See You Around
Intent and Intensity
Most of the OTT time during the week was focussed on relieving some of the finest cricketing moments of last decade or so when Virat Kohli’s reigned supreme. His intent and intensity is phenomenal and has created some very memorable moments for the sports fans across the world. He would be definitely missed.
DTW
During the Week, Saudi Arabia’s announced its ambitions to become an AI powerhouse and took center stage with a flurry of announcements which saw the global technology and business landscape look like a high-speed chess match on a geopolitical board.
Nvidia and Humain are set to deploy 18,000 Grace Blackwell chips as part of a multi-year data center expansion. AMD and Amazon are joining the party too, with Humain brokering separate $5B+ and $10B+ infrastructure collaborations, creating a sprawling “AI Zone” spanning Saudi Arabia to the U.S. But the real theatre played out at a Trump-hosted luncheon, where tech titans—Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Amazon’s Andy Jassy, LinkedIn’s Reid Hoffman—gathered at the high table with Saudi Crown Prince MBS. Multiple lessons emerge-
First, the pace of technology development is blistering. Chip innovation, once a quiet corner of semiconductors, is now front-page news. Grace Blackwell chips, Groq’s blazing inference engines, AI zones—these aren’t buzzwords, they’re infrastructure blueprints shaping the next digital superpowers.
Second, the business environment is changing even faster. Diplomacy and deal-making are increasingly inseparable from code and compute. CEOs aren’t just innovating—they’re navigating geopolitics, competing alliances, and nationalist industrial strategies. Yesterday’s software release is today’s foreign policy flashpoint.
Virat Kohli's retirement announcement reminds us that even legends know when to turn a page. Just like concluding a Summer Internship, it’s not about stopping—it’s about starting anew with clarity and purpose. In the tech and business world, similar transitions are unfolding, so for business school students and young managers, the takeaway is stark but empowering: you are entering a world where agility, awareness, and adaptability will matter more than polished five-year plans. Leadership now demands fluency in both technology and tectonic shifts—understanding chips and supply chains, as well as cultural contexts and regulatory currents.
As we conclude our Summer Internship Program, I would like extend heartfelt gratitude to leadership and company mentors at NicheBrains, BuckSpeak, Trice, and Akshayakalpa for their support and active collaboration during the SIP 2025. Your commitment to engaging with fresh management talent has not only provided our students with hands-on learning but has also played a key role in shaping their professional journeys.
At NicheBrains, students were introduced to the rapidly evolving domain of digital transformation consulting, gaining exposure to strategic thinking, platform models, and client-centric problem-solving. It allowed interns to dive deep into real-world applications of cutting-edge technologies and consulting frameworks.
BuckSpeak, with its focus on financial literacy and market intelligence, offered a dynamic environment that challenged interns to analyse, communicate, and simplify complex financial data. The learning curve was steep and rewarding, and we thank you for empowering our students to think critically and creatively in the fintech space.
Our collaboration with Trice, a vibrant e-commerce platform, gave students a ringside view of digital retail and the complexities of consumer engagement in online marketplaces. Working with Trice’s energetic teams helped interns understand operations, data analytics, marketing, and platform scalability in real-time.
Akshayakalpa, with its deeply rooted philosophy of organic and sustainable food systems, provided a unique experience at the intersection of agribusiness, rural entrepreneurship, and health-conscious innovation. The interns appreciated the opportunity to contribute to a mission-driven enterprise that prioritises both the farmer and the consumer.
I sincerely thank the leaders and teams of all four organisations for your time, mentorship, and faith in our students. Your feedback, support, and real-world guidance have been invaluable. I also extend my best wishes to the interns who have done us proud—we look forward to seeing your continued success in the years ahead.
For the interns, SIP/MBA should be your launchpad—not just to build PowerPoints or decode balance sheets—but to anticipate tomorrow’s business environment before the rest of the room sees it. Stay humble, stay curious, and remember: strategy today is written not just in spreadsheets, but in silicon, servers, and statecraft.
OTW
Over the Weekend, we bid farewell to our fellow runner Sunaina Wanchoo who is moving to USA with her family soon.
As usual, it was a gathering of friends around the common cause of long distance running but the banter and laughter was all about trials and tribulations of everyday life around work, family, children and occasional political quips.
After a long break involving some annual travel to Garhwal Himalayas and then a week of Summer Internship evaluation, it was good to be back to running track with familiar faces. This is also the time to start planning for the events’ participation as the running season picks pace.
I am also looking forward to the Deeksharambh 2025 for IBS Hyderabad MBA 2027 starting on 19th May 2025. Here is wishing the best for the next academic year.
I Love You
Shailendra
It was a truly enriching experience working with Akshayakalpa. I would like to express my sincere gratitude for your invaluable guidance throughout my internship. I have gained immense learning under your mentorship, sir.