From Satya Nadella's plans for Microsoft AI to Vivo vs Samsung battle: Our top stories of the week

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1) Why helping is 'Cool'

In India, the government still undertakes most of the social sector funding. According to the India Philanthropy Report 2024 by Bain & Company and Dasra, overall social sector spending in India stood at Rs 23 lakh crore or 8.3 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in FY23. This falls 4.7 percent short of Niti Aayog’s annual social sector funding target. About 95 percent of social sector funding is from the public sector. Now, given the surge in the Indian economy and capital markets, there is scope for private financing to step up. Atul Satija, founder and CEO of Bengaluru-based The/Nudge Institute, believes that filling the gap of building scalable social enterprises will be the next big aspiration for youngsters. Here's how he wants to make helping 'cool.'

2) Satya Nadella's plan for Microsoft AI

A routine day is incomplete without interacting with some sort of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Every day, there is a new development, and the past few weeks have caused quite a lot of stir. Be it the new AI stack presented at Google I/O or actor Scarlett Johansson seeking legal advice against OpenAI's use of the likeness of her voice. All the tech giants of Silicon Valley are engaged in a race to make AI work for them, and Microsoft is no exception. The company has already collaborated with OpenAI to present some GPT models combined with their Azure cloud services. At the recent developer conference, Build 2024, Satya Nadella's keynote speech offered a glimpse into his plans to bring AI to everyone via its Copilot stack on the Azure cloud platform. Here are the highlights.

3) A game of quarters

India's population has its advantages. This large population in the smartphone market means a bigger opportunity to sell the products. According to Statista, revenue of this market is estimated to be $44.6 billlion in 2024. It is expected to grow at 7.5 percent CAGR for the next four years. And by 2028, the smartphone market is forecasted to reach 234.5 million units. However, the market is incredibly competitive because of the unique Indian characteristic: A price-sensitive consumer base. We seek budget-friendly devices that will offer premium segment functions. Chinese smartphone major Vivo seems to have cracked the code. It was chasing the top spot for a while, and the latest quarterly victory over South Korean rival Samsung looks to be the sweetest and most decisive on multiple counts. Let's put Vivo's journey under the scanner.

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1) When will Ozempic come to India?

Novo Nordisk is Europe's most valuable company, with a market capitalisation of $592.02 billion (as of May 21). It is one of the fastest-growing pharmaceutical MNCs in India. Its insulins have been present in India since 1935, but its operations began in 1992, with headquarters in Bengaluru. The Denmark-based pharmaceutical company has four main focus areas: Rare diseases, cardiovascular diseases, emerging therapy areas, diabetes and obesity. The Danish pharma giant's Ozempic for diabetes and Wegovy for weight loss have changed the game. In an exclusive conversation with Forbes India, CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen talks about how competition is essential for innovation in pharma, the company's game plan for India and when these miracle drugs are entering the Indian market.

2) Importance of talent

Organisations transform as technology evolves and culture matures. There's a push for diversity and inclusion. We have seen various forms emerge as many tried to survive the pandemic. Various hybrid models are popping up depending on the needs of the organisation and its employees. But despite the evolution and changes, one thing is constant: Good talent. With this evolution on the technological and cultural front, new avenues of acquiring and nurturing the talent that will sustain and grow the organisation are also opening up. John Winsor, executive-in-residence at the Laboratory for Innovation Science at Harvard University, shares how networked organisations can transcend traditional boundaries to nurture a culture of openness, collaboration, and continuous innovation.

3) The good, the bad, the ugly of AI

In the same newsletter, we are once again talking about AI. It shows just how much you cannot avoid the new technology. Every time a new disruptor steps into the mainstream, a debate rages on its benefits, disadvantages, and even ethics surrounding it. Conversations are important if the change has to be adapted. In her new book Code Dependent, Madhumita Murgia brings voices and stories of people from across the world to describe how AI is impacting our work, our health, our body, and our freedom in various ways. In the latest episode of From the Bookshelves of Forbes India, Murgia, the artificial intelligence editor of the Financial Times in the UK, says that while AI is still considered a futuristic technology, it has started impacting our lives in ways we cannot imagine

4) PhonePe in Sri Lanka

On May 15, PhonePe launched cross-border UPI payments in collaboration with Sri Lanka’s national payment network, LankaPay. This will enable quick payments without carrying cash or calculating currency conversions. After facing its worst economic crisis two years ago, business seems to be picking up in Sri Lanka. The country has also become a new hotspot for Indian travellers and has emerged as an alternative to the Maldives after the political standoff. Indian digital payments company PhonePe is primed to make the most of the ramped-up footfall. In conversation with Forbes India, Ritesh Pai, CEO of international payments at PhonePe, takes us through this new development, how it will work, PhonePe's success rate in other countries, and more.