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Google CEO, Sundar Pichai, highlighted on the sidelines of the Google I/O event, 2025 that Google happens to be the third largest enterprise software company. They have Waymo, Android, Google Play and YouTube. They are a broad-based organization. Even advertising is approached by all their teams with the same focus on quality. We cannot underestimate the role commercial information plays by focusing on business trying to reach the users. It is a valuable connecting service. AI will, in certain cases, make those ads more relevant to people.

Google is also innovating on behalf of the users.

Sundar Pichai has completed a decade as CEO at Google in 2025. It is Google’s deep technology approach to drive progress in people’s lives that appealed to him. Google is investing in quantum computing for the last decade. They worked on it to make it a reality.

The pace of technology is so rapid that if he is away for a couple of weeks, he interacts with DeepMind team to understand what has happened in that period. The innovation and its commercialization happen at a relentless pace. Google believes in the philosophy to put products in the hands of people as soon as possible.

College students head for Wall Street internship at financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase every summer. There is swapping of the lecture halls for trading floor and seminar rooms.

Such internships are harder to get these days. The process starts on year earlier. There are a couple of thousand openings against lacs of applications. The acceptance rate is less than 1 per cent. Even Harvard has an acceptance rate of 3.6 per cent.

The growth of technology platforms results into a surge of applications.

Interns put in long hours of work, virtually burning midnight oil. Interns do not complain. In fact, some enjoy this intensity. Success comes to those who work hard and care more.

It is all worthwhile considering the lucrative remuneration package — $125,000 per annum. Internship fills the entry-level positions at major banks. The acceptance rate for interns stands at 62 per cent in 2023-24. It is the best way to secure a full-time position. Internship is a good way to source manpower.

Despite the advent of AI which automates many traditional tasks — Excel modelling, pitch book formatting, data analysis, organizations prefer the internship route. Of course, these days banks do not need armies of interns since many tasks are being performed by algorithms. Interns spend less time on mechanical tasks. What they learn is how to work under high-pressure environment with deadlines. They also learn to manage client relationships and how to think like bankers. They have to read clients, structure the deals and manage teams. These tasks are not replaceable. Internship is slowly evolving from technical expertise to a rehearsal for leadership roles. It remains as valuable as ever.

Medical 3D Printing involves creating accurate 3D physical models of anatomical structures based on radiological images (CT or MRI scans). It is used for creating customized implants for the patients. It allows for detailed surgical planning and personalized treatment.

It is used in oncology for complex joint replacements, limb reconstructions and revision surgeries. There is better anatomical fit, faster recovery and impaired mobility.

3D Printing could be used for preparing surgical models, dental implants and prosthetic limbs. They are used for orthopedic surgeries, dental restorations and pre-surgical planning in complex heart procedures.

It can create complex body cages that match irregular endplate morphology and spinal curvature.

It can be used for complex hip replacement surgery using a 3D-printed model of the patient’s hip anatomy. The rehearsals reduce the surgery time and improve recovery.

The cases of damage to upper jaw can be treated. A 3D-printed model could be reconstructed by harvesting a fibula-free flap and precisely shaping it to the defect.

The investments are high. The awareness is low. There are regulatory hurdles. There is lack of trained professionals.

Google’s search engine used to list the relevant sites in response to queries of the users. The response was instant. However, with the arrival of AI, the user behaviour changed, People put questions, and expected the answers from the searches. At the same time, they used to evaluate whether it is worth putting the questions. Google introduced AI overviews and the interaction of people with their searches increased. Still, the basic searches satisfied most people, and AI mode was preferred for harder questions or follow-up questions. There is more overall searching.

People expect a great response, and frame only one question. The response leaves them more curious to ask more questions. They then dive deeper and ask further questions. The clicks to web pages when AI overviews exist are of higher quality. People engage more.

Google’s proven business model works. AI overviews are used by 1.5 billion users each month. They are part of the main search experience. The ads grow more relevant, and websites become more hyper relevant. Questions become more specific. The choices increase, providing more opportunities for the ads.

AI overviews were rolled out a year ago. It will be upgraded. New features could be introduced — when images improve the usefulness of the response.

The response time is important. If there is delay, people get annoyed, and it affects the searches. The speed is getting better over time.

People move to AI mode for a lot of their queries. DeepSearch is a tradeoff. AI mode takes a question and splits it into different topics. It issues a bunch of search queries. That works for many users. However, the research-based queries can wait for a few more seconds to get an in-depth response. Gemini has been invested with Deep Research. AI mode will have new capabilities.

Indian companies across industries are adding senior AI professionals to their manpower so as to deploy organization-wide AI. The days of just experimentation are over. Such professionals are being hired by platforms ranging from IT and technology to financial services, healthcare and retail.

The remuneration being offered to chief AI officers (AIOS) range between Rs. 2 crore and Rs. 2.5 crore per annum. The heads of AI and ML can command packages of Rs. 1.5 crore. Candidates with four years’ experience can draw packages of Rs.35 to RS. 40 lac per year, especially those with experience of handling LLMs, generative AI and enterprise-scale AI deployment.

The rise in hiring is not just confined to technology firms but is seen in traditional firms looking to embed AI across operations and customer-facing functions.

There are senior appointments at LinkedIn, Yotta, Jindal Steel, SAP Labs, TVS Group. In the IT sector, the roles of AI officers have been created in TCS, LTI-MindTree, and 70 per cent of technology services companies. There are adjacent roles such as AI Ethics Specialists, Policy Analysts, Learning Architects and generative AI engineers.

Sexual wellness startups have been growing through q-commerce platforms which offer convenience, speed and privacy. The platforms being used by these startups are Zepto, Blinkit and Instamart. Sassy Thing, a women centric brand has witnessed a growth of 250 per cent since it is listed on quick commerce platforms.

There is no need to visit a physical store when these brands are listed on q-commerce sites. It appeals to customers.

A brand MyMuse has seen a growth of 40 per cent on q-commerce platforms. Bold Care too has seen 200 per cent growth. The other prominent brands are Allo health, Kindly, AADAR, RxMen, ThatMate and Cupid Care. The product categories range from condoms and lubricants to massage candles, arousal oils, card games, hand cuffs and wellness supplements.

In 2024, the sexual wellness market was valued at $1.4 billion. By 2033, it is expected to grow to $2.5 billion. It shows a CAGR of 6.2 per cent.

Quick commerce delivers products to customers within a 20-minute window. People want to preserve privacy, and quick commerce helps here. It also eliminates psychological barriers associated with buying intimate products. It avoids awkward pharmacy interactions. A taboo is converted into routine.

Condom sales have increased ever since they have been available on q-commerce sites.

Q-commerce platforms too gain by listing wellness products, since they are high-margin and high frequency items. Customers are ready to pay a premium to preserve their privacy. Women find it convenient to deal with such platforms.

These platforms are neutral and judgment-free. They facilitate both trust and scale.

Adani and Zoho have withdrawn from semiconductor projects. Some have shown a premature concern about India’s Rs. 76000-crore worth of semiconductor incentive. It is a natural shake-out in a nascent sector. In fact, Adani and Zoho projects did not reach even the approval stage, since one of the conditions for approval is the critical tie-up with global technology partners, and they were unable to sew up this partnership.

On the ground, the circumstances are encouraging. Semi-conductor projects worth Rs. 1.5 lac crore of five companies have been approved and are progressing satisfactorily. The government has allocated Rs.60000 crore from the incentive scheme. These projects range over the entire value chain of semi-conductors — chip design, fabrication to assembly, testing, making, packaging and signaling. Critics expect a domestic demand to become successful, but smartphones in India under PLI scheme have succeeded in exports and have limited demand to begin with domestically. India has scaled up iPhone production from zero to 20 per cent of global output in four years. Most production is for exports. Apple is upbeat about Indian chips too.

The Government encourages production of electronics. It will take up software design as the next priority. It will facilitate both forward and backward integration.

Semiconductors are not just required in smartphones. They are required in power sector, automotive sector, defence, aviation, industrial electronics and consumer electronics.

Semiconductor dream remains firm on ground.

Em dash is extensively used — it is a short-line that allows a writer to make asides like this one. ChatGPT uses the em dash so liberally that people refer it as the ‘ChatGPT hyphen’. It is seen in ChatGPT generalized output since the model has been trained on books and papers where it has been widely used. It is a versatile piece of punctuation that lets you drop in extra information without affecting the flow. It gives you the flexibility to write in the way you think.

Excessive use of em dashes is an indication of overstuffing and loosely constructed sentences that may attract editor’s ire. The writing bulges with parenthetical additions and asides. Em dash may fall out of favour and may offend grammar puritans. However, it is the technological assault that affects it more. The typewriters could only make a hyphen key, and em dash could not be accommodated at keyboard. The addicts typed two hyphens to compensate for this loss and to make an em dash while typing. The use of typewriters thus affected the usage of em dash. Word processors and ChatGPT managed to format an em dash, but since then em dash is associated with bot generated writing, and along with other AI detection tools could generate false positions to the extent of branding your writing plagiarized.

Is em dash a messy symbol or symbol of no thinking at all?

Em dash is so named because it occupies about the width of a capital letter M.

Global ad revenue reached $1037 billion (9.5 per cent growth). It is likely to reach $1116 billion (7.7 growth). Digital advertising will command a market share of 82 per cent, followed by TV – 11 per cent, outdoor – 3 per cent, print – 2 per cent and radio – 2 per cent. (This Year Next Year — TYNY Report, WPP’s media investment firm).

India’s ad expenditure is set to reach Rs.1.64 lakh crore (7 per cent growth) in 2025. The incremental revenue will be Rs. 10,730 crores.

Digital advertising commands a lion’s share — 60 per cent of total ad revenue in 2025. It is growing by 11.5 per cent. The key growth driver for digital ad spend is retail media growing at a CAGR of 40 per cent since 2019. Ad revenue for TV will show a negative growth of -1 per cent. TV ad revenue is Rs.42,431 crore. TV will command 26 per cent of the total ad spends in 2025.

Print and outdoor advertising will grow at 4 per cent and 8 per cent respectively, while cinema will grow at 10 per cent and radio may register a degrowth of -1 per cent.

The ad market is growing at 10 per cent. The key sectors driving ad spending in India are SMEs, realty, education, BFSI and tech/telco accounting for 60 per cent of the ad market.

In 2024, India ranks 9th among the top 10 global ad markets.

India is at the forefront of a marketing revolution driven by AI and data privacy. As global ad spend surpasses $ 1 trillion, India emerges as a top 4 growth market, with digital accounting for 60 per cent of ad spend.

The legal profession could witness changes since there is anticipated arrival of foreign law firms and adoption of AI. Accordingly, the old guard is going for a makeover — corporatization and professionalization.

Manpower working in law firms was drawn mainly from the legal profession. There is entry of multi-disciplinary professionals now — HR people, accountants and CAs, IT and computers guys. Non-lawyers are being hired into top corporate roles. The policy followed is to make the way for right people at the right time. There should be adaptation to digital transformation. Digital and information officers are being roped in. It improves client service delivery.

Professionals bring in value add-on.

We can easily spot CAs and MBAs of the leading institutes. The firms so far were mom and pop shops. They are becoming one stop shops for integrated legal solutions. Non-lawyers are being recruited. There is restructuring of organization structure.

Into the Board, they are inducting next generation partners. There are COOs or Chief Operating Officers to enhance operational practices across finance, HR, administration and legal services. Each service is headed by professionals.

Some firms appoint Chief Revenue Officer who oversees business strategy, financial management and organizational governance.

Traditionally, non-lawyers occupied support functions. These days they wear leadership hats.