dAIlogues by Stellaris

Every few weeks, the AI landscape resets. The best open models change hands, APIs get switched off, and anyone renting their intelligence finds out how little of it they control.

Dr. Vivek Raghavan has chosen to own it.

In this episode of dAIlogues, Alok sits down with Vivek, cofounder of Sarvam AI and one of the core minds behind Aadhaar, to talk about what it takes to build frontier AI from scratch. They get into what sovereign AI actually means across infrastructure, models and the harness, why usage at scale has become the real training data and much more. 

In this episode: 

00:00 Coming up

01:14 Introduction 

03:11 Inspiration behind starting Sarvam

06:14 Building frontier models in India

09:44 Defining sovereign AI layers

15:35 India specific AI development challenges

20:09 Talent and culture at Sarvam

27:23 Institutional vs Consumer strategy 

34:13 Navigating the changing AI landscape

41:07 Application focus & domain expertise

46:12 Long term vision % advice for founders

Most enterprises are doing something with AI. Very few can point to what it actually changed.

Abdul Razak has seen that gap from both sides. He spent three decades building and selling enterprise software to large companies, and now sits on the buying side as Chief Product and Technology Officer at Aon, deciding what gets deployed and what gets passed on.

In this episode of dAIlogues, Alok Goyal gets into what that view from both chairs actually teaches you about AI inside large organisations.

They cover:

00:00 Coming up 

00:46 Introduction 

02:58 Gap in enterprise automation 

04:26 Is the gap in tech, product design or messaging? 

08:44 How has the buyer role changed your worldview? 

11:45 What factors determine build vs. buy decisions? 

14:07 Is AI impacting the build vs. buy equation? 

16:21 Which problem areas are becoming obsolete with AI?

19:27 How will agent platforms differ from RPAs? 

22:38 How can startups evaluate Proof of Concept? 

28:02 Is integration easy to do today and is it still a moat? 

31:53 When should enterprises choose software vs. outcomes? 

34:48 Can software providers underwrite outcomes? 

37:42 How will AI reshape the future of IT services? 

40:57 Which opportunities should founders pursue today? 

In this episode of dAIlogues by Stellaris, Alok Goyal sits down with Dr Harrick Vin, who has seen #ai evolve up close — from his early years of pioneering research in academia, to building and scaling Digitate into one of enterprise IT's most widely adopted AI platforms, and now as Chief Technology Officer at Tata Consultancy Services #TCS, where he is reimagining how one of the world's largest technology services companies operates in the AI era.

The conversation reveals a reality that many founders and enterprise leaders are discovering the hard way.
00:00 Coming up…01:24 Dr Harrick Vin’s journey 03:23 Academic to enterprise - how was the shift? 06:27 What surprises you about AI? 10:09 Are applications truly combining both types of reasoning? 13:21 Are you seeing true adoption of AI in enterprises?20:32 Is AI breaking the depth-vs-breadth trade-off? 29:00 Does AI flatten hierarchy or speed up experience? 30:48 Is the single data warehouse still relevant?33:09 How are AI systems tackling reliability issues?38:20 Is human-in-the-loop the future or just a phase?42:17 How will AI reshare India’s $300B IT-BPO industry? 47:13 What should India focus on? 53:26 Application or Foundation Models, where should India invest?57:16 What role should Indian academia play? 59:17 Your advice to Indian founders building in AI

Welcome to the second episode of dAIlogues by Stellaris Venture Partners, featuring conversations with industry stalwarts who are shaping the future of AI.

In this episode, Alok Goyal sits down with Shashi Upadhyay, who has seen AI evolve up close as a founder at Lattice Engines, an AI leader at Google, and now as an executive reinventing Zendesk for the AI era. The conversation reveals a reality that many founders are discovering the hard way.

00:00: Coming up...

01:23: Shashi Upadhyay’s journey

03:09: What has surprised you about the arc of AI?

11:00: Incumbents vs. startups – where does defensibility lie?

15:29: Has AI velocity increased, or are enterprises growing cautious?

20:27: How are you making Zendesk AI-first?

27:18: Running AI and non-AI roadmaps

29:45: Humans + AI more powerful?

33:43: Are customer expectations sky high?

37:14: AI value vs. hype

41:23: India’s advantage in AI

45:04: AI + services opportunity

48:00: Advice to founders

Reach Shashi Upadhyay: https://www.linkedin.com/in/supadhyay/

Reach Alok Goyal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alok-goyal-536557/

Visit www.stellarisvp.com to learn more about how we invest.

Welcome to the first episode of dAIlogues, a new series from Stellaris Venture Partners featuring conversations with industry stalwarts who are shaping the future of AI.

In this episode, Alok Goyal sits down with Dr. Vishal Sikka, a technologist, founder, and one of the most influential thinkers in enterprise software. From creating SAP HANA and leading Infosys’ digital transformation, to now building Vianai, Vishal’s journey captures the evolution of enterprise technology over the last two decades.

Reach Vishal Sikka: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vishal-sikka-869a6b2/

Reach Alok Goyal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alok-goyal-536557/

Visit www.stellarisvp.com to learn more

In this conversation, we cover:

00:00 Coming up...

01:23 Dr. Vishal Sikka's journey

03:07 What is enterprise-grade AI?

10:39 How do you blend AI with accuracy?

15:11 Do incumbents carry a structural advantage?

18:25 How are enterprise buyers thinking about AI?

22:33 Death of packaged software?

28:10 How should services adapt to AI?

33:32 AI + services opportunity in India

38:29 India's AI advantage?

42:17 Threat of mass unemployment?

49:38 Advice to Indian founders

52:36 Closing thoughts