<p>IBM's India Software labs, on Tuesday, announced the launch of its AI for enterprises platform Watsonx that will enable businesses to adapt to and use artificial intelligence.</p>.<p>During a conversation with <em>DH</em> on the sidelines of the launch, Gaurav Sharma, Vice President, IBM India Software Labs revealed that a significant portion of the development of this platform has been done in India. Watsonx is extensively used in IBM itself, and a significant improvement in productivity has been recorded. </p>.<p>“Businesses are transitioning from +AI to AI first and we see fast-paced adoption by enterprises across domains,” he said, adding that a lot of interest is seen in the community. Around 41 per cent of the employees said that their companies are considering generative AI and 27 per cent have already started using that in some form or the other. </p>.<p>The company has so far not released any information related to the pricing of the product. However, Sharma assured that the model will be cost-effective as it will be a software-as-a-service (Saas)-based offering. </p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/business/technology/openai-plans-app-store-for-ai-software-report-1229593.html" target="_blank">OpenAI plans app store for AI software: Report</a></strong></p>.<p>“The overall cost of creating that foundation model is huge, which very few companies like IBM can invest in and have created these foundation models for our customers to easily adopt,” said Sharma adding that if the value (that the platform provides) is very high, then I'm sure nobody would mind the cost.</p>.<p>Talking about the challenges in AI adoption by Indian businesses, Sharma highlighted that for smaller enterprises, the extremely high cost and time needed associated with creating foundational models pose significant entry barriers, while for larger enterprises, it is the trustworthiness and regulation that stand as major concerns. </p>.<p>According to Sharma, the top three use cases for their model include customer service, employee productivity in recruiting or performance management and IT operations. In addition, infrastructure, sustainability and pharma also are significant use cases. </p>.<p>Going forward, Sharma predicted that the rate and pace of adoption of generative AI in India could be faster than in the rest of the world. “I see adoption should be pretty aggressive in India. There's a very vibrant technological mindset along with an intrapreneur mindset that will drive adoption for things that give value,” he added.</p>
<p>IBM's India Software labs, on Tuesday, announced the launch of its AI for enterprises platform Watsonx that will enable businesses to adapt to and use artificial intelligence.</p>.<p>During a conversation with <em>DH</em> on the sidelines of the launch, Gaurav Sharma, Vice President, IBM India Software Labs revealed that a significant portion of the development of this platform has been done in India. Watsonx is extensively used in IBM itself, and a significant improvement in productivity has been recorded. </p>.<p>“Businesses are transitioning from +AI to AI first and we see fast-paced adoption by enterprises across domains,” he said, adding that a lot of interest is seen in the community. Around 41 per cent of the employees said that their companies are considering generative AI and 27 per cent have already started using that in some form or the other. </p>.<p>The company has so far not released any information related to the pricing of the product. However, Sharma assured that the model will be cost-effective as it will be a software-as-a-service (Saas)-based offering. </p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/business/technology/openai-plans-app-store-for-ai-software-report-1229593.html" target="_blank">OpenAI plans app store for AI software: Report</a></strong></p>.<p>“The overall cost of creating that foundation model is huge, which very few companies like IBM can invest in and have created these foundation models for our customers to easily adopt,” said Sharma adding that if the value (that the platform provides) is very high, then I'm sure nobody would mind the cost.</p>.<p>Talking about the challenges in AI adoption by Indian businesses, Sharma highlighted that for smaller enterprises, the extremely high cost and time needed associated with creating foundational models pose significant entry barriers, while for larger enterprises, it is the trustworthiness and regulation that stand as major concerns. </p>.<p>According to Sharma, the top three use cases for their model include customer service, employee productivity in recruiting or performance management and IT operations. In addition, infrastructure, sustainability and pharma also are significant use cases. </p>.<p>Going forward, Sharma predicted that the rate and pace of adoption of generative AI in India could be faster than in the rest of the world. “I see adoption should be pretty aggressive in India. There's a very vibrant technological mindset along with an intrapreneur mindset that will drive adoption for things that give value,” he added.</p>
