Tag: GenAI

TechPulse

Amazon to Unlock AI for Millions inIndia, Invest $12.7B in Cloud & AI Infrastructure by 2030

Tanisha Cardozo

Written by Tanisha Cardozo || Team Allycaral

Amazon has announced a major initiative aimed at accelerating India’s AI transformation and supporting the Government of India’s AI Mission. The company is set to bring artificial intelligence capabilities to millions of Indians by 2030, with a strong focus on accessibility, productivity, and digital inclusion. As part of this commitment, Amazon is on track to invest $12.7 billion in cloud and AI infrastructure across Telangana and Maharashtra, strengthening the foundation for India to become a global technology leader. This investment supports the rapidly growing demand for cloud, machine learning, and agentic AI solutions and also complements Amazon’s long-running efforts in skilling. Since 2017, AWS has trained more than 6.2 million individuals in India to prepare them for a future shaped by AI.

A central part of this mission is Amazon’s plan to empower over 15 million small businesses with AI-driven tools that simplify operations, remove barriers, and enable entrepreneurs—regardless of size or location—to scale faster. Through innovations such as the enhanced Seller Assistant with agentic AI capabilities, the Next Generation Seller Central platform, GenAI-powered product listing tools, Creative Studio, and Video Generator, sellers can now create content, make informed decisions, and automate daily tasks with ease. These tools help level the playing field for small entrepreneurs, enabling them to compete with larger enterprises by providing professional-grade capabilities at their fingertips.

Amazon also announced a commitment to bring AI literacy and career awareness to 4 million government-school students by 2030. This effort supports the National Education Policy 2020 and aims to equip young learners with future-ready skills through AI-focused curriculum, hands-on activities, teacher training, and career exposure programs. By ensuring equal access to AI learning resources, even for students in rural or underserved regions, Amazon hopes to nurture the next generation of innovators who will create solutions for India and the world. Government leadership emphasized that integrating AI education into classrooms is a nation-building effort essential for achieving a Viksit Bharat.

On the customer front, Amazon continues to use AI to make shopping easier, more intuitive, and more inclusive for hundreds of millions of shoppers across India. Tools like Rufus, the in-app AI shopping assistant, help users discover products, compare options, and understand key features quickly and naturally. Lens AI allows shoppers to search using images, screenshots, or barcodes, while augmented reality features let customers visualize products like furniture in their own homes. These innovations reduce the effort involved in product research and decision-making and break down barriers of language, literacy, and digital familiarity.

Amazon’s broader vision is that AI should be an equalizer for India—empowering small businesses, enabling students, supporting economic growth, and making everyday life easier for customers. By combining large-scale AI infrastructure investments with user-friendly AI tools and nationwide skilling initiatives, Amazon aims to help India unlock the full potential of AI and build a more equitable digital future for all.

EduConnect

Microsoft’s Aruna Chakkirala Talks GenAI, Responsible AI at Goa Business School

Tanisha Cardozo

As part of the ongoing Fomento Lecture Series, Microsoft’s Lead AI Cloud Solutions Architect, Aruna Chakkirala, delivered an insightful talk at Goa Business School, Goa University, on Tuesday. The session, titled “Business Impact of AI and Building Meaningful GenAI Use Cases,” offered students a first-hand perspective into how artificial intelligence, particularly Generative AI, is reshaping the world of work and innovation.

An alumna of Goa University herself, with a Master’s in Computer Applications, Aruna’s return to campus was both nostalgic and impactful. Drawing from over two decades of global experience in AI and cloud architecture, she explored the widespread influence of Generative AI across industries and how it’s essential for young professionals to orient themselves toward this transformative technology.

She advised students to focus not only on acquiring AI skills but on building domain understanding—stressing that AI should be seen as a tool to augment human capabilities, not replace them. This, she said, is crucial for improving job prospects in an increasingly AI-integrated job market.

Addressing a pressing concern among students, Aruna candidly acknowledged the uncertainty surrounding AI’s impact on employment. “We still don’t know how this wave of AI growth will ultimately affect job creation or displacement,” she said, validating the mixed sentiments within the academic community.

What remained constant throughout her talk was the emphasis on Responsible AI. For Aruna, responsible innovation has always been at the core of her professional journey. She spoke about the ethical dimensions of AI systems and the importance of building transparent, explainable models. Her book, Interpretability and Explainability in AI using Python, underscores this very philosophy and remains a valuable resource for professionals and learners alike.

The session concluded with an interactive Q&A where students engaged with Aruna on current AI trends, future opportunities, and the importance of human-AI collaboration. The event further cemented Goa Business School’s commitment to providing students with access to leaders driving real-world tech transformation.