Chennai: Artificial intelligence is much spoken about in recent times as the next big thing. However, industry peers are quick to point out that artificial intelligence (AI) is already omnipresent, but not in the form that humans visualised them to be. Similarly, the next big disruptive force in the industry is touted to be blockchain.
Chennai based AI and blockchain-based software products firm Intain recently launched two new products in the above mentioned fields. News Today spoke with Siddhartha S, the founder and CEO of the company to learn more.
Excerpts from his interview:
Q: Being a Chennai-based firm, how important has the city become for AI-based projects?
A: It is a growing eco-system, however, there is sometime before it catches up with cities like Bangaluru. I believe that with some of the leading institutions in math and quants being based of out this city, (with) some curriculum changes and industry partnerships, Chennai can really become the destination for AI-based projects.
Q: The firm is looking for talent in Chennai and is also moving its base to the city. What factors do you think make the city better?
A: The presence of all the top software companies in Chennai along with some of the prestigious education institutions such as IIT Madras and Guindy Engineering College has helped. Additionally, we are also working with couple of leading institutions in Coimbatore to tap into a wider resource pool. More than 50 per cent of our employees are women and Chennai being one of the safest cities for women certainly is a big contributing factor.
Q: Telangana recently inaugurated its blockchain city. Do you think such a set-up will take place in Tamilnadu? If yes, where?
A: Yes, Telangana has focussed extensively on Blockchain technology and Andhra Pradesh also has set up a Fintech valley. However, I have no idea if setting up such fintech valleys will happen in Tamilnadu in the near future. But it will certainly give a boost to the segment. Most of the leading NBFCs and banks are headquartered in Chennai, thus creating a general eco-system not only for the fintech space but also for blockchain. This can play an integral role for the financial institutions as well as the fintech start-ups based in Chennai.
Q: Talk to us about the firm’s recent developments and its flagship products – eMulya and In-D.
A: Emulya is an Intelligent Blockchain for asset securitisation that was announced in the US at Structured Finance Industry Group (SFIG) conference at Las Vegas in February. Asset securitisation, among other things, had contributed to the financial crisis of 2008 and Emulya combines Blockchain and AI to enable efficient, secure and trustworthy asset securitisation transactions. IN-D is an AI-based operations assistant from Intain’s AI lab which we launched in South East Asia last month through our Singapore office. The traction we have seen is the reason for us to set-up an AI Lab in Chennai, in addition to the one in Pune.
Q: Explain to us about your partnerships in AI and Blockchain respectively with two major IT firms.
A: For IN-D, our approach is to partner with product companies who are catering to specific market segments. We have partnered with a leading ERP product company. For Emulya, we have partnered with one of the top IT firms to where our IP and our partner’s scale will help global financial institutions move to an intelligent blockchain-based asset securitisation process. Through this partnership, we are also looking at launching Securitisation platform as an industry utility in India by the end-2019.
Q: BFSI to be the focus of business in India for Intain? Explain.
A: Core guiding principle of Intain is to combine Blockchain and AI to eliminate the risk of lower cost trade off in financial services. With a management team comprising of financial services industry veterans, at Intain, we are well equipped to do that. Therefore, focus on BFSI is a significant part of who we are.
Q: What does the future hold for Intain?
A: Since the financial crisis of 2008, in the global financial services industry, we have tried to find a regulatory or a compliance solution for every related problem that has come up. I believe, at Intain, we will find technology solutions in few of the areas where we are investing in – with an objective to help financial intuitions achieve lower risk and lower cost at the same time.
Q: Finally, what are your views on India’s data localisation and how will that affect/change the industry?
A: It is an issue in the short-term but given India’s scale, I think service providers, both cloud providers and application developers, will adapt. Today, all cloud providers do not even have India hosted GPU servers that are required for AI engines to run. But this will change in the near future. I think, the government will also try meeting the privacy and security objective based on how technologies evolve as ‘data localisation’ itself will not be understood the same way in 2020 as it was in 2015.
| Close to heart |
| On the topic of India’s potential role in the much expected fourth industrial revolution, Siddhartha, said, ‘There is no denying that there is a skill and talent crunch currently in India. Many of these subjects are multidisciplinary – AI is a combination of maths and software; so is Cryptography in Blockchain. Unfortunately, in India, even those specialized in applied maths have poor software skills and vice versa. One of our competitors in UK hires math graduates for their AI team, something we have tried but failed. But there is always hope! Given our enthusiasm and sheer interest in this space, India will be the brain of world technology soon, similar to how we became factory world of Information Technology. |
| Overseas markets |
| “For Emulya, focus is on US where Gary Miller, a veteran capital market professional, also an ex-MD with Credit Agricole is leading our efforts as president of Intain Inc. Since US is by the far the biggest securitisation market in the world, our focus will continue to remain on this market. For IN-D, in addition to India, our main focus is South East Asia. We have sales office in Singapore and we will also set-up an AI Lab there in next three to six months,” said the founder of Intain. |