It’s a wrap: News this week (Aug 24 – Aug 30)

There have been multiple developments this week on the tech front. From deals of the week to Reliance’s AI announcement, this is the list of the most important developments for a quick catch-up:

Sonata Software bags multi-million dollar deal 

Sonata Software has entered into a multi-million dollar deal with a US-based premier healthcare and wellness company. Sonata Software will be the firm’s strategic IT outsourcing partner.
As part of the collaboration, the company will support the client in optimising IT budgets and cost efficiencies through systemic improvements and engineering levers. Sonata Software will also modernise the firm’s technology landscape by leveraging enterprise data, artificial intelligence, and hyper-automation across patient-facing systems, and back-office operations.
Reliance’s AI announcements

At Reliance Industries' annual general meeting on Thursday, the company made a slew of artificial intelligence-related announcements. The main highlights were Jio Brain, Jio AI-Cloud, and a national AI infrastructure, among others. 

Speaking at Reliance’s 47th AGM, Chairman Mukesh Ambani launched Jio Brain – a suite of tools and platforms that span the entire AI lifecycle. Ambani added that the platform will help the company accelerate AI adoption across Jio. 

The company announced that it will be setting up gigawatt-scale AI data centers in Jamnagar in Gujarat. These data centers will be powered by green energy. "We also plan to create multiple AI inference facilities across our captive locations throughout the country, which we will scale up to support the growing demand," Ambani said.

HCLTech-Xerox extend partnership

On Tuesday, HCL Technologies announced an expansion of its long-standing partnership with Xerox, focusing on artificial intelligence (AI)-driven engineering services and digital process operations (DPO).  Xerox and HCLTech began their partnership way back in 2009 with a focus on product engineering and IT and process support services.

In a regulatory filing, HCLTech said that it will assist Xerox with its Reinvention, which is the fundamental and structural redesign of Xerox to position the company for long-term profitable and sustainable growth.

Another IT services major, Infosys has joined the Stanford University Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (Stanford HAI) Corporate Affiliate Program to accelerate AI research initiatives, the company said on Wednesday.

The recent tie-up with Infosys will focus on responsible AI, enhancing business process efficiency through AI and Machine Learning, and optimising AI models for cost and scale efficiency.

Acquisitions of the week

The week witnessed a series of high-profile acquisitions across the domains of cybersecurity, IT services, and AI

Check Point Software Technologies, a cybersecurity platform provider, announced an agreement to acquire Cyberint Technologies, a company specialising in external risk management solutions. This acquisition aims to significantly strengthen Check Point’s Security Operations Center (SOC) capabilities and expand its managed threat intelligence services. 

ANSR, a Global Capability Centers (GCCs) consulting firm announced the acquisition of hrEntries, a Human Capital Management system (HCM) platform, in an all-stock deal. This acquisition would integrate with ANSR’s core business strategy and expand its suite of technology solutions, providing clients with an end-to-end platform for global team management, the company said in a statement.

Lastly, IT consultancy  Capgemini announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Syniti, an enterprise data management software and services provider, with a global footprint. This acquisition will augment the Group’s data-led solutions for clients across the globe, in particular large-scale SAP transformations, such as the move to SAP S/4HANA.