HCL joins chipmaker Nvidia partner network for AI opportunities

Information technology (IT) services firm HCL Technologies announced on Friday that it is joining chipmaker Nvidia's partner network (NPN) to pursue expanded opportunities in artificial intelligence (AI) space. 

The Noida-headquartered firm has also launched an AI lab to enhance capabilities in the space.

Called  NEXT.ai , the AI lab will focus on upskilling engineers and architects utilising AI solutions across hardware and software technology stacks. The company said that this will enhance their capabilities to build AI-led solutions for multiple HCL clients across industry verticals.

NEXT.ai lab is powered by two NVIDIA DGX-1 systems, which enables accelerated delivery of AI solutions, HCL said in a statement.

The AI lab will focus on emerging technologies to develop industry-specific AI solutions for customers pursuing digital transformation, HCL said adding that customers and partners can co-create proofs of concept and full-fledged, scalable and production-ready solutions in the lab. 

"Our lab serves as a learning centre for next-generation technologies and as an incubation zone for transformational business solutions. Collaborating with Nvidia will enable us to engineer high-performance and scalable solutions that deliver real business benefits to our customers,” GH Rao, president for engineering and research and development services at HCL said.  

The country's third-largest software exporter said that the NEXT.ai lab comes equipped with the latest technology products and infrastructure from its partner ecosystem. The areas of focus at the lab will include computer vision, predictive modelling, failure analysis, optimisation, product intelligence, data engineering, data management among other things.

“Nvidia focuses on powering AI solutions for industries across the globe. HCL is empowering organisations in India with rich AI solutions to meet their business and technology requirements,” Vishal Dhupar, managing director for Nvidia South Asia said.

Santa Clara, California based Nvidia is the world's largest graphics processing unit (GPU) designer. In what is being called as one of the largest deals in the semiconductor industry, Nvidia on Sunday said in a separate statement that it is buying CPU chip designer major, Arm, for $40 billion. GPUs are essential in image processing and gaming. Nvidia focusses on gaming, self-driving and data centres.

HCL set up its first global development centre in Colombo, Sri Lanka last week. The centre will house next-gen IT infrastructures, multi-layered data and physical security protocols, as well as computational systems to support HCL’s global customer base, it said. 

The company has also partnered with Huntsville, Alabama headquartered wire electrical discharge machining (EDM) software provider CIMTechnology for CAMworks, a fully integrated computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) solution.