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The Summit For India’s AI Operators

In just a couple of hours from now, some of the biggest names in the Indian AI ecosystem will converge at Bengaluru’s Sheraton Grand to discuss how AI is shifting from hype to execution and how it will foster the next wave of digital value creation.

More Than Hype: The third edition of the Inc42’s AI Summit, powered by IDFC Bank,  is designed around what companies are actually shipping, deploying and monetising in India today. This matters because the country is increasingly becoming a serious AI implementation market, even if frontier model research remains concentrated elsewhere.

The Agenda: Conversations will focus on AI-led development, enterprise adoption, AI-powered ecommerce, agentic systems, creator distribution and defensible AI businesses. Instead of abstract debates, the sessions are built around operational questions such as what improves productivity, what drives ROI and what breaks at scale.

Ecosystem On Stage: The summit will bring together more than 600 handpicked founders, CXOs, investors and builders, with speakers drawn from companies including IDFC First Bank, PhonePe, Razorpay, InMobi, Zepto, Rapido, CoRover.ai and ElevenLabs. Prominent VCs such as Bessemer Venture Partners, Rukam Capital, and Arkam Ventures will also pull back the curtain on institutional due diligence and why standard wrapper metrics fail under scrutiny.

Beyond The Main Arena: Beyond corporate strategy, there is much more to the event. The Build Stage will host workshops on shipping AI agents and designing AI-native products, while AmplifAI will spotlight AI-powered innovations. Together, these formats aim to show that the summit is not only trying to explain the market but also aiming to shape how builders approach it.

As India’s AI market barrels toward a $126 Bn valuation by 2030, can businesses turn AI into a repeatable advantage? This is exactly the conversation Inc42’s AI Summit will look to answer…

From The Editor’s Desk

PhysicsWallah’s Mixed Q4

• The listed edtech major managed to narrow its net loss by 76% YoY to ₹69.1 Cr in Q4 FY26 as operating revenue grew 51% YoY to ₹918.8 Cr during the quarter under review. In line with the top line, total expenses rose 7% YoY to ₹1,035.2 Cr.
• For the full FY26, PhysicsWallah slashed its net losses by 90% to ₹24.2 Cr, while the top line surged 35% YoY to ₹3,899.5 Cr. During the fiscal, the company expanded its offline network from 198 centres to 353 centres across India and the UAE.
• Alongside its financials, the company also announced an investment of ₹120 Cr in its NBFC arm FinZ Finance. PW also said that it is building proprietary AI models tailored for Indian education use cases to bolster its top line.

TIEA Connectors Bags ₹77 Cr

• The electrical components manufacturing startup has raised $8 Mn in its Series A round led by IvyCap Ventures to bolster its manufacturing and engineering capabilities, strengthen R&D and accelerate automation.
• Founded in 2019, TIEA Connectors designs and manufactures interconnect systems that help electrical systems, sensors, and electronic components connect and communicate reliably. It had raised ₹22 Cr last year.
• The fundraise comes amid growing investor interest in homegrown electronics manufacturing startups on the back of government subsidies, surging domestic demand, and the global push to diversify supply chains away from China.

Jail For BYJU’S Founder

• The edtech startup’s founder Byju Raveendran has been sentenced to six months in jail by a Singapore court for contempt. This comes after the court found that he disobeyed multiple orders to disclosure of his assets since 2024.
• Raveendran has also been directed to pay costs of S$90,000 and submit documents proving his legal ownership of Beeaar Investco Pte, a corporate entity that held shares in a BYJU’S-linked entity. It remains unclear where he is currently located.
• In response, Raveendran alleged that QIA’s decision to pursue the matter appeared to be an unnecessary pressure tactic as he was engaged in advanced settlement discussions with the investor for months.

Cofounder Exits Exponent Energy

• The EV startup’s cofounder Sanjay Byalal Jagannath has exited amid a broader internal restructuring and leadership transition at the company. He will continue in an advisory role at the startup, while exploring opportunities outside Exponent Energy.
• An alumnus of IIT Madras, Jagannath, along with Arun Vinayak, founded the EV rapid-charging startup in 2020. Prior to this, he also worked at EV major Ather and Unilever.
• Meanwhile, electric bicycle startup EMotorad has roped in Himanshu Ratnoo as a cofounder. He joins the startup two months after stepping down as the CEO of IPO-bound CARS24’s India used car business.

SC Upholds 28% GST On RMG

• The Supreme Court has upheld the Centre’s decision to impose a 28% retrospective goods and services tax on real-money gaming platforms. The Court observed that GST on online gaming activity is constitutionally valid.
• The ruling is expected to open a can of worms for erstwhile RMG giants, making them liable for tax bills estimated to be worth ₹2.5 Lakh Cr. It also effectively collapses the legal challenge against the recently notified Online Gaming Act.
• The case arose after RMG companies challenged tax notices that levied the 28% GST retrospectively on the full value of bets placed. Industry players decried this interpretation as disproportionate and harmful to their commercial viability.

Inc42 Markets

Inc42 Startup Spotlight

Turning Human Motion Into Data For Robots

Robots and physical AI systems are only as good as the data they learn from. But this kind of real-world movement data is hard to capture at scale. Human Archive is building this missing layer by collecting, processing and selling human action data for robotics companies.

Building The Data Layer: Founded in 2025, Human Archive has already collected tens of thousands of hours of data and wants to scale that to millions. The San Francisco-based startup works with worker networks and businesses to gather first-person data using rigs fitted with downward-facing 4K cameras, depth sensors, wide-angle lenses and motion sensors.

The footage is anonymised, annotated and processed in-house before being sold to labs and robotics companies training physical AI systems.

India As A Data Hub: The country sits at the centre of the company’s collection strategy because it offers both labour depth and industry diversity, from textiles and jewellery to coal, steel, hotels and quick commerce. Human Archive says it has formed more than 120 partnerships, many of them in India, to build this pipeline.

The Privacy Question: The company’s rise has also raised difficult questions around consent and worker privacy, especially when data collection happens through partner businesses. Human Archive says it requires informed consent and strips identities during processing, but the broader debate over whether workers fully understand how their footage may be used is only getting sharper.

Having recently raised $8.2 Mn from the likes of Wing Venture Capital and NVP Capital, can Human Archive become the defining data layer for the physical AI era?

Infographic Of The Day

India’s celebrities are no longer ignoring AI deepfakes. From Amitabh Bachchan to Arijit Singh, multiple celebrities have now moved courts against unauthorised AI-generated content, cloned voices, fake endorsements and misuse of likeness….