The future of technology points towards the development of agentic artificial intelligence, and the adoption of this technology is gaining momentum. As part of the expanded partnership between Cognizant and Google Cloud, the 'Gemini Frontier Capability Group' has been formed. This group combines Google's ready-to-use AI platform with Cognizant's industry and engineering expertise as an AI developer.
This group is supported by over 18,000 Cognizant employees and significant joint investments. Concurrently, ahead of its Initial Public Offering (IPO), the anchor package of Jio Platforms attracted bids totaling 2.5 lakh rupees. The company allocated 7.24 million shares at a price of 1,119 rupees to anchor shareholders, with LIC receiving the largest stake.
Furthermore, the startup Hunar.AI raised 40 crore rupees in a Series A funding round led by Blume Ventures. Hyderabad Angels Fund, Together Fund, Seedstars, AVNM Ventures, co-founders Prateek Maheshwari and Alakh Pandey of PhysicsWallah, and co-founder Aditya Wuchi of MediaMint also participated in the round. This startup, which develops specialized AI technologies for front-line intensive industries, plans to use the funds to build AI infrastructure, develop products, and expand sales channels.
According to a Redseer report, the country's online retail market is expected to exceed $90 billion this year, with grocery products surpassing mobile devices. E-commerce volume grew by approximately 25% year-over-year, reaching about $38 billion in the first half of 2026, marking the strongest first-half performance in four years.
This briefing examines Amazon's bet on agentic AI for enterprise operations, as well as the question of marketing AI tool effectiveness: do they truly increase profit or are they just noise?
Technology Event Overview
At the TechSparks 2026 event, Rajiv Rastogi, Vice President of Machine Learning at Amazon, emphasized the growing role of agentic AI across all layers of enterprise operations. He noted the shift from static software to autonomous systems capable of understanding natural language instructions.
Rastogi explained during a fireside chat at the 17th edition of the flagship tech startup event YourStory that 'agents dynamically prepare plans to solve problems and invoke relevant tools.'
Driving Force of Transformation
These autonomous agents can evaluate requests, formulate a sequence of actions, and call upon specialized digital tools to complete complex tasks end-to-end, rather than relying on human intervention at every stage. Within Amazon, this operational layer functions in systems like Rufus—a conversational shopping assistant that analyzes customer queries, applies price filters, calls search engines, and guides users through product comparison and checkout.
Similarly, autonomous seller assistants pre-fill product descriptions, monitor inventory, and help small businesses comply with international export requirements.
In Rastogi's view, the industry will ultimately move towards true global models that possess an intrinsic understanding of physical spaces and environmental behavior, creating a practical and economically viable foundation for business automation.
Marketing and Decision Making
At TechSparks 2026, Anand Jain, Co-founder and CMO of CleverTap, a marketing automation and customer engagement platform, elaborated on why marketing teams must move beyond basic generative AI productivity tools and transition to real-time autonomous decision-making systems that deliver tangible business profit.
During a marketing strategy masterclass, Jain urged leaders not to limit themselves to simple gimmicks but to move from using AI for entertainment to achieving actual business outcomes. He questioned whether AI-generated content creation truly contributes to growth, asking, 'Will this actually impact business results, or is it just the same thing?'
Instead of broadcasting generic promotional offers to wide audiences, modern marketing mechanisms must interpret customer actions in real time to meet individual needs. This approach signifies a transition to the highest level of AI maturity, known as 'real-time decision-making.'
The news and updates section noted the entry into force of a free trade agreement between India and New Zealand, which grants duty-free access to a range of Indian goods, including products from labor-intensive sectors such as textiles and leather. It was also reported that OYO's parent company, PRISM, plans to nearly halve the size of the new offering in the proposed IPO, reducing it from almost 6,650 crore to 3,350 crore rupees, due to strong cash generation and balance sheet improvement. Furthermore, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in India after President Donald Trump postponed US tariffs on imports from India, as both countries work to finalize a trade agreement. During his two-day visit to Mumbai and Jamnagar, Rubio will meet with government and business leaders.