An interview with Sachin Duggal, CEO of Engineer.ai

Product Innovation: How AI helps bring your idea to life

This podcast interview focuses on product innovation that has the power to democratize software development, and my guest is Sachin Dev Duggal, CEO of Engineer.ai.

Sachin Dev Duggal is an innovator, serial entrepreneur, and an advocate of enterprise software that touches lives and benefits the world at large.


His profile is an unusual mix of experiences & serendipity. Sachin Duggal started his public foray very early in life. At the age of 12, he went on stage in front of 1200 people and the world media to demand something be done about the state of the environment. He worked for the United Nations and helped write the declaration of youth rights before he completed his first degree from Imperial College. At the age of 15, he co-founded nivio with a view to disrupt the old compute model. Four years later, nivio was selected as a technology pioneer at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where at the same time he made history in being the youngest attendees.

Sachin’s an avid and recent believer of Vipassana and that life is a zero-sum game – so its essential to spend our time giving; this is one of the main reasons he and his partner put aside stock in all major businesses to their foundation that’s on their 100×50 mission i.e. educate 100m kids in 50 years.

PriceWaterhouseCoopers Leader of Tomorrow, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist, the BBC Young Asian achiever of the Year and UNEP Global 500 Youth Award.

His aim is to build technology that simplifies the lives of everyday users and increases the penetration of information technology to those who do not have it today. And that’s what Engineer.ai is all about. Engineer.ai is on a mission to democratize software development. Their promise ‘Together we bring your idea to life. Twice as fast. 1/3 the cost. Enterprise-grade.’

Read full story @ https://www.valueinspiration.com/product-innovation-how-ai-helps-bring-your-idea-to-life/

Woman among nine Sri Lanka bombers: Minister

Sri Lanka Muslim groups denounce attackers

Sri Lanka's Muslim civil society movements and associations have called upon authorities to immediately arrest and punish the perpetrators of the Easter Sunday bombings, saying extremism in the name of Islam does not represent the religion.

A joint statement says authorities should also apprehend those who aided and abetted the attackers through incitement, financing and other support.

It says neither the National Thowheed Jamath nor those who carried out the attacks represent Islam or reflect Muslim beliefs. The statement says they have misused and abused Islam in order to fit their own radical and anti-Islamic agenda, and are criminals.

The signatories include All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama, the Muslim Council, Jama'athe Islami, the Memon Association of Sri Lanka and Anjuman-E Saifi.

Leader among nine suicide bombers: Minister

The leader of one of the groups behind the Easter Sunday attacks was believed to be one of the suicide bombers, which also included a woman, state minister of defense Ruwan Wijewardena said.

Speaking at a news conference in Colombo, Wijewardena said security forces believed that the bombers were "well educated" individuals, adding that one of them studied in the UK and Australia.

Wijewardena said there were nine suicide bombers, of which eight have been identified. Two safe houses were found after the attacks and at least 60 people were arrested in connection with the bombings, the minister added.

Death toll rises to 359

The death toll from the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka has risen to 359, police say.

Police spokesperson Ruwan Gunasekera released the toll on Wednesday but did not give a breakdown of casualties from the three churches and four hotels hit by suicide bombers.

Al Jazeera's Minelle Fernandez, reporting from Colombo, said investigations into the attacks had been widened and another 18 people had been arrested.

Islamic State(IS) Claims Responsibility for Sri Lanka Bombings

Sri Lanka Attack

Paul Viollis on the New Zealand Mosque Shooting

Paul Viollis on the New Zealand Mosque Shooting as Police Search for Clues

At least 49 people are dead after shootings at New Zealand mosques. CBS News law enforcement analyst Paul Viollis joins CBSN to discuss how law enforcement will approach the investigation.

D3Media OS-1 System broadcasts Paul Viollis interview live with CBS News @ https://www.d3mediaglobal.com/in-the-media/2019/3/18/29npx59tgafwamkm33xhpfjjf5uw75

2nd Address Raises $10 Million for Rental Bookings: Travel Startup Funding This Week

This week travel startups announced more than $18 million in funding. Earlier this week, Boeing said it had made a significant, but unspecified, investment in supersonic jet manufacturer Aerion. Here are the other travel startup fundings revealed this week.

>>2nd Address, a booking service for extended-stay rentals for business people, raised $10 million in Series C funding.

GV, the venture capital arm of Google, led the round. Foundation and Amicus also participated.

The San Francisco-based startup, founded in 2017, has raised about $22 million to date.

The company vies with Airbnb for a niche business segment in the home rental market, said CEO Chung-Man Tam. His startup helps corporate clients and employees book stays with rentals that can last more than a month in four major U.S. cities: New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Tam aims to add 17 markets this year.

In Europe, it vies with Homelike, which has raised about $18 million. They both compete in parallel with the serviced apartment market, led by companies like BridgeStreet.

>>Festicket, a music festival booking portal, said it had raised $4.6m in a Series E round.

Edge Investments led the round. It was only last October that Festicket closed a $10.5 million Series D round. Festicket has raised $25 million in external funding to date.

The startup lets consumers book tickets and travel packages to more than 1,200 music festivals worldwide. It has 131 full-time workers in offices in London, San Francisco, Amsterdam, Berlin, and Porto, Portugal.

It claimed to have served more than 2 million travelers and live-music fans since its founding in 2013.

In the UK alone, the music tourism industry has grown from about $3 billion (£2.2 billion) in 2012 to more than $5 billion (£4 billion) in 2017, according to a report by promotional body UK Music.

>>Oaky, an upselling software suite for hotels, has raised about $2.27 million (€2 million) in seed funding led by angel investors.

“Last year we hit an inflection point as we expanded from 15 to 56 countries, doubled our monthly recurring revenue, and reduced gross churn by 8 percent,” said Erik Tengen, co-founder and head of sales and partnerships.

The Amsterdam-based company, founded in 2013, has 23 workers and competes with Nor1 and other upsell platforms.

Darren Huston contribution for Operto

>>Operto Guest Technologies, a property automation system for vacation rentals, hotels, and serviced apartments, disclosed that last year it raised about $2 million in funding from angel investors, led by Darren Huston, the former CEO of Booking Holdings, who now runs BlackPines Capital Partners.

The Vancouver-based startup, which has 15 employees, automates guest entry by programming unique codes for every reservation onto keypad locks. Its other tools monitor noise, occupancy, air quality, and thermostat control. The company has debuted a new dashboard for workers to use. In the next three months, Operto will add integrations with leading hotel property management systems.

Skift Cheat Sheet:
We define a startup as a company formed to test and build a repeatable and scalable business model. Few companies meet that definition. The rare ones that do often attract venture capital. Their funding rounds come in waves.

Darren Huston Priceline Group CEO Talks Direct Booking, HomeAway and Unicorns

Seed capital is money used to start a business, often led by angel investors and friends or family.
Series A financing is typically drawn from venture capitalists. The round aims to help a startup’s founders make sure that their product is something that customers truly want to buy.

Series B financing is mainly about venture capitalist firms helping a company grow faster, or scale up. These fundraising rounds can assist with recruiting skilled workers and developing cost-effective marketing.

Series C financing is ordinarily about helping a company expand, such as through acquisitions. In addition to VCs, hedge funds, investment banks, and private equity firms often participate.

Series D, E and beyond These mainly mature businesses and the funding round may help a company prepare to go public or be acquired. A variety of types of private investors might participate.

Read More at Skift -  https://skift.com/2019/02/08/2nd-address-raises-10-million-for-rental-bookings-travel-startup-funding-this-week/

Founder & CEO Of Engineer.ai Sachin Dev Duggal Talked About Budget

Being a global entrepreneur highly invested in the technology industry, with a zeal for AI, it’s excellent to hear the announcement from Finance Minister Piyush Goyal that India will create a National Centre for AI. Sachin Dev Duggal said considering the global market for AI is expected at around $190 billion by 2025, this puts Indian companies and organizations at the forefront of capturing the AI market. Well done.

Sachin Dev Duggal CEO of Engineer.ai said alongside a 2% interest subvention for loans to MSMEs, these actions can boost entrepreneurial development across India, which can continue to enhance the Indian economy. The idea of a strong, stable, entrepreneurial Indian economy will help retain and expand global investment capital, as well as increasing global operations across the country.

Read full story @ https://technuter.com/budget/post-budget-reaction-by-mr-sachin-dev-duggal-founder-chief-wizard-engineer-ai.html