MUMBAI: Citi will host its flagship India Conference 2026 on June 3 & 4 at the Jio World Convention Centre, Mumbai. The largest event for Citi in India will convene more than 1,000+ clients, 40+ CXOs, and 120+ corporates, representing a combined market capitalization of approximately US$1.8 trillion.

Bringing together leaders from across the corporate and financial ecosystem, the conference will create opportunities for engagement through discussions, networking, and knowledge-sharing.

The two-day event will serve as a platform to discuss the forces reshaping business, investment, and economic activity in India and globally. The sessions will cover a range of topics, including the macroeconomic outlook, policy environment, capital markets, emerging investment trends, artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, and innovation.

Amol Gupte, Citi’s Asia South Cluster & Banking Head, said: “The Citi India Conference puts a spotlight on India’s significant and growing role in the world economy and reflects the confidence that global investors and businesses place in India’s future. As we approach 125 years of Citi’s presence in India next year, we are proud to continue to connect India’s most ambitious corporates to global opportunities and multinational companies to opportunities in India — and this conference sits right at the heart of that journey.”

K Balasubramanian, India CEO & Banking Head and Indian Subcontinent Sub-Cluster Head, Citi, said: “Citi is delighted to host Government dignitaries, senior clients, key investors, and thought leaders to this Conference, which is expected to unlock the value of India as an investment destination and provide investors an opportunity to take part in the long-term growth narrative amidst a volatile market. 

As the world’s most global bank, with our leading institutional banking platform in India, Citi connects cross-border perspectives, strategic capital, and transformative ideas. This conference is a natural extension of that commitment. We hope every participant leaves with new perspectives, stronger connections, and a deeper conviction in the India opportunity.”

The Citi India Conference reflects Citi’s longstanding commitment to supporting clients through deep market expertise, global connectivity, and access to strategic opportunities across markets.

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The expanded Agent Fabric platform introduces new AI-native capabilities designed to help enterprises govern autonomous digital interactions, simplify AI-driven modernization, and deploy across cloud, hybrid, and sovereign environments with greater flexibility.

“The enterprise challenge today is not simply building AI agents. It is operationalizing them responsibly at scale,” said Dr. Sanjiva Weerawarana, founder and chief executive officer of WSO2. “Organizations need infrastructure that enables them to securely govern, deploy, and scale autonomous digital interactions across the enterprise. That is the role we believe WSO2 is uniquely positioned to play.”

Trusted AI governance

WSO2 unveiled ThunderID, an open-source IAM stack for the modern era, built for agents, ready for quantum, and open by design. Originally started at WSO2, the ThunderID project will be contributed to the OpenWallet Foundation (OWF). ThunderID is a new Go-based identity runtime purpose-built for AI agents, applications, and integrated with decentralized identity. Designed with a cloud-native, GitOps-driven architecture, it enables developers to build modern, customizable authentication and authorization experiences for the next generation of digital infrastructure. ThunderID will also be post-quantum cryptography (PQC) ready, helping enterprises and governments prepare for next-generation cryptographic threats and long-term security requirements.

“We are thrilled to welcome WSO2’s ThunderID project to the OpenWallet Foundation. WSO2 is a major contributor to open source software, and this contribution marks a significant milestone in advancing interoperable digital public infrastructure,” said Daniel Goldscheider, Founder and Executive Director, OWF.

The WSO2 Identity Platform also advances its identity and access management capabilities for autonomous agents, complex B2B ecosystems, and decentralized identity models. New capabilities include delegated access, asynchronous authentication, and enhanced identity management for non-human entities, enabling secure interaction between humans, systems, and AI agents.

WSO2 expanded its WSO2 API Platform to support AI-native workloads, enabling organizations to securely expose, govern, and monetize APIs, AI services, models, prompts, and agent-accessible digital assets. New capabilities in policy enforcement, AI-aware governance, and cost visibility help enterprises prepare for agent-driven consumption while maintaining operational control.

Building on the recent beta launch of WSO2 Agent Manager, an open control plane for AI agents, WSO2 announced a partnership with LTM to support enterprise implementation, AI transformation, and agentic modernization initiatives.

“As enterprises rethink their digital foundations for the AI era, the ability to securely orchestrate applications, APIs, data, and autonomous agents becomes critical,” said Vinay Hegde, Global Practice Head – Agentic, Integration and Orchestration at LTM. “Together with WSO2, we are helping customers accelerate modernization and AI adoption with the governance, scalability, and operational resilience required for the next generation of enterprise systems,” he added.

AI-driven enterprise modernization

WSO2 introduced new AI-ready operational capabilities aimed at simplifying the configuration and governance of applications, APIs, identities, integrations, and agents. Built on declarative configuration, these capabilities enable GitOps-driven delivery and AIOps automation, helping organizations to modernize faster while reducing operational complexity.  

The company announced WSO2 Integrator 5.0, a major evolution of its integration platform that unifies integration capabilities into a single AI-augmented environment. The release includes conversational development, agent-assisted automation, and enhanced observability for GenAI workloads, helping enterprises reduce integration complexity and accelerate delivery of AI-native applications.

To help enterprises bridge the gap between AI experimentation and production deployment, WSO2 unveiled Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE), a new embedded engineering and advisory model designed to accelerate implementation of agentic architectures in complex enterprise environments.

Working directly with strategic customers, WSO2’s Forward Deployed Engineers combine expertise across API management, integration, identity, and AI systems to help organizations translate business requirements into production-grade agentic applications, APIs, and integrations. The model is designed to accelerate enterprise adoption while reducing implementation complexity across security, governance, interoperability, and operational architecture

Digital resilience: flexible deployment and open source

To further support enterprise adoption, WSO2 introduced flexible deployment environments enabling organizations to run WSO2 platforms across SaaS, private cloud, public cloud, hybrid, and on-premises environments with greater operational flexibility and consistency. The capability helps enterprises align AI and digital infrastructure deployments with evolving regulatory, sovereignty, cost, and operational requirements.

Together with the general availability of WSO2 Developer Platform for OpenChoreo 1.1, enterprises now have a unified foundation to build, deploy, and operate modern digital services and autonomous systems. Now a Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) Sandbox project, OpenChoreo reinforces WSO2’s commitment to open, vendor-neutral infrastructure for cloud-native and AI-driven systems. In April, SUSE and WSO2 partnered to launch an AI-Native Platform Engineering Stack combining SUSE Rancher Prime with OpenChoreo to simplify the secure development and operation of AI-native applications and autonomous agents.

“Enterprises have won the Kubernetes infrastructure battle, but the developer experience gap remains. By uniting SUSE Rancher Prime with the WSO2 Developer Platform for OpenChoreo, we’re delivering a production-ready, AI-native paved path from Day 1, for both human developers and AI agents, without sacrificing governance, security, or choice,” said Steve Hale, Senior Director – Global ISV Ecosystem Partners at SUSE.

Earlier this year, WSO2 also announced a strategic collaboration with the International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore (IIIT-B), through the MOSIP initiative, to advance the open-source eSignet platform and strengthen global digital identity infrastructure based on ThunderID.

Ecosystem and cloud momentum

To accelerate modernization, WSO2 has strengthened collaborations across major cloud ecosystems, including achieving ISV Accelerate status with Amazon Web Services and Cloud Solution Designation for Financial Services with Microsoft.

WSO2 was recently accepted into the AWS ISV Accelerate program, a global co-sell initiative for AWS Partners with software solutions running on or integrated with AWS. WSO2 Solutions are also available through AWS Marketplace, helping customers simplify procurement and accelerate adoption across cloud modernization and AI initiatives on AWS. This milestone strengthens WSO2’s go-to-market collaboration with AWS, enabling joint customer engagements and co-sell motions that drive faster time-to-value for enterprises modernizing their integration, identity, and API management workloads on AWS. With ISV Accelerate benefits and Marketplace availability combined, WSO2 is well-positioned to scale its cloud-native solutions alongside AWS sellers to meet growing customer demand.

For more details on WSO2’s latest platform releases:

• WSO2 Developer Platform for OpenChoreo 1.1
• WSO2 API Manager 4.7
• WSO2 Agent Manager Beta
• WSO2 Integrator 5.0
• WSO2 Identity Server 7.3

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MUMBAI: Schneider Electric, a leader in energy management and automation, has announced the launch of its next-generation Industrial Copilot, developed in collaboration with Microsoft. This Generative AI-powered assistant is purpose-built to enhance open automation ecosystems, driving greater efficiency, flexibility, and intelligence across industrial operations. Eliminating repetitive tasks, this Generative AI-powered assistant allows industries to collaborate, supports simplification of application development, delivers efficiency gains, and brings quality solutions to market faster.

The Copilot is deeply integrated into the EcoStruxure Automation Expert Platform, Schneider Electric’s flagship open automation environment. By embedding AI directly into this open, interoperable framework, the Copilot enhances the flexibility, scalability, and intelligence of automation systems—delivering benefits that closed, proprietary systems simply cannot match.

Industrial copilots are increasingly adopted to improve efficiency with real-time recommendations, leading to smoother operations and quicker decisions. They also minimize machine downtime with immediate troubleshooting and predictive maintenance, integrate data for better decision-making, and reduce manual work, saving costs.

“India’s manufacturing sector is rapidly evolving, demanding greater flexibility and efficiency, and Open Automation plays a pivotal role in achieving this goal,” said Arvind Kakru, VP- Industrial Automation, Schneider Electric India. “Our AI Copilot, developed with Microsoft and building on our deep domain expertise, doesn’t just operate within an open ecosystem- it strengthens it. It simplifies engineering, accelerates deployment, and empowers teams to do more with less, all while reinforcing the core values of openness, modularity, and collaboration.”

Building on Schneider Electric’s leadership in open, software-defined automation and leveraging the flexibility of EcoStruxure Automation Expert, the world’s first open software-defined automation solution, the Copilot will be available within Schneider’s newly launched unified automation environment, EcoStruxure Automation Expert Platform. The EcoStruxure Automation Expert Platform integrates seamlessly across various hardware and software platforms, enhancing collaboration between copilots, operators, and engineers by incorporating real-time data access, which is crucial for providing accurate recommendations, predictive maintenance, and immediate troubleshooting.

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Pune, 11th June 2025: On the occasion of World Environment Day, Mitsubishi Electric India, a recognized world leader in the manufacturing, marketing, and sales of electrical and electronic equipment, has launched a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative in collaboration with Earthwatch Institute India. Focused on conserving waterbodies and the biodiversity surrounding them, the project is being implemented in the regions of Talegaon Dabhade and Pimpri Chinchwad, near Pune.

This initiative extends beyond waterbody conservation; it seeks to drive lasting change by fostering connections between people, nature, and education. Aligned with Mitsubishi Electric India’s commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), and SDG 13 (Climate Action), it champions clean water and proactive climate action.

As climate change continues to impact ecosystems across the globe, this waterbody conservation project is a step towards building environmental resilience and mitigating the impacts of climate change. This initiative is a reflection of Mitsubishi Electric India’s long-standing commitment to bringing “Changes for the Better” by creating a positive and lasting impact.

Key activities include:
● Training 25 Self-Help Groups, including women and fisherfolk communities, to serve as Lake Stewards and lead local conservation efforts
● Tree plantations around the lake in Talegaon Dabhade, Pimpri Chinchwad, and Pulicat to reduce soil erosion, stabilise banks, and improve air quality
● Working on setting up an ecosystem suitable for native species to enhance ecological balance and support biodiversity
● Citizen science programmes and school workshops on water quality, health, hygiene and sanitation
● Experiential learning programmes and Interactive educational resources to build a science-based understanding of the possible impact of climate change on waterbodies and the need to take greater care of waterbodies
● Digital field guides to connect people with biodiversity surrounding the lakes and wetlands.

“Conserving waterbodies is essential in the face of growing climate risks. Through this initiative, we are not only working to restore vital ecosystems, but also inspiring people, especially the younger generation, to adopt environmentally responsible practices,” said Atsushi Takase, Managing Director, Mitsubishi Electric India. “Our focus on clean air, water, and green spaces reflects our long-term commitment to building a healthier living environment for all.”

“Through this initiative, this partnership will engage multiple stakeholders to promote the conservation of waterbodies. Lakes and wetlands act as nature’s climate buffers, and their long-term conservation depends on education & awareness and active community participation,” said Raghuvansh Saxena, CEO, Earthwatch Institute India, emphasizing the value of community-led initiatives.

The initiative will continue until March 2026, focusing on combining a wide range of programmes with diverse stakeholders and community networks to conserve these waterbodies, while increasing awareness about climate change. It highlights Mitsubishi Electric India’s commitment to meaningful and inclusive CSR efforts and its belief in contributing to a better tomorrow.

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Huawei aims to foster open collaboration with all ecosystem partners, empower developers, and drive talent development to advance the AI ecosystem. The company has made many AI-related foundational software and hardware technologies open source or available to partners and developers, allowing Huawei to work with its partners across the industry value chain to build Kunpeng, Ascend, and Huawei Cloud communities, laying a strong foundation for the AI ecosystem.

Peng said, “Today, we believe that every country and enterprise deserves access to computing power for further development. As a computing and cloud service provider, we will work alongside server partners, basic software partners, application software partners, consulting and integration service providers, cloud partners, and all manner of developers, to share the huge opportunity presented by the computing ecosystem and drive a surge in productivity.

To foster a new AI ecosystem, Huawei has made many AI-related foundational software and hardware technologies open source or available to partners and developers. This has allowed Huawei to work with its partners across the industry value chain to build Kunpeng, Ascend, and Huawei Cloud communities, laying a strong foundation for the AI ecosystem. In addition, Huawei and its ISV partners have supported AI computing centers in 25 cities across China, and natively incubated and adapted more than 50 foundation models.“

Huawei adheres to the strategy of open hardware, open-source software, partner empowerment, and talent development. The company’s goals for the next five years include having more than five server partners with an annual revenue of over CNY10 billion, increasing the number of installations of the openEuler commercial OS to over 20 million, and drawing more than 4 million developers to the MindSpore community. Huawei also aims to have more than 20,000 application partners and increase the number of Kunpeng, Ascend, and Huawei Cloud developers to more than 8 million, 5 million, and 10 million, respectively.

Talent is the foundation of the AI ecosystem, and Huawei has developed a customized training system targeting university teachers and students, developers, and scientific researchers. The company strives to continually drive technological innovation in the AI ecosystem by carrying out a range of activities, such as ICT Academy, Intelligent Base 2.0 program, ICT Competition, Ascend DevFest, and Ascend AI Innovation Competition.

When discussing talent, Peng stated, “Talent is the foundation of the AI ecosystem. We have developed a customized training system targeting university teachers and students, developers, and scientific researchers. We strive to continually drive technological innovation in the AI ecosystem by carrying out a range of activities, such as ICT Academy, Intelligent Base 2.0 program, ICT Competition, Ascend DevFest, and Ascend AI Innovation Competition.“

Finally Peng called on everyone to “work together to advance a flourishing AI ecosystem and provide another option for the world.” Huawei is a leading global provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices, with a vision and mission to bring digital to every person, home, and organization for a fully connected, intelligent world. For more information

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Dr Bhagwat Karad highlighted that “MSME plays a very important role in the development of the Indian economy. Currently, around 6.3 crore MSME enterprises are working in India and have generated around 11.1 crore employment opportunities. Around 30% of GDP comes from MSME and the growth rate every year is 10 percent. The government of India under the leadership of Hon’ble PM Narender Modi has been proactive in removing hurdles for the SME sector, and together with the banking sector, we strive to make financing easily accessible to fuel the growth of these vital enterprises.”

Nandan Nilekani, Co-founder and Chairman of the Board, of Infosys, said “SMEs are the biggest beneficiaries of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI). India is building public trails to access credit and market-benefiting SMEs. More than 50 million merchants are opting for a digital mode of payment. Digitization helped us generate a balance sheet quicker as all the financial details like invoices, transactions, and tax credits are easily accessible. Digitization also reduces the turnaround time to get loans. In the next 5 years, at least 50 countries are going to implement DPI.”

The conference began with a panel discussion and keynote address by renowned speakers such as Mr. Makhtar Diop, Managing Director of International Finance Corporation (IFC), Mr. Nandan Nilekani, Co-Founder and Non-Executive Chairman of Infosys, and Mr. Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief Fintech Officer of Monetary Authority of Singapore, among others.

During the fireside chat session, Mr. Nilekani highlighted the benefits of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for SMEs, while Mr. Dinesh Khara, Chairman of SBI, discussed the shift from collateral-based lending to data-based lending. Ms. Shalini Warrier, Executive Director of Federal Bank, emphasized the convenience of online payments through QR codes provided by UPI apps.

Dinesh Khara, Chairman, of SBI, who joined virtually in the session titled Unlocking the potential of digital platforms for SME financing said, “In the last ten years, we have witnessed a significant transformation in our bank. There has been a prominent shift from a collateral-based lending model to data-based lending, which has further assisted us in reducing the bank’s overall operational costs. Digitalization has also helped vendors make faster and more convenient payments, streamlining the MSME loan process. Additionally, digital platforms have been instrumental in catering to the needs of SME customers and creating value for them.”

Shalini Warrier, Executive Director, Federal Bank said during that same panel, “In the past, banking operations were primarily conducted manually. However, in recent years, a significant evolution has occurred, with digital technology taking the lead in the sector. One of the notable advancements is the convenience of online payments through QR codes provided by UPI apps. Nowadays, a substantial portion of transactions occurs digitally on a daily basis, surpassing other traditional payment methods.“

The conference also featured six SME finance innovators who demonstrated their technologies and explained their potential to change SME finance. The fintech invited to pitch were 360tf, Builder.ai, CredAble, ShopUp, Topicus, and Uplinq Financial Technologies.

Commenting on the Global SME Finance Forum 2023, Sivasubramanian Ramann, Chairman & MD, SIDBI, said, “I am grateful for the opportunity extended to SIDBI for hosting such a prestigious event that has witnessed tremendous participation of industry stakeholders across the world and encouraged discussions on very relevant issues and trends on the SME Sector. With India taking the presidency of the G20 for the first time, the country’s views, and outlook on the MSME sector are of significance for the world. The strides made by the Government of India in developing a robust digital infrastructure and the consequent digital innovation by various players in the MSME credit domain needs to be discussed, encouraged as also celebrated.“

Mr. Qamar Saleem, Incoming SME Finance Forum CEO, said, “I am thrilled to see the level of participation and richness of discussions during the first day of Global SME Finance Forum here in Mumbai. We have more than 700 executives representing more than 70 countries and 250 institutions gathered here. It is also fitting that the event is hosted by India which is at the cutting edge of digital infrastructure and innovations steering SME finance. I am really excited as the event unfolds which will feature over 90 speakers across 15 panels, 10 study tours to leading institutions in India, our flagship SME finance annual awards, and brainstorming sessions on key thematic game-changing topics. It has been a privilege to partner with SIDBI, and IBA as cohosts, and SBI as Diamond sponsors to the event and we thank them for all their support. SME Finance Forum and IFC remain committed to supporting the private sector globally in playing a catalytical role to support SMEs as they drive economic growth and create jobs”  

The Global SME Finance Forum 2023 is a knowledge center for data, research, and best practices in promoting SME finance, established by the G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) in 2012. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) manages the initiative, operating a global membership network of +240 members that brings together financial institutions, technology companies, and development finance institutions to share knowledge, spur innovation, and promote the growth of SMEs.

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NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtel (“Airtel”), India’s premier digital communications solutions provider, and Meta Platforms, Inc. (“Meta”) today announced a collaboration to support the growth of India’s digital ecosystem. Airtel and Meta will jointly invest in global connectivity infrastructure and CPaaS-based new-age digital solutions to support the emerging requirements of customers and enterprises in India.

Foundational connectivity infrastructure such as subsea cable systems is crucial for supporting the rising demand for high-speed data and digital services as India prepares to roll out 5G networks later this year. With the constant endeavor to augment the nation’s infrastructure, Airtel will partner with Meta and STC to extend 2Africa Pearls to India. 2Africa is the world’s longest subsea cable system and is expected to provide faster internet connectivity to almost 3 billion people globally. Airtel and Meta will extend the cable to Airtel’s landing station in Mumbai and also pick up the dedicated capacity to further strengthen its submarine network portfolio. The 2Africa cable will significantly boost India’s cable capacity and empower global hyper-scalers and businesses to build new integrated solutions and provide a high-quality seamless experience to customers.

As members of the Telecom Infra Project (TIP) Open RAN project group, Airtel and Meta have been pioneers of Open RAN technologies with the shared goal of increasing ecosystem diversity, driving innovation, and cost-efficiency in connectivity networks. Airtel has signed an agreement to help increase the operational efficiency of Open RAN and facilitate energy management and automation in radio networks using advanced analytics and AI/ML models.  Airtel is currently conducting trials for 4G and 5G Open RAN solutions on select sites in the state of Haryana and will commercially deploy the solution across several locations in India over the next few quarters. Airtel will share its learnings with wider ecosystem partners within the TIP community, including Meta, to help accelerate the deployment of Open RAN-based networks across the world.  

Businesses in India are rapidly shifting to cloud-based solutions to serve their customers digitally. Airtel IQ, the world’s first network-embedded Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) ecosystem, offers cloud communication across voice, messaging and video channels to help enterprises transform their customer engagement and drive profitability by leveraging automation and boosting revenue. Airtel will integrate Meta’s WhatsApp within its CPaaS platform. With this integration, businesses will now be able to use WhatsApp’s rich features and reach to provide unparalleled omni-channel customer engagement to enterprises.            

Vani Venkatesh, CEO – of Global Business, Bharti Airtel said: “We, at Airtel, are delighted to deepen our partnership with Meta to serve India’s digitally connected economy by leveraging the technology and infrastructure strengths of both companies. With our contributions to the 2Africa cable and Open RAN, we are investing in crucial and progressive connectivity infrastructure which is needed to support the increasing demand for high-speed data in India. We look forward to working closely with Meta to deliver best-in-class digital experiences to our customers in India.”

Francisco Varela, vice president of mobile partnerships for Meta said: “Subsea cables and open, disaggregated networks continue to play a huge role in the foundational infrastructure needed to support network capacity and fuel innovation. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with Airtel to further advance the region’s connectivity infrastructure that will enable a better network experience for people and businesses across India.”

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