Level playing field in the AI age: Promise amid fierce competition

It’s that time of the year when looking back comes naturally. Besides the many electoral victories and setbacks as well as geopolitical disruptions with far-reaching implications, the following list captures a slice of India in the year that would soon be gone — against a setting of intense competition and the promise of a level playing field.

  Among business trends, quick commerce has to be a chartbuster for 2024. Started by smaller startups such as Zepto with 20-something founders and by offshoots of food-delivery players like Swiggy and Zomato, qcom is being experimented by the bigger companies like Amazon and Flipkart (owned by Walmart). In a unique role reversal, the smaller firms are forcing the big ones to change their business model, quick and fast. 

Next, spectrum for satellite communication (satcom) has been a contentious issue through the year, with lobbies being formed for and against auction of airwaves. Those seeking the auction route (a challenging proposition as international case studies and experiments have shown in satcom) have argued that bidding in satcom would ensure a level playing field with mobile telephony. Indian telecom administrators should make satcom take off at the earliest without getting distracted by any lobby. A recent reply in Parliament by the telecom minister suggests that the level playing field will be ensured while administratively allocating spectrum to satcom players. At the heart of the issue is the Supreme Court judgement of February 2012, upholding auction as the preferred mode of allocating scarce public resources like telecom spectrum. While the court has not reviewed the judgement, the government believes that laws governing satcom in the Telecom Bill allow administrative allocation of airwaves. Amid the debate on the level playing field, satcom is expected to usher in another level of connectivity in the remotest hinterland. 

In business, nothing is complete without AI (artificial intelligence) or GenAI. The India visit of Jensen Huang, chief executive officer of Santa Clara-based Nvidia, and his conversation with Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani on the future of AI possibly triggered many partnership discussions in the area. Even so, the report card so far in India, on AI, is ambiguous. It seems serious boardroom discussions on AI are still few. As a consultant working in this area put it, the courage to invest serious money in AI is missing in India Inc. That said, big groups are taking tiny steps, at least, in being AI-educated. Some companies, including among the biggest, have made it mandatory for every executive to go for AI training. 

Apple and its increasing share in consumer electronics exports from India have been a talking point of the year too. Apple phones, manufactured by its vendor companies such as Foxconn and others, accounted for $5 billion worth of exports from India in 2022-23. Exports doubled to $10 billion in 2023-24. How will the Apple-India trajectory play out vis-à-vis the overall manufacturing universe from here on? 

Also, a record number of initial public offerings (IPOs) has been a headline time and again this year. As 2024 draws to a close, the number could fall short of 100, which is not much. But the biggest IPO so far, from South Korean automobile major Hyundai, followed by the red herring prospectus of LG Electronics, also from South Korea, stood out at a time of political turmoil in the East Asian country. Will Samsung join the IPO blitz next? As the new year rolls in, some other marquee IPOs could be in preparatory mode, including from the house of Reliance Jio and probably Flipkart. 

And, in a rare coincidence, three of the largest business houses — Tata, Reliance Industries, and Adani Group — were in the headlines, for very different reasons. While the salt-to-software conglomerate made defining inroads into new businesses such as semiconductor and military aircraft manufacturing, it was the passing away of Ratan Tata and selection of his half brother Noel Tata as his successor at Tata Trusts, which controls 66 per cent in Tata Sons, that struck a chord in an overwhelming way. For Reliance Industries, the starry wedding of Anant Ambani in Jamnagar, Gujarat, stood out as a highpoint even as the group made strides in some key sectors. In the case of Adani, it was the latest attack from unexpected quarters — the US Securities and Exchange Commission and US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York — in connection with its solar business that kept things buzzing in the business and political circles. In all three instances, it was more about people and less about business that found traction. 

There are at least four more developments to make it a list of top 10 that have a bearing on us. For example, Vistara was merged into Air India but has stayed quite like Vistara, so far. Also, work from home (WFH) refused to leave us all of 2024 despite efforts from organisations to fight a trend meant for Covid times. And, luxury home prices competed with top-end salaries, well almost. The highest entry-level salary for an IIT graduate was pegged at Rs 4 crore per annum. Finally, the two biggest consumer-facing announcements in the last Union Budget — the Internship Scheme and Ayushmaan Bharat for all 70 plus — made a debut, but not a smashing one. 

As the government finetunes the nuts and bolts of the two schemes to make them sparkle, many other key events in the top 10 list could play out decisively in the weeks and months to come as competition takes on the level playing field head on.