SoftBank Investment Advisers

At Meesho, AI leadership is all about focus and impact. “Picking the right AI projects is crucial because they require a fair degree of iterations to create impact,” shares Debdoot Mukherjee, Head of AI. “I’ve seen companies pick a problem that’s not a core issue. When you do that, you risk losing momentum." By selecting projects with direct ties to Meesho’s mission, Mukherjee has built both trust and momentum around AI initiatives — making the tech meaningful, not just experimental. In our latest roundup, executives at high-growth tech companies share how to make the most of AI. Read the full piece to gain deep insights into AI leadership and opportunities. https://lnkd.in/eiHKpfRP #AI #leadership #tech

In the high-stakes world of finance, uncertainty can be costly. Starting his career as an analyst on Wall Street, it’s a concern Jaakko (Jack) Kokko remembers all too well. “It was so tedious, so cumbersome, and manual that there's no way you could have done justice to the importance of the task. I barely survived from fear of missing something critical,” he says. In 2008, Kokko founded AlphaSense, a product that leverages AI pilots to transform workflows — both for first year analysts and enterprise leaders alike. Hear more from Kokko and learn how AlphaSense is reshaping financial decision making in our Q&A. https://lnkd.in/eh_ds5pi #AI #finance #founders

Blip has constantly reinvented itself to be the centre of the shifting demands of the mobile age. We're excited to support the team as they continue to help companies transform their customer experiences. Congratulations to Roberto Oliveira, Daniel Costa and the full Blip team on this milestone! 

A decade ago, when Tractable CEO Venkat Sathyamurthy first demoed the company’s AI technology, which can look at a damaged car and come up with an estimate of the repair cost, the response was amazement. But today, he says, AI is no longer novel. In fact, it’s expected. “Everyone says, ‘So what? I've seen this. What else is there? What can it do for me?’” By focusing on customer needs above all else, Sathyamurthy’s image processing technology has been a game-changer for the auto industry. “As tech people we dream up scenarios of what the industry can be and what is possible,” he says. “But we shouldn’t make the customer climb up the mountain. We should go down and meet them where they are.” Read our full Q&A for more insights on AI implementation. https://lnkd.in/e7K9YaB4 #ai #insurance #tech

XtalPi Inc.’s decision to go public wasn’t just about raising capital — it was a strategic move to position itself among global leaders in drug discovery. The company’s journey to IPO day was long and winding, complicated by geopolitical concerns and compliance requirements. “With so much happening, we decided we needed a Plan A and Plan B, but also Plans C and D,” says CFO Ronald Tam. The result was a multi-tiered fallback plan. “We didn’t have a crystal ball, even though our name, XtalPi, is pronounced ‘crystal-pi.’” Read our story on IPO readiness to find out how the XtalPi team came together to navigate the route from private to public. https://lnkd.in/et82Nkcb #startups #insights #tech

With businesses worldwide prioritizing the security of their cloud and AI environments, we are thrilled to announce our strategic investment into Wiz – a global leader in cloud security. Through this partnership, we will help Wiz unlock opportunities in new markets, including the Asia-Pacific and Japan (APJ) market. “As we double down on our global expansion strategy, partnering with a world-class venture capital firm like SoftBank is pivotal to scaling our operations in the Asia-Pacific region,” said Dali Rajic, COO & President at Wiz. “We look forward to collaborating in our mission to provide the most innovative technologies to our growing client base.” “We believe Wiz is a game-changer for the cloud security market: it is making its mark just as many of the world’s largest companies wake up to the fact that cloud-native tech stacks need best-in-class cloud security from build to runtime” said Brett Rochkind, Managing Partner for SoftBank Investment Advisers. “Wiz is extremely well placed to meet rising demand in the Asia-Pacific region and we are proud to partner with them to this end” We look forward to working with Dali Rajic, Assaf Rappaport, Dmitri Chen and the rest of the team at Wiz as they lead the charge in safeguarding the future of cloud and AI technologies - in Asia-Pacific, Japan and beyond. https://lnkd.in/e7m6aekr

I had the pleasure of speaking with Fast Company's Stephanie Mehta for her Modern CEO column. We discussed my transition from General Motors to Amazon to a fast-growing startup, our new enterprise offering, Alto Technologies, and the power of ‘unlearning’ early lessons. You can read more here:https://lnkd.in/ghn4pz7S

“AI is broad — it can be an infrastructure play, an AI-first company, or any business that uses AI to cut costs or improve product quality. We’re looking for companies that are taking these first steps.” Sumer Juneja, our Head of India and EMEA, sat down with CNBC-TV18 to discuss the exciting and unique promises offered across India’s AI ecosystem. Read more below ⬇️

Congratulations to Swiggy on its official debut in the public markets, raising ~$1.3B, making it this year’s largest technology IPO. SoftBank is proud to have partnered with Swiggy on its journey to becoming India’s leading on-demand convenience platform, bringing innovation and convenience to millions of customers nationwide. Sriharsha M. Nandan Reddy Phani Kishan Addepalli and their team have built Swiggy into a credible proxy for new-age consumerism in India, helping more than 110 million customers enjoy rapidly evolving urbanisation with convenience. This IPO is a testament to the team’s relentless focus on customer experience, operational excellence, and pioneering spirit. We’re excited to watch and continue to support the team as they continue to scale greater heights. Here’s to many more milestones ahead. Sumer Juneja Sarthak Misra

We are excited to continue our partnership with Ualá as they expand on their mission to bring financial freedom to millions of users across Argentina and the Latin America market. Their latest Series E fundraise of $300 million will drive further access to financial tools that enable anyone to meaningfully participate in the growing global economy, through services that include debit cards, credit, high-yield savings, and their popular recent addition of dollar-denominated accounts. Ualá’s proven success in uplifting financial stability for a wide range of users has made them the largest startup in Argentina, and we’re thrilled to support them as they roll out new products and scale across geographies. Congratulations to CEO Pierpaolo Barbieri and the entire Ualá team on their continued success. Read more here:  https://lnkd.in/eVbcsuZR