiple opportunities for students to improve their scores. While JEE Advanced is only for admission to the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), JEE Main is for admission to several National Institute of Technologies (NITs) and other centre-aided engineering colleges in India. Students must appear for JEE Main to sit for JEE Advanced.  

Aakash BYJU’S offers IIT-JEE coaching in multiple course formats for high school and higher secondary school students. In the recent past, Aakash increased its focus on developing Computer Based Training. Its iTutor provides recorded video lectures. The mock tests simulate the real exam scenario, thus giving the students the required familiarity and confidence in facing the exam.  

Punjab and Sind Bank Shows Robust Financial Results For The Quarter And Year Ended 31st March 2023

Punjab and Sind Bank records highest ever Net Profit of Rs.1313 Cr (FY) against a Net Profit of Rs.1039 Cr (Y-o-Y), registering a growth of 26.37%. 

Key Summary of Business Performance (as on 31st March 2023) 

Priority Sector Advance and Financial Inclusion: 

Bank surpasses the targets in Priority Sector Advance which stands at 54.99% and Agriculture Advance at 20.67% of ANBC, as on March 2023, against the regulatory target of 40% and 18% respectively. 

Credit to Small and Marginal farmers stands at 11.06% of ANBC, against the regulatory target of 9.50%. 

Credit to Weaker Sections stands at 12.68% of ANBC, against the regulatory target of 11.50%. 

Credit to Micro Enterprises stands at 14.31% of ANBC, against the regulatory target of 7.50%. 

Bank is having 19.30 lakh PMJDY accounts with balance of deposits of Rs.558 Cr as at March 2023. 

Capital Position: 

Capital Adequacy ratio (CRAR) at 17.10% with Common Equity Tier 1 (CET-1) ratio of 14.32% at the end of March 2023. 

Distribution Network: 

As on 31st March 2023, Bank has 1537 number of branches, out of which 572 are Rural, 281 Semi-Urban, 362 Urban and 322 Metro along with 835 number of ATMs, 357 Business Correspondents. 

Bank has recently opened 25 new branches in PAN India, total number of branches stands at 1553 as on date. 

Awards & Accolades: 

Best Emerging Bank at MSME Banking Excellence Award. 

1st Position under “Exemplary Gold Award” in Leadership Capital 4.0 by PFRDA. 

Runner-up in “Best Digital Financial Inclusion” declared by IBA. 

3rd Position in “Door-step Banking Udaan Campaign” by PSB Alliance Private Limited.