dAIlogues by Stellaris

In this episode of dAIlogues by Stellaris, Alok Goyal sits down with Dr Harrick Vin, who has seen #ai evolve up close — from his early years of pioneering research in academia, to building and scaling Digitate into one of enterprise IT's most widely adopted AI platforms, and now as Chief Technology Officer at Tata Consultancy Services #TCS, where he is reimagining how one of the world's largest technology services companies operates in the AI era. The conversation reveals a reality that many founders and enterprise leaders are discovering the hard way.00:00 Coming up…01:24 Dr Harrick Vin’s journey 03:23 Academic to enterprise - how was the shift? 06:27 What surprises you about AI? 10:09 Are applications truly combining both types of reasoning? 13:21 Are you seeing true adoption of AI in enterprises?20:32 Is AI breaking the depth-vs-breadth trade-off? 29:00 Does AI flatten hierarchy or speed up experience? 30:48 Is the single data warehouse still relevant?33:09 How are AI systems tackling reliability issues?38:20 Is human-in-the-loop the future or just a phase?42:17 How will AI reshare India’s $300B IT-BPO industry? 47:13 What should India focus on? 53:26 Application or Foundation Models, where should India invest?57:16 What role should Indian academia play? 59:17 Your advice to Indian founders building in AI

Welcome to the second episode of dAIlogues by Stellaris Venture Partners, featuring conversations with industry stalwarts who are shaping the future of AI.In this episode, Alok Goyal sits down with Shashi Upadhyay, who has seen AI evolve up close as a founder at Lattice Engines, an AI leader at Google, and now as an executive reinventing Zendesk for the AI era. The conversation reveals a reality that many founders are discovering the hard way.00:00: Coming up... 01:23: Shashi Upadhyay’s journey03:09: What has surprised you about the arc of AI? 11:00: Incumbents vs. startups – where does defensibility lie?15:29: Has AI velocity increased, or are enterprises growing cautious?20:27: How are you making Zendesk AI-first?27:18: Running AI and non-AI roadmaps29:45: Humans + AI more powerful?33:43: Are customer expectations sky high?37:14: AI value vs. hype41:23: India’s advantage in AI45:04: AI + services opportunity48:00: Advice to founders Reach Shashi Upadhyay: https://www.linkedin.com/in/supadhyay/Reach Alok Goyal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alok-goyal-536557/Visit www.stellarisvp.com to learn more about how we invest.

Welcome to the first episode of dAIlogues, a new series from Stellaris Venture Partners featuring conversations with industry stalwarts who are shaping the future of AI.In this episode, Alok Goyal sits down with Dr. Vishal Sikka, a technologist, founder, and one of the most influential thinkers in enterprise software. From creating SAP HANA and leading Infosys’ digital transformation, to now building Vianai, Vishal’s journey captures the evolution of enterprise technology over the last two decades.Reach Vishal Sikka: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vishal-sikka-869a6b2/Reach Alok Goyal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alok-goyal-536557/Visit www.stellarisvp.com to learn moreIn this conversation, we cover: 00:00 Coming up...01:23 Dr. Vishal Sikka's journey03:07 What is enterprise-grade AI?10:39 How do you blend AI with accuracy?15:11 Do incumbents carry a structural advantage?18:25 How are enterprise buyers thinking about AI?22:33 Death of packaged software?28:10 How should services adapt to AI?33:32 AI + services opportunity in India38:29 India's AI advantage?42:17 Threat of mass unemployment?49:38 Advice to Indian founders52:36 Closing thoughts