Tag: Digital Marketing

Business

AI-Powered Leap: Projects Today Unveils Smarter Business Opportunity Platform

Tanisha Cardozo

India’s project ecosystem is entering a smarter, more connected phase as Projects Today unveils its AI-driven business opportunity platform, designed to bring clarity, speed, and intelligence into how organisations engage with projects. At a time when timing, data, and coordination can define success, this upgraded platform aims to simplify complexity and turn information into actionable insight.

The platform integrates project lifecycle context, tenders, L1/order updates, and stakeholder intelligence into a single streamlined workflow. Instead of navigating fragmented data points, users can now access a unified view that helps them understand not just what is happening, but what actions to take next. This shift from passive tracking to proactive decision-making marks a significant evolution in project intelligence.

At its core, the platform introduces a suite of AI-enabled capabilities focused on real-world outcomes. From BOQ search and sub-project tracking to tender-to-order journey visibility, users gain a deeper understanding of each opportunity’s stage and scope. Enhanced bidder insights, participation analytics, and opportunity estimation tools further strengthen the decision-making process, while credibility dashboards and stakeholder mapping add a new layer of strategic intelligence.

With over 25 years of research-led expertise, Projects Today continues to build on its strong foundation. The platform currently tracks more than 50,000 active projects across various stages, from early planning to execution. Each month, it adds over 1,500 new projects, monitors 10,000+ tenders, and captures more than 1,200 L1/order updates—creating a dynamic and constantly evolving database that supports businesses across sectors.

However, the vision goes beyond data aggregation. The intent is to create a seamless flow of opportunity between those who conceptualise projects and those who bring them to life. By connecting promoters, contractors, consultants, suppliers, service providers, and financiers, the platform fosters collaboration and ensures that opportunities move efficiently from idea to execution.

This launch also reinforces a guiding philosophy that has remained constant: Client First. Nation Always. As India’s infrastructure and industrial landscape continues to expand, the need for timely insights and coordinated action becomes more critical than ever. Through this AI-powered transformation, Projects Today is positioning itself not just as an information provider, but as an enabler of growth, partnerships, and progress.

In a rapidly evolving economy, where speed and precision are key, this platform represents more than just a technological upgrade. It signals a shift towards smarter engagement, better alignment, and faster execution—ensuring that opportunities don’t just exist, but are effectively realised.

Social Media

WhatsApp Introduces Group Message History Feature for New Members

Tanisha Cardozo

Joining a group chat midway through an ongoing conversation has often been confusing, leaving new members without context and forcing them to rely on others for updates. Addressing this common issue, WhatsApp has introduced a new feature called Group Message History, aimed at making group interactions more seamless and efficient.

With this update, group administrators can now share recent chat messages with newly added members, helping them quickly understand the flow of conversation. Previously, users joining a group could only see messages sent after they were added, which often led to communication gaps, especially in work-related groups, community discussions, and long-standing family chats. Members frequently had to request screenshots or ask others to resend important details, creating unnecessary back-and-forth.

The new feature offers flexibility and control to administrators. It does not function automatically, meaning admins must actively choose to share message history when adding a new member. They can also decide how many messages to include, with options ranging from 25 to 100 recent messages. This ensures that new participants receive enough context without overwhelming them with excessive information.

Administrators retain full authority over the feature, including the ability to enable or disable it based on group preferences. While regular members cannot share chat history, admins continue to have exclusive control over what is shared with newcomers.

Importantly, WhatsApp has clarified that the introduction of this feature does not compromise user privacy. All shared messages remain protected under the platform’s end-to-end encryption system, ensuring that only group members can access the content. To maintain transparency, WhatsApp notifies existing group members whenever chat history is shared with a new participant. Additionally, these shared messages retain their original timestamps and sender details and are visually distinguished from regular messages for clarity.

The feature is currently being rolled out globally and will be available on both Android and iOS devices. Users who do not immediately see the update are advised to install the latest version of the app and wait for the rollout to reach their region. With Group Message History, WhatsApp aims to enhance user experience by reducing confusion, improving communication flow, and making group conversations more inclusive for everyone involved.

Events in Goa

MOG Sunday Talk: Flex Banners, ‘Airbnb Aesthetic’ and Goa’s Disappearing Traditional Street Lettering

Tanisha Cardozo

Panaji’s streetscape is undergoing a visible transformation as digital flex signages inspired by what many describe as an ‘Airbnb aesthetic’ steadily replace traditional hand-painted boards across the city and other Goan towns. The shift has resulted in streets that increasingly resemble those in mainstream urban India, with local character giving way to a standardised visual language. Alongside this aesthetic change, traditional sign painters are quietly disappearing, and with them, a long-standing craft tradition.

This evolving urban landscape formed the backdrop of a recent MOG Sunday session on Indian Street Lettering held at the Museum of Goa. Award-winning typeface designer and lettering artist Pooja Saxena used the occasion to draw attention to Goa’s street lettering as a living visual archive of its architectural and cultural history.

Saxena warned that the proliferation of digital flex signs, typically LED banner displays stretched over metal frames, is creating an ‘Airbnb aesthetic’ in which cities begin to look indistinguishable from one another. As she explained, when walking through such spaces, it becomes difficult to identify a city by its visual cues. The loss, she stressed, is not merely aesthetic but economic as well. When hand-painted signs disappear, so do the livelihoods attached to them. For Saxena, these signs should not survive only as museum exhibits; their true meaning lies in remaining functional, expressive elements within everyday public spaces.

Discussing her book project India Street Lettering: A Journey Through Typographic Craft & Culture, Saxena observed that lettering styles often reflect the historical period in which neighbourhoods developed. In Panaji, she pointed out, Art Deco and Art Nouveau influences in signage align closely with the city’s architectural heritage. Goa’s visual identity, she noted, is shaped by distinctive elements such as azulejos, woodwork and three-dimensional lettering. In conversation with Goa-based visual artist Avani Tanya, she explained how context shapes the way design elements are interpreted, while the coastal climate affects materials, making frequent repainting both necessary and a visible sign of ongoing care.

According to Saxena, street lettering extends beyond functionality; it operates as a gestural expression shaped by the human hand. Reflecting on increasing reliance on digital tools, she admitted concerns about losing touch with manual craft and handwriting. Her book focuses on letterforms created through analogue techniques, including hand painting and specialised processes, underscoring the intentionality and skill embedded in these forms.

Saxena expressed hope that her work would inspire people to look more closely at their local marketplaces and public spaces. By encouraging greater attention to everyday lettering, she believes citizens may begin to appreciate its cultural significance and advocate for its preservation. As Goa navigates the balance between modernisation and heritage, the conversation around street lettering raises broader questions about how cities can retain their identity while adapting to changing times.

Fit & Fabulous

Designer Kate Barton Teams Up with IBM and Fiducia AI for Immersive NYFW Presentation

Tanisha Cardozo

At New York Fashion Week, designer Kate Barton unveiled her latest collection with an innovative twist, merging high fashion with cutting-edge artificial intelligence. In collaboration with Fiducia AI and IBM, Barton introduced a multilingual AI agent built with IBM watsonx on IBM Cloud, offering guests an interactive and immersive runway experience.

The activation allows attendees to identify pieces from the collection in real time using a Visual AI lens powered by IBM watsonx. Beyond recognition, the tool answers questions in multiple languages via voice and text and enables photorealistic virtual try-ons, effectively creating what Barton describes as “a portal into the collection’s world” rather than deploying artificial intelligence for novelty alone.

Speaking ahead of the show in an interview with TechCrunch, Barton emphasised that technology has long been part of her creative thinking. She expressed interest in blending the real and the unreal to spark curiosity, explaining that today’s technology expands the world around the clothes and shapes how audiences enter the story behind a collection. For her, the objective was not automation but deeper engagement — creating moments that make viewers pause and look twice.

Ganesh Harinath, Founder and CEO of Fiducia AI, explained that the activation relied on IBM watsonx, IBM Cloud and IBM Cloud Object Storage. He noted that while model tuning was complex, the real challenge lay in orchestrating the system into a seamless, production-grade experience. The collaboration marks Barton’s continued experimentation with AI, following earlier technological integrations in past collections.

The broader fashion industry remains cautiously curious about artificial intelligence. Barton observed that many brands are quietly using AI in operational capacities but hesitate to showcase it publicly due to reputational concerns. She compared the hesitation to the early days of e-commerce, when luxury houses debated whether they should even launch websites — a question that later evolved into how effectively they used them.

Industry voices suggest that while AI adoption is growing, much of its current use remains surface-level, such as chatbots or internal productivity tools. Barton, however, envisions a future where AI enhances prototyping, visualisation and production decisions, while preserving the human craftsmanship that defines fashion. She has made it clear that technology must elevate, not erase, the people behind the work.

According to industry projections shared during the conversation, AI in fashion could become mainstream by 2028, with deeper operational integration by 2030. Leaders within IBM Consulting highlighted how connecting inspiration, product intelligence and real-time engagement can transform AI from a novelty feature into a strategic growth engine.

Yet for Barton, the ultimate goal remains clear. The future of fashion, she argues, is not automated fashion. It is fashion that embraces new tools to heighten craft, deepen storytelling and broaden access — without diminishing the human creativity that makes garments meaningful. At NYFW, that vision stepped confidently onto the runway, offering a glimpse of how art and algorithm might coexist in the next chapter of design.

Travel

MakeMyTrip Introduces Women-Centric Safety and Assurance Signalsin Stayand Bus Bookings

Tanisha Cardozo

MakeMyTrip, India’s leading online travel company, has introduced women-centric safety and assurance signals across accommodation and intercity bus bookings, leveraging artificial intelligence, user-generated content, and partner data to enable more confident travel planning for women.

Insights from platform behaviour indicate that women travellers adopt a more deliberate approach while planning trips. They spend more time reviewing ratings, exploring maps and street views, and examining guest-uploaded photos before confirming bookings. Booking data further reveals that women book 50 percent more stays at least 15 days in advance and show a 16 percent higher preference for premium and branded properties compared to men. This preference becomes more prominent as women travellers move from Tier 1 to Tier 3 cities, where branded accommodations often serve as a key signal of assurance.

Based on these insights, MakeMyTrip now surfaces safety-related cues more prominently when a woman is detected to be planning a stay. Ratings submitted by women are highlighted, while AI-led summaries bring attention to factors such as staff behaviour and location safety during the search process. Women-specific amenity indicators including CCTV, door eye, door chains, and full-length mirrors are also displayed more clearly. Travellers can additionally use the Street View feature to visually assess the surroundings and approach to a property before making a booking decision.

A similar approach has been applied to intercity bus bookings. AI identifies reviews from women-only journeys and filters them based on parameters such as safety, punctuality, and cleanliness, assigning sentiment tags for quicker assessment. For added assurance, when a woman books one side of a double berth, the adjacent berth is automatically restricted to female passengers, reducing mixed proximity—particularly during overnight or long-distance travel.

Commenting on the initiative, Rajesh Magow, Co-Founder and Group CEO of MakeMyTrip, said that women travellers already demonstrate careful and thoughtful planning behaviour. By leveraging rich data and AI, the company aims to simplify this process and enable more informed decision-making.

The initiative is supported by two foundational layers—AI-driven insights drawn from millions of user reviews and behavioural signals, and structured partner data spanning nearly 97,000 accommodation properties and over 3,500 intercity bus operators. Together, these efforts aim to make travel planning clearer, safer, and more reassuring for women across the country.