We have been a part of this industry for over a decade, which helped us recognize the pertinent need for sustainable technology across all production sectors. This has increased market awareness of the need to move away from traditional methods and gradually adopt Additive Manufacturing (AM). We anticipate a rise in demand for AM solutions for high-volume production as India transforms into a manufacturing hub for large-scale international businesses.
With the rapid advancements and perpetual upgrades in software and solutions, AM is keeping up with consumer demands and various industrial needs. It is said that the global additive manufacturing market size is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 26% from 2022 to 2030. In 2023, we are committed to growing our capabilities and increasing our base globally to build supply chain resilience. As most customers are turning to additive manufacturing for their manufacturing needs, we hope to reinforce our position as leaders in the AM space worldwide.“
Meet Vij , Co-founder, Lyne
“The consumer electronics sector, which is among the most active and quickly growing sectors, is showing no indications of slowing down in terms of sales or technological advancement. 2022 has also seen nothing but growth for the consumer electronics market. Especially with the health factor gaining more prominence and relevance, health tracking gadgets have taken the centre stage in innovation. Customer demand for smartwatches, with extensive health monitoring features has increased, leading to brands developing gadgets at affordable costs. Lyne, for example, has introduced the Lancer-1, a smartwatch with a complete health assessment system where it measures and monitors your necessary body vitals like heart rate, body temperature, and stress levels.
Other accessories such as headphones, earpods, and TWS showed a 62% QoQ growth in 2022, with an increased penetration, due to low prices, convenience of use, and suitable gifting options. By 2023, it is anticipated that 490 million wearable devices will be shipped worldwide.
As basic electronics are constantly updating their features to meet consumer expectations, the market growth for power banks has traditionally been slow. Despite this, since the “Work From Anywhere” idea has gained widespread acceptance throughout the globe, innovators are attempting to provide fast charge through all of their charging ports in order to gain a competitive edge.
The consumer electronics and accessories industry is anticipated to expand in the year 2023 as well. For example, the market for wireless headphones and earphones was worth INR 11.47 billion in 2016 and throughout the estimated period, it is anticipated to increase at a CAGR of 12.1%. Growth is undoubtedly impacted by manufacturing and importation expenses, but since overall demand also has an impact on these costs, the market will undoubtedly keep growing.”
The increase in pollution and poor indoor air quality has prompted India to prioritize building management solutions for ensuring an optimal working environment. With the government emphasizing on energy efficiency, green buildings, and climate control measures through its Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill, sustainable business practices have started gaining momentum. Businesses are prioritizing converting to green buildings to be in line with the Indian government’s goal of achieving a net-zero emission status by the year 2070.
At 75F, we are very optimistic about the year ahead as we see a high demand for services in the BMS industry as businesses and building managers look towards optimizing operations and increased energy efficiency. With our Smart Building Technology and IoT solutions we look forward to being an active part of this journey towards a greener and sustainable future.”
Rahul Sharma, Country Manager, India, Slack
“The last year has again litmus tested many aspects of workplace resilience. 2022 started with the Great Resignation, with talent continuing to vote with their feet throughout the year; then we saw the emergence of the new trend of ‘quiet quitting’; and we are now ending the year facing a high degree of global economic uncertainty.
Heading into the new year it is now more important than ever for business leaders to put their focus on creating a collaborative and engaging workplace to put them in the best possible position to be more productive and retain their talent in 2023.
According to recent Slack research, 50% of Indian knowledge workers have cited teamwork and collaboration – powered by collaborative technology – as key factors driving organisational success. Just over half saw leaders as leading by example when it comes to the adoption of collaborative technology, and – interestingly – those leaders who did embrace collaborative technology were viewed far more favourably by their employees.
As we head into 2023, productivity and talent retention must be front of mind for business leaders. Employees have made their preferences for workplace flexibility, well being and culture clear, along with the ability to collaborate effectively, freeing them up to spend time on work that matters. Organisations must respond or risk getting left behind.”
Paddy Srinivasan, CEO, GoTo
“IT consolidation will be a key theme for businesses in 2023 as companies face worsening economic conditions and must condense budgets while still preserving customer loyalty. Solution providers are often the first place where businesses look to cut budgets, but by consolidating their vendors and tech solutions, IT teams can cut costs and simplify billing while simultaneously streamlining workflows and interoperability between the tools they need. At a time of uncertainty, businesses need to provide extra reassurance and show they are willing to go the extra mile to connect with customers wherever they are – whether that’s on the phone, web, or mobile experience. Customer service will be the make-or-break factor that preserves relationships and loyalty, and it needs to be simple, pleasant, and accessible from anywhere.”
Mathew Philip, Senior Director & Country Manager, India, GoTo
“Speed and flexibility are the leading lessons for businesses this year as the idea of ‘hybrid networks’ becomes stronger by the day. With cost influxes associated with technological updates and high-speed business environments, in-house software expenses just won’t cut it. As a result, SaaS will become more critical to most businesses as it solves the headache of big costs and provides businesses with more confidence and predictability to weather potential economic storms. As we look forward into the future, the IT ecosystem will also witness a higher degree of cross-collaboration among technology providers, service vendors, channel partners and system integrators. With the economy shifting to self-service, rising demand for tools that empower IT teams supported by cloud adoption means big shifts will be observed in the way we are creating and supplying the technology. A truly transformative age is ahead of us. What will be the driving force for SMEs and large enterprises is the modern, flexible, and robust IT support solutions that offer a range of features and functionalities through a unified platform for organisations to seamlessly manage their dispersed workforce and build their competitive edge in the market.”
Sandesh Kaup, Country Manager, Milestone Systems, India & SAARC
“Video technology plays a key role in enhancing the society and is ever-evolving to meet the modern needs. Innovation in AI, 5G, enhanced analytics, data explosion, and cloud solutions has all resulted in a renewed emphasis on improving the security systems. As our understanding of technology and its social effect grows, the way we perceive the world alters drastically. Today, any kind of intelligent technology that intrinsically involves collection of sensitive data, and the ongoing digital acceleration has shifted the focus to trust and transparency, making data privacy a top priority. Looking forward, an ethical and responsible use of technology will be a common denominator not just in the video security industry but for all the custodians of technology.”
Vidyarthi Baddireddy- CEO and Co-founder at PickMyWork
Dr. Rishi Bhatnagar, President at Aeris Communications
“The integration of 5G & IoT is transforming India’s technological infrastructure and unlocking potential applications like autonomous vehicles, smart factories, immersive retail, safer transportation, precision agriculture, and remote healthcare. Having realised the benefits of technology and automation, organizations have started investing in emerging technologies like IoT, 5G, and AI/ML. As 5G and IoT bring speed and immersive experiences across sectors, Aeris Communications has been collaborating and working with industry neutral platforms to build a strong IoT collaboration and knowledge-sharing platform in different verticals. Moving forward, with 5G’s rise, Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning will penetrate new market segments and enable enterprises to make better, data-driven decisions. This will also provide more precise real-time and predictive analytics for enhanced customer experiences. As 20 billion IoT devices are expected by 2025, we will witness an increase in the adoption of all ‘smart’ and ‘intelligent’ things. Smart technology adoption will see a massive rise with the combination of 5G and IoT simplifying processes and increasing data generation.”
Samit Banerjee, Division President Cloud Operations Services & Head of Customer Service Unit at Amdocs
Secure and sustainable cloud practices a key to long-term business growth and success
“The rollout of 5G networks will realign the mechanism and functioning of business networks. 5G will unleash low latency, greater capacity, and higher bandwidth, which will be a catalyst for cloud computing. It will inevitably allow easier access to the cloud for IoT systems and devices. This connectivity will facilitate greater automation and digitization of business processes.
The deployment of the next generation of networks will speed up business adoption of the cloud. This rapid adoption in this dynamic environment can give rise to many security threats to data privacy and confidentiality. Organizations must upskill constantly and re-skill employees on cloud services to tackle this. Further, businesses will need to ensure the safety and integrity of their data, and to that extent, current checks in place will have to be upgraded. Hence, in the coming times, industries must adapt to secure and sustainable cloud practices for long-term growth and success.”
Pankaj Sachdeva, Vice President, Data Science & Analytics and Managing Director, India Innovation at Pitney Bowes
“The logistics industry has been through a challenging few years and has become fragmented, volatile, and unpredictable. By leveraging technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud, automation, robotics, block chain, big data, and IoT, the industry can provide smart and innovative solutions to its customers. While uncertainty continues to be a major concern, integrating innovative technologies and being adaptable to the changing environment will be the key for leaders to navigate the challenges of the new year. This makes it imperative for Indian logistics players to invest in modernizing technologies and invest in robotics and artificial intelligence to automate tasks in warehouse and transportation management. Companies will need to enhance skillsets, rethink their business strategies, integrate innovative technologies and become adaptable to the changing environment.
Data and analytics will play a crucial role in optimizing networks and customer experiences. To achieve operational excellence and customer satisfaction, companies should prioritize setting up processes to identify and optimize the data quality. Additionally, data and analytics can help companies understand customer preferences and behaviours, enabling them to tailor their offerings and services and provide personalized experiences to customers.”
Dr. Robert Blumofe, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer
2023 Economic Uncertainty Will Bring Cloud Evolution
“There are two factors driving cloud computing needs today: the demands of modern applications and a push-back against hyperscalers. Current application innovation is complicated. Applications are made up of microservices, and each microservice often requires computing at a different location — the edge, the core, or somewhere inbetween — to optimize performance and minimize latency. The cloud is no longer enough. The edge is no longer enough. Complicating this, current macroeconomic conditions are pushing companies to examine their cloud spend and explore ways to reduce ballooning costs. Others are also looking to limit spend paid to cloud providers who also compete against their core business. These two factors combined will drive an enormous shift in how companies work with cloud providers in the next year.”
Ranga Jagannath, Senior Director, Agora
From QR codes to Augmented Reality
“2023 will see Augmented Reality (AR) use cases become as commonplace as QR codes did in recent years.
2022 saw Niantic’s acquisition of WebAR development platform, 8th Wall; the release of Nreal AR glasses in the west; the popularization of colour pass-through in VR headsets like the Pico and Meta’s Oculus Pro. Going into 2023, we expect that AR will shine a new perspective on 3D interactivity as it becomes increasingly common in both commercial and enterprise scenarios alike, such that, by year’s end, most users will be at least somewhat familiar with the technology.
Virtual worlds will experiment with open borders
2023 will see some successful experiments with interoperability standards across virtual worlds.
A genuinely interoperable metaverse would see every developer using the same standards to manage identity and entitlements across their virtual worlds. Alas, from our vantage point at the outset of 2023, that reality is but a far-off vision. Still, we expect that early adopters of the metaverse will experience limited interoperability across a few destinations for the first time. This will be a small step in a long sprint, but an important one nonetheless, as it will give the world a glimpse of a potential future for online interactivity.”
Bharath Raj, Site Leader of India Strategic Development Centre (SDC), Blackhawk Network India
“The digital optimization and transformation wave started by the pandemic and accelerated throughout the last two years until 2022. As we enter the new year, the industry foresees increased demand for voice recognition, datafication, and RegTech (regulatory technology). And while companies delve into more recent technologies, mobile commerce, AI/ML, blockchain integration, and big data will continue to bring valuable benefits to companies looking to scale their business opportunities. For organizations, data is essential to operate across industries. It will be of the utmost priority for businesses to identify the right approach to navigate the available data to predict and mitigate uncertainties. There will be a noticeable rise in GCC offerings in 2023, giving the company more control over data to authorized users and devices. India will likely grow at a rate of 6-7% in terms of the GCC numbers, according to Nasscom and Zinnov.”
Balajee Sowrirajan, MD & Corporate VP, Samsung Semiconductor India Research
“The semiconductor industry is constantly evolving and transforming everything around it. As we usher in a new year, we will witness an increased market demand for higher-performing chip innovation.
Industrial Revolution 4.0 will further integrate technology at all levels in our lives, making hyper connectivity, hyper intelligence, and hyper data~ a reality. This implies a higher degree of co-creation between the hardware and the software to build disruptions like re-creating human senses to develop intelligent data connection, building ultra-reliable 5G communications, or paving the way for new-age storage solutions.
As we advance to build a product that is not just futuristic but reliable, it is important to leverage our learnings into effective measures to build a future business roadmap.
Lastly, with ‘People’ at the heart of all the breakthrough innovations, we foresee the next chapter of semiconductor growth to have an increased emphasis on advanced skilling, job creation, and sustainability at the core.”
Dr. Vivek Desai, Founder & Managing Director, HOSMAC
Taking hospitals beyond Tier 3 cities: COVID-19 made us realise the dearth of healthcare facilities in hinterland India. It’s tough for for-profit hospitals to sustain in rural areas where more than 65% of our population reside. Besides government initiatives, hospitals should therefore look to go back to the pre-nineties format i.e., charity-led model leveraging CSR-linked funds and personal donations.
Leveraging technology: Telemedicine has seen a boom in the last two years and will continue to grow. This not only holds the promise to take healthcare to the resource-constrained areas but also assists in cost-cutting, thus making services affordable. The government should strengthen telemedicine infrastructure which can be leveraged by public as well as private sector. Robotics, artificial intelligence and machine learning too will play a big role in making quality healthcare more affordable.
Data-guided decision: Information is key to predict disease trends and assist in evidence-based decision-making, be it at the clinical or management level. Data analytics and AI will remain in demand in an effort to make treatment more personalised and effective.
Paramedical Training: With the mushrooming of medical colleges, India is on the path to have sufficient doctors by the next decade. However, focus needs to shift to paramedical training, which include trauma professionals, medical laboratory specialists, nutrition sciences professionals and more, thereby providing a strong support to the clinical team and patients alike.
Rakshit Bhatt, Head Cloud, Business Group, Redington Limited
“The adoption of cloud technology is increasingly growing as economies recover from the impact of the pandemic. New trends in cloud computing such as hybrid cloud, and personal cloud technologies are on the rise, due to the return to office trend. As per industry forecasts, the global cloud services market is expected to grow at 20.7% in 2023, which is higher than the 18.8% growth registered in 2022.
Redington enables cloud implementation across industries for all company sizes. Its partnership with hyper scalers like AWS, Microsoft and Google Cloud, integrated SI partnership network helps businesses to avail services like Cloud adoption, assessment, modernization, optimization, automation and operations along with hybrid hosting models while ensuring a secure transition. Migration to the cloud is a journey and will continue in 2023, as businesses will accelerate their inclination toward IT modernization initiatives and look to adopt additional cloud services.”
Athreya K Prasad, Group Head- AMG, Redington Limited
“In 2022, the smartphone market in India declined, driven by market uncertainties and supply chain complexities. Weakening demand and increasing device prices negatively impacted festive buying as well. However, in 2023, the smartphone market is expected to see a steady rise in distribution and sales globally, with 5G-enabled devices expected to make up a significant share of electronics distribution.
With a presence of about two decades in the mobility business, Redington has been part of the evolution of this category in India from a nascent stage. Its mobility business offers a portfolio of world-class brands and products including Smartphones, Wearables, and accessories. It partners with the best of brands and is instrumental in evolving several GTMs in association with its brand partners. It integrates multiple Omni channel touch points to provide end customers a seamless consumer experience, with no technology friction, in terms of buying, payments and timed delivery.
However, with such opportunities comes the challenge of the lightning speed of innovation and its subsequent delay in adoption causing Technology Friction. Redington Limited has identified this gap and is aiming to reduce this friction between what the customer wants and its availability. Integrating omni-channel touch points is one such effort that will provide end customers a seamless consumer experience, in terms of buying, payments and timed-delivery and thereby, reducing technology friction for its customers.”
Anand Kumar Bajaj, Founder, MD & CEO, PayNearby
“Driven by greater convenience, favorable government policies, and evolving consumer sentiments, Bharat is gearing up to walk hand-in-hand with India. This has brought a behavioral shift in consumers, with more and more citizens adopting assisted digital means for their banking and lifestyle requirements. In addition to the increased uptake of financial and banking products, a host of other services, like, online education, online entertainment, and online commerce are now reaching the last mile, thanks to our able Distribution-as-a-service (DaaS) network. Services that were earlier limited to metros and tier I cities are now easily accessible in tier II regions and beyond. Reiterating this is the sharp growth of over 200% in our cash collection business including collection from logistics and e-commerce companies Also, we witnessed a growth of 263% in micro-credit for MSMEs which demonstrates the unmet demand for credit, being tapped by fintechs like us.
The quick and easy Current & Savings account opening with a simple Aadhaar-led authentication (e-KYC) is furthering India’s financial inclusion mission by providing an active bank account for every small business and household in Bharat. With simple documentation and assisted journeys, all obstacles that prohibit the large-scale adoption of financial solutions are being addressed, thus pushing the masses towards true financial empowerment.
Aiding this growth are our retail partners and the local kirana stores, which have evolved into a multi-utility point for consumers to meet their financial and digital needs. For India to transition to the next stage of development, we will continue to strengthen our efforts to simplify high-end technology so that more services can be sachetized and democratized and made available to all through our well-entrenched DaaS network. Come 2023, with our grit and determination, we will continue to hustle and innovate to bridge the urban-rural divide and build an inclusive India, together.”
Mandar Agashe, Founder MD & VC of Sarvatra Technologies
“The year 2022 has been positive for the digital payments industry. There has been significant push by the Government and the Central Bank to promote innovation and competitiveness in the ecosystem. Transactions through Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Aadhaar-enabled Payment System (AePS), Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), etc. have witnessed sustained growth especially across the semi-urban and rural regions of the country. This indicates the behavioural shift in the way Indians are making their payments for both financial and non-financial transactions. In rural India, AePS has emerged as a favourite mode of transaction as the average usage reached more than 11 million per day indicating how the larger rural population in India are migrating to digital modes of payments (including remittances).
One of the most outstanding innovations happened this year, i.e. the introduction of Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) or the Digital Rupee by RBI as well as the operationalisation and scaling up of the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), tokenisation, account aggregator framework, among others, have further enhanced merchants’ and users’ convenience and safety.
UPI has been consistently achieving milestones in terms of transaction count. Within a year, the value of transactions went up from INR 456 crores in December 2021 to a whopping INR 730 crores in November 2022. UPI has become the largest retail payment system in the nation demonstrating its widespread adoption. Newer features like UPI123Pay, UPI Lite, cardless cash withdrawal facility at ATMs through UPI and the linkage to credit cards, will further amplify its usage in the upcoming year.
The next year is going to be the year of fintech companies inventing better products as per changing needs of the users. There is scope for better adoption of new-age technologies, such as cloud computing, big data, and AI-based solutions. Payment platforms such as BBPS and UPI going international will make cross-border payments faster. Many infrastructural developments such as CBDC and digital wallets are spaces to watch out for in 2023. Fintechs have a responsibility to create innovative payments solution that is also safe from data threat and provide convenience to users.”
Bhavin Patel, Cofounder and CEO of LenDenClub
“The investment diaspora has witnessed a behavioural shift of wealth creation this year where investors are searching for new opportunities to diversify their portfolios. As a result, P2P lending is increasingly becoming popular as an alternate investment class as citizens are incorporating it into their portfolios to mitigate risk while optimising returns.
Also, there have been significant developments from the regulatory perspective. Be it the Guidelines on Digital Lending introduced by RBI or the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022, introduced by the Government, these are all aimed at safeguarding the customers’ interest. While several efforts have been made to promote innovation and competitiveness in the industry, including streamlining the Account Aggregator framework. In the coming year, digital lending companies will continue to abide by these guidelines and fully support initiatives from the Government and the Central Bank.
The Indian p2p market is expected to grow to $10 Billion by 2025; however, I see this happening much sooner. As P2P lending companies will be offering a distinctive fusion of cutting-edge technologies and speedy financial solutions to strengthen the alternate investment path for investors of India as well as fulfil the unmet credit needs of the Indians.”
