Next Gen Consulting

Blog

  • Meme to Movement? ‘Cockroach Janata Party’ Crosses 15 Million Followers in 5 Days !

    New Delhi, May 22 (BNP): What started as a satirical online campaign fuelled by memes, sarcasm and political commentary has rapidly transformed into one of India’s biggest digital sensations. The “Cockroach Janata Party” (CJP), a meme-driven social media movement born out of public outrage and internet humour, has crossed 15 million followers on Instagram within just five days, overtaking the online popularity of India’s major political parties.

    News In Pics

    Operating under the handle @cockroachjantaparty, the platform has surged ahead of established political organisations in a dramatic display of internet influence. While the official Instagram account of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) currently has around 8.7 million followers, the Indian National Congress — one of India’s oldest political parties with a history spanning over 140 years — has approximately 13.2 million followers. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), founded in 2012, trails with nearly 1.9 million followers.

    The movement reportedly emerged in response to controversial remarks linked to concerns surrounding unemployed youth, quickly evolving into an online expression of frustration over issues such as joblessness, inflation, governance and social inequality. Through viral reels, satire, memes and politically charged humour, the page has struck a chord with younger internet users, particularly Gen Z audiences.

    In a country where political influence is traditionally built over decades through organisational networks and electoral outreach, the meteoric rise of the Cockroach Janata Party has triggered widespread discussion over the growing role of digital culture in shaping public discourse. Supporters see it as a symbolic protest movement reflecting youth dissatisfaction, while critics argue that viral popularity may not necessarily translate into meaningful political engagement beyond social media.

    The trend has also attracted attention from prominent public figures and online influencers. Popular YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan and leaders including Mahua Moitra and Kirti Azad have publicly reacted to or expressed support for the viral trend, adding to its visibility and political intrigue.

    As the “Cockroach” trend continues to dominate social media conversations, questions remain over whether the phenomenon will remain a meme-powered online moment or evolve into a broader expression of political sentiment among India’s youth.

  • India’s AI Moment: As AI Projected to Add Dollar 1.7T to Economy, Industry Leaders at Avaali Roundtable Call for Enterprise Prioritisation and Governance

    BANGALORE, May 22, 2026 — Avaali, a leading technology solutions company specializing in cost optimization and margin improvement for upper mid and large-sized enterprises, hosted an exclusive roundtable in Bangalore to deliberate on the urgent theme: “India’s AI Moment: The Enterprise Prioritisation Challenge Behind Scalable Impact.” Led by Ms Srividya Kannan, Founder and CEO of Avaali, the session brought together distinguished industry leaders, including Mr Sanjeev Kumar Gupta, CEO of the Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM), and Ms Ohmna Sinha, Global Head of Data & Analytics Governance at Nielsen.

    The roundtable took place at a definitive inflection point. Backed by the government’s landmark ₹10,300-crore IndiaAI Mission and the broader economic roadmap of Viksit Bharat @ 2047, AI is projected to potentially add $1.7 trillion to India’s economy by 2035. However, recent data from the Nasscom AI Adoption Index reveals that 87% of Indian enterprises are actively deploying AI solutions. But a critical gap remains between widespread adoption and deep operational readiness.

    In her opening address, Ms Srividya Kannan, Founder and CEO of Avaali, underscored that the national AI conversation has rapidly shifted from ambition to execution, leaving enterprises with an operational “absorption gap”:

    “India AI story will be written within enterprises. AI adoption is no longer the difficult conversation in most boardrooms; the harder question is readiness. Do enterprises know which processes are worth transforming first, do they have the data and governance to support AI, and can they convert experimentation into measurable outcomes?

    The next digital divide will not be between companies that use AI and those that do not. It will be between enterprises that can absorb AI into the way they work, decide, and govern, and those that remain AI-curious but operationally unprepared. AI pilots create excitement. AI readiness creates economic value.”

    The panel highlighted a stark execution paradox, and to translate this into enterprise productivity, the leaders outlined a strategic framework focused on thorough data readiness, building hybrid talent that pairs domain expertise with AI skills, and elevating AI from isolated IT tasks to absolute boardroom accountability.

    Addressing regional execution, Mr Sanjeev Kumar Gupta, CEO of KDEM, highlighted that Karnataka commands over 40% of India’s overall tech capabilities, housing the largest concentration of Global Capability Centres (GCCs) and nearly 39% of the country’s AI startups. Driven by Bengaluru’s tech ecosystem, which accounts for an 30% share of all AI job postings nationwide – demand being 300,000 per year currently, the state serves as the primary engine behind India’s march toward a $1 trillion digital economy.

    Mr Gupta emphasized that while India has built an exceptional supply side, including the injection of 38,000 GPUs, robust public data sources, and the IndiaAI Datasets Platform (AI Kosh), the true test lies in enterprise commitment. He noted that While 88% of organizations globally use AI in at least one business function, but only 7% have successfully adopted it for real business outcomes.

    “To bridge the gap and achieve real business value, enterprises must overcome three core operational barriers: real data availability, hybrid skills that blend domain expertise with AI, and bridging the boardroom understanding gap so directors can actively steer investments.

    Large enterprises must move away from isolated pilots and start publishing concrete case studies on how AI has optimized internal processes. Every technology shift presents friction, but by focusing on execution, we transform challenges into sustained economic leadership.”

    The panel also addressed how India is proactively tackling the environmental and sustainability challenges of massive AI computation. Mr Gupta highlighted strategic shifts toward renewable energy sourcing, stating, “There is a huge policy push that we have. We are working to come out with a sustainable data center policy. For the first time, we will introduce a very thoughtful process on how we can make data centres structurally sustainable. As more states and country-level discussions come forward, we will look ahead to embedding more of these sustainability parameters into our foundational frameworks.” He also pointed to breakthrough domestic eco-innovations alongside these policy steps, such as room-temperature servers from Vigyan Labs and advanced hypercooling infrastructure. Karnataka is leading as a role model on these initiatives. While we talk about the growth factors our Beyond Bengaluru emerging tech clusters – Mysuru, Hubballil-Dharwad-Belagavi, Mangaluru, Kalaburgi, Shivamoga & Tumakuru, are also scaling fast and are becoming the new powerhouse of Viksit Bharat for the globe.

    Addressing the foundational requirement of trust, Ms Ohmna Sinha, Global Head of Data & Analytics Governance at Nielsen, warned against a corporate mindset of speed over substance, citing that around 85% of AI pilots ultimately fail to make it to production (Source: Gartner)

    “Enterprises are no longer asking whether AI matters; they are asking how to operationalize it meaningfully. However, leaders must critically ask: Do we really need AI for every single process? The ultimate metric should not merely be speed; it must be AI Quality First and AI Faster.

    As organizations mature, success will depend on clean data, clear governance, compliance readiness, and practical use cases that solve real problems rather than chasing hype. India’s evolving digital regulatory landscape is making this journey even more critical, encouraging organizations to build with accountability and transparency from the outset.”

    Key Recommendations from the Roundtable:

    ·       Move AI to the Boardroom: AI must become a board-level strategic priority with defined productivity, operational, and customer impact goals tied to investments.

    ·       Build a prioritization discipline: Enterprises should build an objective prioritization discipline around AI. Rather than asking “where do we use AI’ they should ask Where should we apply AI first to create measurable business impact?

    ·       Adopt a ‘Data Quality First’ Mindset: Scalable adoption begins with clean, governed, and compliant data foundations equipped with responsible AI guardrails.

    ·       Strengthen Domain-Led AI Skilling: Future success depends on combining technical AI capabilities with deep, industry and functional specific expertise (Manufacturing, BFSI, Retail, Energy, Finance, Procurement, Supply Chain etc.).

    ·       Enable MSME Inclusion: Large enterprises must bring their supplier and partner ecosystems into the digital transformation journey to ensure inclusive growth.

    ·       Promote Sustainable Infrastructure: Commercialize green data center initiatives and domestic hardware innovations to scale computing sustainably.

    Concluding the session, the panel emphasized that India’s AI moment is real. The ambition is real. The opportunity is real. But the next milestone will not be defined by how many AI pilots we launch. It will be defined by how effectively enterprises convert AI into productivity, resilience, governance, and measurable business outcomes and all this starts with the right prioritization.

  • Capital India Finance reports FY26 results; FY27 focus on scalable MSME lending franchise.

    Chandigarh, May 22 : Capital India Finance Limited  an India-focused MSME lender  reported a standalone Profit After Tax  of ₹ 40.36 crore and total income of ₹ 229.67 crore for the financial year ended March 31, 2026.

    Key Performance Highlights – Standalone:

    ·Assets Under Management (AUM) stood at ₹ 1227.37 crore as of March 31, 2026, registered growth of 22% YoY.

    ·Disbursements during FY26 stood at ₹ 753.54 crore, reflecting a growth of 62% YoY, driven by improving customer acquisition, deeper market penetration and expansion across MSME lending segments.

    ·Total Revenue for FY26 reported at ₹ 229.67 crore, registered growth of 11% YoY, Interest Income for FY26 reported at ₹ 186.09 crore, registered growth of 15% YoY.

    ·PAT for FY26 reported at ₹ 40.36 crore, registered growth of 243% YoY.

    ·Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) remained strong at 40.99% as on March 31, 2026, significantly above the regulatory requirement, providing a strong capital buffer, financial flexibility and adequate capacity to support the Company’s future loan book growth.

    ·Net NPA stood at 1.32%, reflecting prudent credit selection, disciplined collection mechanisms and a conservative risk management framework.

    ·Expanded branch and distribution network to 46 branches in FY26 from 29 branches in FY25, enhancing the Company’s execution and customer outreach capabilities.

    ·Continues to benefit from a well-established borrowing franchise, supported by strong participation from both existing and new lenders, with total Debt raised of ₹ 600 crore in FY26 including NCD issuance.

    ·Expanded leadership, employee base and distribution footprint to support future growth.

    Strategic Developments During FY26

    ·Accomplished strategic divestment of entire stake in Capital India Home Loans Limited (CIHL), erstwhile housing finance subsidiary of CIFL, for a consideration of ₹ 267 crore in Aug 25, as part of CIFL’s strategic realignment towards strengthening its core lending franchise and enhancing capital allocation efficiency.

    ·Listed on the National Stock Exchange of India, enhancing market visibility, investor reach and trading liquidity.

    Commenting on the financial results, Mr. Surender Rana, Executive Vice Chairman, CIFL, said:

    “FY26 was a year of strategic recalibration for CIFL as we sharpened our focus on secured MSME and retail lending. Alongside balance sheet strengthening through the divestment of CIHL, the Company expanded its distribution network and reinforced its leadership team and employee base to support continued growth.”

    Mr. Pinank Shah, Chief Executive Officer, CIFL, commented:

    “The expansion of our network to 46 locations, combined with our continued focus on secured and granular lending, is helping us build a scalable and disciplined lending franchise. We are seeing improving traction across our core business segments. As we continue to scale our lending business, we believe the combination of prudent risk management, technology-led execution and a stronger liability profile positions us well for the next phase of sustainable growth.”

    Overview of Rapipay Fintech Pvt. Ltd  Rapipay

    ·Total Revenue for FY26 reported at ₹ 338.70 crore.

    ·Achieved EBITDA positivity in FY26, reporting an EBITDA of ₹ 6.89 crore, marking a significant turnaround and demonstrating strong improvement in its financial performance.

    ·Loss After Tax for FY26 reported at ₹ 14.60 crore, demonstrating reduction in losses over FY25.

    Key Performance Highlights – Consolidated:

    ·Total Revenue for FY26 reported at ₹ 532.84 crore.

    ·Profit after Tax for FY26 reported at ₹ 30.89 crore as against Loss after tax at ₹ 10.22 crore for FY25.

  • West Bengal’s Mandatory ‘Vande Mataram’ Order in Madrasas Triggers Political Storm

    Kolkata, May 22 (BNP): A political controversy has erupted in West Bengal after the state government made the singing of Vande Mataram compulsory in all recognised madrasas across the state. The directive, issued by the Directorate of Madrasa Education, mandates that the national song be sung during morning assembly prayers before classes begin in institutions functioning under the Minority Affairs and Madrasa Education Department.

    West Bengal’s Mandatory ‘Vande Mataram’ Order in Madrasas Triggers Political Storm

     Representational image

    The order applies to government model madrasas, government-aided institutions, approved Shishu Shiksha Kendras, Madhyamik Shiksha Kendras, and recognised unaided madrasas. The move comes nearly a week after the state government extended a similar mandate to schools, making Vande Mataram part of morning assemblies across educational institutions. Officials said the directive has been approved for immediate implementation as part of efforts to introduce uniformity in assembly practices and promote patriotic values among students.

    The decision has sparked sharp reactions from opposition parties and sections of civil society, with critics alleging that educational institutions are being drawn into political debates. Several leaders questioned the timing and intent of the order, arguing that consultations with madrasa authorities and educators could have preceded such a move.

    Reacting to the criticism, Samik Bhattacharya defended the government’s decision and rejected allegations of communal polarisation. “Vande Mataram and madrasas have no conflict. This is not about Hindu-Muslim politics. The slogan has historically been used across political traditions, including by the Congress during the freedom movement,” he said while backing the directive.

    Written by novelist Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Vande Mataram played a prominent role during India’s freedom struggle and remains a symbol of patriotism, while also periodically emerging as a subject of political and ideological debate in public life.

  • Aditya Birla Capital raises Rs. 4,000 crores of Equity Capital to Fund Growth

    Chandigarh, May 22: The Board of Directors of Aditya Birla Capital Limited (“ABCL”) approved preferential issuance of Rs. 2,880 crores to Grasim Industries Limited (Promoter), Rs. 200 crores to Suryaja Investment Pte Limited, Singapore (an Aditya Birla Group entity) and Rs. 920 crores to International Finance Corporation (IFC), aimed at strengthening the capital base and meeting the requirement for its next phase of growth. The preferential issuance will be undertaken at the price of Rs. 356.02 per equity share, as per SEBI ICDR Regulations, subject to shareholder and other requisite approvals and customary conditions.

    The proceeds from the preferential issuance will be utilised for meeting the growth objectives including augmentation of the capital base, funding requirements for lending business and other general corporate purposes such as for investment in subsidiaries/ joint ventures/associates of the Company.

    Commenting on the investment, Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman, Aditya Birla Group said, “Financial services have become central to India’s economic transformation, driving capital formation, expanding financial inclusion and supporting the formalisation of the economy at scale. As the sector evolves, institutions with diversified platforms, strong governance and technology-led execution are increasingly shaping the trajectory of growth. Over the last few years, ABCL has built scale across the financial-services landscape, creating a portfolio of high-quality businesses supported by robust digital capabilities and disciplined execution. Its breadth across segments, combined with a long-term approach to building institutional capability, positions the group well as India’s financial sector enters its next phase of expansion and sophistication.”

    Ms. Vishakha Mulye, MD & CEO, Aditya Birla Capital Limited said, “We are deeply grateful for the continued trust of our Promoters and the confidence IFC has placed in us. With all the building blocks in place, this capital infusion will enable us to participate in the growth opportunities in India, deepen customer engagement, and deliver digital-first solutions. About 57% of our loan portfolio comprises business loans to SMEs, reflecting our strong commitment to this segment. We are focused on shaping an inclusive financial ecosystem built on responsible business practices. We empower individuals and businesses with seamless credit access, digital capabilities, and deep ecosystem solutions to drive sustainable, long-term growth.” 

    Mr. Sarvesh Suri, Regional Vice President, Asia and the Pacific, IFC said, “Small businesses are built on big ideas, and through this partnership with Aditya Birla Capital, we are helping bring those ideas to life. Creating jobs and expanding economic opportunities are at the heart of the World Bank Group’s mission, with MSMEs representing one of the largest untapped financing opportunities in emerging markets. By leveraging ABCL’s scale, over 150,000-strong MSME client base, and digital capabilities, we aim to expand access to responsible financing for entrepreneurs and businesses in job-rich sectors—enabling them to invest, grow incomes, create more and better jobs, and strengthen local economies. This investment reflects our commitment to advancing financial inclusion and aligns with the Viksit Bharat vision, empowering individuals and enterprises shaping India’s growth story.”

    Aditya Birla Capital is a diversified financial services company offering comprehensive solutions across lending, investments, insurance, and payments to serve customers’ evolving financial needs across their life stages. It has transformed itself to emerge as a core growth engine for the Aditya Birla Group, driven by strong expansion in scale, diversification, and disciplined execution. Between FY23 and FY26, the Company delivered consistent, broad-based growth across businesses while maintaining robust portfolio quality.

    The total lending portfolio across NBFC and Housing Finance grew at a 30% CAGR to more than Rs 2 lakh crore, combined AUM of asset management and insurance businesses grew at a CAGR of 18% to ~ Rs 5.9 lakh crore. Total gross premiums across insurance businesses grew at a 21% CAGR to Rs 31,634 crore. Over the last three years, its consolidated PAT (excl. exceptional, one-off items) increased at a 23% CAGR to Rs 3,797 crore in FY26.

  • Spotify and Universal Music Group Announce Landmark Licensing Agreements for Fan-made Covers and Remixes

    Groundbreaking responsible AI tool to launch as paid add-on for Spotify Premium users 

    Santa Monica and Stockholm, May 21, 2026 – Spotify and Universal Music Group (UMG) today announced landmark recorded music and music publishing licensing agreements enabling Spotify to launch a new tool allowing fans to create covers and remixes of their favorite songs from participating artists and songwriters. 

    This groundbreaking tool will be powered by generative AI technology that will open up additional revenue streams and new ways to drive discovery. It introduces a creation model where artists and songwriters can directly share in the value generated through AI-driven licensed covers and remixes on the Spotify platform. 

    The new tool will launch as a paid add-on for Spotify Premium users and create an additional source of income for artists and songwriters, on top of what they already earn on Spotify. 

    “Solving hard problems for music is what Spotify does, and fan-made covers and remixes are next. What we’re building is grounded in consent, credit, and compensation for the artists and songwriters that take part. Through each technological transformation, we have worked together with Sir Lucian and his team to evolve the music ecosystem into a richer, more beneficial experience for fans and a more rewarding outcome for artists and songwriters,” said Alex Norström, Co-CEO, Spotify. 

    “The most valuable innovations in the music business always bring artists and fans closer together. That principle is at the heart of this pioneering AI-enabled superfan initiative, which is designed to support human artistry, deepen fan relationships, and create additional revenue opportunities for artists and songwriters. Building on our long track record of leading the industry through technology changes, and collaborating with Alex, Gustav, Daniel and the team at Spotify, this initiative is firmly artist-centric, rooted in responsible AI, and will drive growth for the entire ecosystem,” said Sir Lucian Grainge, Chairman and CEO, Universal Music Group.

  • Kore.ai Launches Artemis, the New Generation of the Kore.ai Agent Platform for Building, Governing, and Optimizing Enterprise AI

    Agent Blueprint Language™ (ABL) compounds returns and compresses agent delivery from months to days 

    SAN MATEO, Calif., May 21, 2026 — Kore.ai, the global leader in agentic platforms and applications, today launched the new-generation Kore.ai Agent Platform Artemis edition, the AI-programmable, AI-native foundation that builds, governs, and optimizes the agents, systems, and workflows running across the enterprise. The platform launches initially on Microsoft Azure, with broader cloud availability to follow. 

    The new-generation Agent Platform enables enterprises to deploy production-ready multiagent AI systems in days instead of months, with governance, observability, and operational control enforced before any agent goes live. Three core innovations make the platform fundamentally AI-native: 

    Agent Blueprint Language™ (ABL): ABL is a compiled, declarative language that standardizes how AI agents, systems, and workflows are defined, validated, and governed. Six built-in orchestration patterns (supervisor, delegation, handoff, fan-out, escalation, and agent-to-agent federation) enable resilient, production-grade multiagent systems at scale. 

    Arch™: Kore.ai’s AI agent architect translates business objectives into production-ready ABL, supports the full agent lifecycle, designs the underlying agent topology, and continuously refines agents using real-world production traces. 

    Dual-Brain Architecture: Two cognitive engines (combining agentic reasoning and deterministic flows) operate in parallel through shared memory, authored in a unified language and governed by a single runtime. 

    The platform operates independently of the model, keeping AI systems predictable, auditable, and scalable from experimentation to production-grade operations. 

    “Enterprise AI is entering its third wave, where governance, observability, and trust define success at scale,” said Raj Koneru, CEO and Founder, Kore.ai. “The Kore.ai Agent Platform reflects this shift by bringing an AI-native architecture to market that enables enterprises to build, manage, and optimize multiagent systems with confidence. This level of depth comes from a decade of delivering AI experiences in complex, regulated environments, where scale, compliance, and reliability are non-negotiable.” 

    The Business Case: AI Building, Governing, and Optimizing AI 

    ABL and Arch put AI in charge of every stage of the agent lifecycle: 

    • AI building AI. Arch generates production-ready agents from plain-language objectives, writes them in ABL, and validates them before deployment. Agents that once required months of bespoke engineering now ship in days as compiled, reviewable blueprints.
    • AI governing AI. Every decision, path, and outcome is logged, traced, and analyzed by AI in real-time. Deterministic constraints and flow controls are enforced by the platform itself, not left to the agent.
    • AI optimizing AI. The platform learns from production signals and recommends specific improvements as reviewable optimizations, with human oversight built in. 

    “To scale AI with confidence, enterprises need a standardized agent building system and the enforcement of robust governance,” said Vaibhav Bansal, Vice President at Everest Group. “Kore.ai’s strong investments in advancing agentic AI capabilities and governance, combined with a consistent focus on delivering measurable business outcomes, have positioned Kore.ai as a Leader in the Agentic AI Products PEAK Matrix® Assessment 2026.” 

    What This Means for Today’s CIO, CISO, and CFO 

    The Kore.ai Agent Platform changes what enterprise AI delivers, what it costs, and what it can be trusted to do: 

    • For the CIO, AI becomes manageable and accelerated. The platform consolidates fragmented third-party and home-grown agents into one foundation and accelerates delivery from quarters to days across every department and business unit.
    • For the CISO, AI behavior becomes predictable. Governance is enforced at the platform layer, outside the model’s control. Every agent action and policy decision is logged, timestamped, and traceable to a specific regulatory control.
    • For the CFO, AI investment compounds. Arch, ABL, and the runtime are shared infrastructure across every agent, so the marginal cost of the Nth agent approaches the cost of authoring its blueprint. Every model upgrade improves every agent already running.

    Microsoft Azure: Initial Launch Partner 

    The Kore.ai Agent Platform launches initially on Microsoft Azure and is built natively on the Microsoft Azure stack across compute, identity, AI, and security. For Global 2000 enterprises already standardized on the Microsoft stack, the platform integrates with Microsoft Foundry, Microsoft Agent 365, Entra ID, and the Microsoft Graph API, and powers a native Microsoft Teams channel through the Azure Bot Framework. Kore.ai is also a launch partner for Agent 365. 

    “Enterprises are moving agentic AI from experimentation to operations, and that shift requires a foundation built for production. The Kore.ai Agent Platform integrates with Microsoft Foundry and Microsoft Agent 365, giving customers a governed environment to build, deploy, and operate AI agents with the identity, security, and observability that Microsoft customers expect,” said Stephen Boyle, CVP, Enterprise Partner Solutions, Microsoft. 

    Customers Say 

    “We’ve had early visibility into the Kore.ai Agent Platform, and the architectural rigor stands out. Compiled blueprints, governance in a separate deterministic layer, and one language for every agent are the design choices enterprise AI has been missing.” – Keyur Parikh, Head of Workplace Technology Strategies and Services, Vanguard 

    “The question every enterprise is asking is how to move AI from pilot to production without creating compliance exposure. What stood out about Kore is that governance is architectural, not an afterthought. That is what it takes to get AI approved for the work that actually matters.” – Arunkumar Ramakrishnan, Director of Enterprise Technology, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts

    Built for the Global 2000 

    The platform meets enterprise security, compliance, and deployment requirements from day one: SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, PCI DSS certified; FedRAMP Moderate Authorized; HIPAA-aligned; HiTrust and GDPR compliant. Real-time PII tokenization, tenant isolation, and immutable audit trails apply to every agent action. Customers deploy in public cloud, sovereign regions, private cloud, or on-premises, with data residency by region. The platform supports 40+ voice and digital channels and 300+ integrations across Microsoft A365, Salesforce, HubSpot, Jira, GitHub, and core banking, healthcare, retail, and telecom systems. 

    For more than a decade, Kore.ai has been one of the world’s leading providers and pioneers of AI-native enterprise software, enabling 500+ Global 2000 organizations to run mission-critical business workflows, including some of the largest names in banking, healthcare, insurance, retail, and global service operations.

  • SimonMed leads largest global study of AI in X-ray, analyzing 258,373 exams across 26 countries

    SCOTTSDALE, AZ. May 21, 2026 — A landmark, peer-reviewed global study representing the largest published evaluation of artificial intelligence in X-ray imaging has been published in Radiography, analyzing 258,373 X-rays from 100 medical centers across 26 countries and five continents. The study was led by Dr. Sean Raj, Chief Medical Officer and Chief Innovation Officer at SimonMed, who served as senior author.

    SimonMed, one of the largest outpatient imaging providers in the United States, contributed U.S. clinical data and played a central role in the study’s design, execution, and analysis, reinforcing its leadership in the clinical validation of artificial intelligence in radiology. 

    The study evaluated all four components of the Rayvolve® AI Suite as a unified clinical platform under real-world conditions, with no exclusions based on image quality or acquisition protocol. The system demonstrated high diagnostic performance across multiple use cases, including musculoskeletal trauma, chest imaging, automated measurements, and bone age assessment. AZtrauma achieved an AUC of 98.3% (sensitivity: 97.4%, specificity: 96.4%) across 195,706 musculoskeletal examinations. AZchest demonstrated an AUC of 97.8% (sensitivity: 96.7%, specificity: 87.9%) across 61,418 chest radiographs covering six pathology categories. AZmeasure and AZboneage delivered measurement precision within 1.83 degrees for angles, 1.1 mm for lengths, and a bone age estimation error of approximately six months.

    Performance remained consistent across pathologies, anatomies, patient demographics, and global care settings, with all 258,373 images processed without a single technical failure, highlighting both the robustness and scalability of AI in real-world clinical environments.

    SimonMed’s contribution to the study builds on a partnership that has deepened since 2023, when SimonMed selected AZmed as its AI partner for X-ray diagnostics following an independent evaluation across its outpatient network. That initial deployment demonstrated a 6x reduction in turnaround time for fracture cases and 98.5% sensitivity across SimonMed centers. SimonMed subsequently provided the clinical data that supported AZmed’s 2024 FDA 510(k) clearance for pediatric fracture detection. The inclusion of SimonMed’s U.S. imaging data in this 26-country study extends the collaboration from operational deployment and regulatory contribution to large-scale, independently published clinical evidence. 

    “Validating a complete AI suite at this scale, across 100 centers in 26 countries, establishes a new standard for clinical evidence in radiology AI,” said Julien Vidal, CEO of AZmed. “SimonMed’s contribution at every stage of this journey, from early U.S. deployment through FDA clearance and now the largest published X-ray AI study, reflects the kind of clinical partnership that advances the entire field.” 

    “This study represents a defining moment for AI in medical imaging,” said Dr. Sean Raj, Chief Medical Officer and Chief Innovation Officer at SimonMed. “We are proud to have led a global effort that not only validates AI performance at an unprecedented scale, but also reinforces the importance of rigorous, real-world clinical evidence. We are committed to continue our founding mission – to deliver high quality, accessible care at scale while measurably improving diagnostic quality for our radiologists and the patients they serve.” 

    The study is available in Radiography.

  • The Growing Role of Water Testing Labs in Ensuring Safe and Sustainable Water Quality

    With increasing concerns over water pollution, industrial contamination, and public health risks, the role of water testing laboratories has become more important than ever. Water quality testing helps identify harmful contaminants, assess safety standards, and ensure that water is suitable for drinking, industrial use, agriculture, and environmental applications. As urbanization and industrial activities continue to expand, regular water monitoring has become a crucial step in protecting both human health and natural ecosystems.

    Choosing  the best water testing lab  is essential for accurate analysis and reliable results. Professional laboratories use advanced scientific techniques to test critical parameters such as pH, turbidity, heavy metals, microbial contamination, total dissolved solids (TDS), and chemical pollutants. These services help industries, households, and regulatory bodies make informed decisions about water safety while ensuring compliance with environmental and public health standards.

    The Growing Role of Water Testing Labs in Ensuring Safe and Sustainable Water Quality

    Water testing laboratories play a vital role in detecting contaminants at an early stage, preventing potential health hazards before they escalate. Contaminated water can contain harmful substances such as lead, arsenic, pesticides, bacteria, viruses, and industrial chemicals that may lead to serious diseases and long-term health complications. Through routine testing and laboratory-based analysis, these risks can be identified and controlled effectively.

    In industrial sectors, water testing labs support quality control, wastewater treatment monitoring, and regulatory compliance. Industries rely on laboratory analysis to maintain process efficiency, prevent environmental pollution, and meet discharge standards set by authorities. Similarly, municipal bodies use water testing services to ensure safe drinking water distribution and maintain public sanitation systems.

    Modern water testing laboratories also use advanced technologies such as ICP-MS, GC-MS, microbiological analysis, and real-time monitoring systems to provide highly accurate and timely results. These scientific methods improve contamination detection and help create data-driven water management strategies.

    As water quality challenges continue to grow worldwide, water testing laboratories remain a critical pillar of public health, environmental protection, and sustainable resource management. Their role in ensuring safe water access, preventing contamination, and supporting regulatory compliance makes them indispensable in building a healthier and more sustainable future.

  • Enterprise AI is burning tokens without context and teams are paying the price

    PALO ALTO, Calif. May 21, 2026 – DevRev, an AI-native enterprise software company transforming how teams and customers collaborate, today announced the newest release of Computer, by DevRev, its AI teammate for enterprise teams. The release addresses the three biggest failures of modern enterprise AI: models that have no memory of a business, insights that disappear the moment they leave a user’s screen, and AI that answers questions but can’t safely take action.
     
    The rest of the industry has responded to these failures by focusing on selling speed – working faster, producing more outputs, increasing token use – resulting in organizations running world-class models on ineffective infrastructure. The Upwork Research Institute states that 96% of C-suite leaders expect AI to boost worker productivity, but 77% of employees report AI has increased their workload. Focusing on metrics like speed and token volume – “token maxxing” – without clarity distracts from progress, and advocating for applying more compute to inadequate contextual data only produces more noise.The result: knowledge workers lose hours a day hunting for information across disconnected systems, and the people meant to benefit from AI are left holding the bill for its failures.
     
    Computer is built on a different philosophy: delivering both speed and clarity. This solves the context problem through “shared memory,” a curated, living picture of an organization’s data, how the organization works, and how its people interact. Shared memory is the architectural foundation that enables:
    • Precision: answers sourced from real business data, cited and referenced so teams can stand behind them. 
    • Efficiency: trusted answers at lower cost, lower token usage, no analyst required, full context on the first response. 
    • Safety: nothing goes out before a human approves it, with full audit trails and the ability to undo any agent action. 
     
    When AI has this context, it stops guessing and starts acting like a trusted member of the team. Reliable performance builds trust; trust unlocks action. That progression – from trusted answers to safe actions – is what makes multiplayer collaboration between humans and AI possible across every function.
     
    “Every AI company is selling speed, which is fueling the next enterprise crisis. This will be the latest form of workplace burnout if we don’t do something about it,” said Dheeraj Pandey, Co-founder and CEO at DevRev. “Speed without the right context is just faster noise, noise that overloads humans in the loop, and eventually breaks them. Computer is built on a different philosophy: work softer. Give AI the enterprise memory and shared context it needs to perform reliably, and then let it take action. Only then will your people have the confidence that the AI they use is performing the tasks they need it to, more accurately and with less handholding.”
     
    What is new in the newest release of Computer
    The evolution of shared memory at every level ensures that every Computer session now builds on the last. At the individual level, Computer learns how each person works, picking up where they left off with each new session. At the team level, the skills and AI agents one person develops become available to everyone. At the organizational level, institutional knowledge stays in the system permanently. When a top-performing rep leaves, their account knowledge does not leave with them.
     
    Before this release, AI insight disappeared the moment it left one person’s screen. Now the introduction of Multiplayer AI lets teams share a live Computer session where everyone sees the full context and continues the analysis together. Colleagues can question, build on, and correct reasoning in real time. In a 2025 study, KPMG and University of Melbourne reported that 57% of employees admit to using AI in non-transparent ways, including avoiding revealing when they have used AI tools to complete their work. Teams rarely benefit from one another’s AI work. Multiplayer AI changes the unit of attribution from “what I did with AI” to “what we did with AI, together.”
     
    Earlier versions of Computer answered questions and took single-step actions. The addition of the new desktop app shifts Computer from a question-answering tool to a content-producing system. From the in-app canvas, any user can generate complete, fully branded and formatted work artifacts grounded in real business data: competitive slide decks, QBR reports, structured dashboards, knowledge base articles, and multi-step workflows; these outputs are available in a variety of file formats, including PPT, HTML PDF, DOCX, and more. Skills and outputs built in the Canvas are saved at the user, team, or organization level and become reusable across the business.
     
    Agent Studio gives any team the ability to build, test in a sandbox environment, and deploy AI agents that take action across connected systems. Every action runs under individual user permissions, not a shared account. Every step is traceable, auditable, and reversible: if an agent makes a mistake, it can be rolled back.
     
    Key capabilities at a glance
    • Shared Memory: personal, team, and organizational memory that compounds over time
    • Trusted Answers: intent-aware search and consistent data answers. Same question, same answer, every time. Computer doesn’t guess – it knows, and it shows its work.
    • Safe Actions: governed, auditable actions across your systems. Computer acts on your behalf with guardrails, so teams move faster without risk.
    • Multiplayer AI: shared live sessions for human-to-human, human-to-AI, and team-wide collaboration
    • Skills – reusable workflows that any team can build, share, and deploy. One person’s expertise becomes everyone’s capability. Agent Studio allows users to build and deploy AI agents with sandboxed testing, full audit trails, and rollback
     
    Additional capabilities:
    • Text2SQL: analytical queries across structured data in plain language, no data analyst required
    • Connectors: Gmail, Outlook, Slack, Notion, Google Drive, Jira, Microsoft OneDrive, SharePoint, and any MCP-compatible tool
    • Usage-based pricing: that scales with adoption and not headcount
     
    With the newest release of Computer, the above capabilities are all generally available today.
     
    Results from customers in production
    More than 250 organizations have Computer live in production, with over 1,000 users onboarded since launched in September 2025. Customers include BILL, HDFC Bank, and FAME, spanning financial services, aviation, retail, and technology.
     
    The results Computer, by DevRev’s customers are reporting speak for themselves. Customers Pebl and Uniphore are resolving 85% of support tickets without any human involvement. BILL has achieved around $5M in operational savings. India’s largest airline went from kickoff to production in 14 days and selected Computer over Salesforce Agentforce in a head-to-head evaluation. A retail loyalty customer is saving $1.2M annually, with sales reps reclaiming six hours a week and the team reporting a 30% productivity boost. And FAME is saving users more than 10 hours a week, resolving tickets approximately 40% faster, and accelerating specific workflows by up to 75%.
     
    “Customer experience is a top priority for us, and AI presented a real opportunity to set a new standard while reducing cost,” said Steve Januario, CIO at BILL. “With DevRev, we’re seeing how agentic AI can actually reduce support costs and help customers get the answers they need faster, without compromising on quality.”
     
    Availability
    • Across web, mobile, and desktop. Use Computer from any device.
    • Inside the DevRev system of record apps. Existing DevRev customers can access Computer directly within their current workflow without switching surfaces.
     
    Resources
    Visit devrev.ai to learn more about the enterprise offering, book a demo, or start a free trial of Computer. 
     
    Usage-based pricing with plan and billing management are available at https://devrev.ai/pricing