In a conversation with our Editor – Joseph Sirosh, Chief Technology Officer, Compass, Inc., and Rushi Bhatt, Sr. Director and Head of AI at Compass IDC share their insights on the company’s technology stack, working across different technology verticals which include Mobile Applications, Cloud Computing, Artificial Intelligence & Data Analytics for Compass’ growing client base and also their India Development Centre located at Hyderabad’s Financial District.
Can you provide a global overview of AI & ML technologies
Joseph Sirosh: Artificial Intelligence (AI) has made significant strides across industries and is transforming every walk of life. Smartphones, search engines, social networks and software productivity suites for email, documents and more now leverage AI. In the enterprise tools such as RPA are creating important speed and efficiency improvements. Advancements in AI have enabled people to rethink how we analyze data and use the resulting insights to improve decision making. AI and ML also have the potential to lead humanity to greater heights of productivity because it assists and augments human skills in very important ways. As per the recent report from McKinsey Global Institute, AI possesses the capacity to add up to $13 trillion to the global economy and boost global GDP by $15.7 billion by the year 2030.
Q2. Over the years, a lot of global companies have set up their Development Centres in India. How encouraging and welcoming is the Indian Government to global companies like Compass that want to set up Development Centers in India?
In the past few years, India has emerged as an indomitable force globally especially in terms of ensuring the growth of information technology and related fields. As of now, India remains one of the most attractive locations for MNCs to set up a GDC / R&D facility. The Government has gt a pivotal role to play in turning India into a GDC hub by providing impetus to such setups. The Government of India has been able to facilitate
a liberalized regulatory environment by slashing down corporate tax rates, creating favorable Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policies and rigorously rationalizing regulatory compliance burden for the global MNCs. We should do even more to simplify. and attract software companies that can quickly create a very desirable job market for our young and talented workforce. The speed with which software companies can set up and build up large software development operations in India is unparalleled in the Industry, and India should capitalize on this agility to drive up employment growth in the tech sector.
Q3. What’s your take on the current state of technologies like AI & ML in India? How do you think AI will affect people’s lives, here in India? Please share examples.
Over the last decade or so, AI and ML together have made significant strides in various aspects of human lives. We’ve got voice recognition assistants such as Alexa to answer our queries in multiple languages, monitor our home appliances and ensure security to our dear ones at home and also entertain them with music, podcasts, and more. AI is now being applied in healthcare in a number of ways. We have the prosthetics backed by AI/ML algorithms that help to interpret nerve signals from the patient’s muscles, and we’ve got algorithms that help us gain better insights about our target customers. With AI, the opportunities are endless.
Following the outbreak of Covid 19, the adoption of AI has seen rapid growth in the world; also in India. In fact, as per the recent report by PWC India registered the highest growth rate in AI adoption globally, with a whopping 45 percent increase during the pandemic period, pushing major economies like the U.S., Japan and the U.K. behind to consecutive positions.
The research highlights that the manufacturing sector in India largely leverages AI to automate value chain processes. Governments, academic institutions, startups and healthcare organizations have increasingly turned to these technologies to address the new challenges brought by the pandemic. With that said, AI will evolve further quickly in the coming days and emerge as an inevitable component in everyday life of common citizens. Most common applications like voice assistants, contactless biometric screening, cyber security, bot-assisted shopping, virtual real-estate tours, camera enhancements, robot-assisted surgery, AI-driven home appliances, smart energy management devices, and many more are in the offing. Alongside the growth of AI/ML, we see rapid adoption of trends like IoT and Edge Computing which complement AI in many ways. To add further momentum, India will launch the superfast 5G networks soon, which will pave the way for the emergence of high-speed, low-latency applications like remote healthcare delivery including robot-assisted surgeries, industrial robots, high-end cloud games, autonomous vehicles, smart city applications and more.
Q4. A question most people have related to AI & ML is replacement of humans with machines causing loss of employment across multiple sectors? Is that a problem that could affect India and how can it be dealt with?
Joseph Sirosh: This question takes one back to the industrial revolution when we had less than one billion population on the planet. During that period when machines came and started automating the industrial processes, many people were concerned. However, if we turn the pages to the decades following that, we will see that industrialization benefited the society at large and over time generated the opportunity for today’s 7 billion people. It’s the same with any technology, per se; initially it may replace a certain category of work, but then it will create massive economic opportunities for humanity as a whole. AI will also have a somewhat similar impact on the job scenario across sectors. With AI spreading its roots across the industries, we will witness the emergence of new roles and career opportunities to address the specific demands from them. AI will make our lives easier just as the emergence of technologies like video calling, mobile phones and the internet did in the recent past. In fact a recent report by PWC suggested that 71% businesses believe that AI will aid humans in solving complex problems.
Q5. You have completed your Bachelor’s degree from IIT, Madras post which you have even worked in India. Is there scope for learning more about AI & ML in India?
Joseph Sirosh: Emerging sectors like Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Computer Programming, and Deep Learning have become the top online courses taken up by Indians. Leading institutions like IIT Delhi, IIT Madras, IIT Kanpur, IIT Roorkee and many others have created exclusive programs and exclusive departments dedicated to fields like Artificial Intelligence, Deep Learning etc. The government of India came out with the program “AI for All” on July 29th, 2021, a self-paced, micro-learning program dedicated to demystifying AI for the general public. Ed-tech platforms in India have also demonstrated a keen interest in up-skilling people with technologies such as AI, Data Science and ML. We need to now move into teaching about how to build AI systems and applications, leveraging open-source technologies and the public cloud. The new software platforms that are being built bring together cloud computing, data analytics, AI and mobile apps, and this is an important pattern to learn for all software developers.
Q6. How do you think upskilling in AI & Machine Learning can help professionals to propel their careers forward?
Rushi Bhatt: The omnipresence of AI in our everyday life can no longer be undermined. AI and machine learning engineers were recently cited as the third most sought-after AI openings, with machine learning expertise ranking as the most in-demand technical skill today. AI and machine learning jobs have jumped by almost 75% over the last few years and the trend will continue. According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report, 50% of all employees will need reskilling by 2025 and it’s inevitable for professionals to upgrade themselves to not just stay relevant but to thrive in the new world order. AI has the potential to create substantial value across various sectors like energy, retail, manufacturing, healthcare, education, agriculture, cyber security etc.
As per a recent report from NASSCOM India’s AI industry hosts over 500,000 workers but there’s still a skill gap that needs to be filled. It will be pivotal for the government and industry bodies to take more upskilling and training initiatives such as “AI for ALL” to bridge this gap. With the efforts and initiatives in the right direction, AI can turn out to be the potential game-changer for the Indian economy and industries.
Q7. What kind of initiatives is Compass taking to provide opportunities for the growth and development of AI & ML in India?
Rushi Bhatt: Here at Compass, we realize how significant it is to foster an environment that not only empowers our engineers but also provides them with opportunities to dream big and learn from reality. The technology stack that we use at Compass is the latest as compared to the other technology platforms. We have an open-source cloud-first, AI-first, and data-first technology stack that provides the engineers with an opportunity to work with the latest technologies which ultimately helps to maximize their strengths, move faster and become solution oriented.
And incase if you are unaware of COMPASS , which was founded in 2012, Compass, Inc. is a leading real estate technology company, providing an end-to-end platform that empowers its residential real estate agents to deliver exceptional service to seller and buyer clients. The platform includes an integrated suite of cloud-based software for customer relationship management, marketing, client service, brokerage services, and other critical functionality, all custom-built for the real estate industry. Compass agents utilize the platform to grow their business, save time and manage their business more effectively. For more information on how Compass empowers real estate agents, one of the largest groups of small business owners in the country
