Dear Reader,
The finance ministry expects India’s economy to grow at 7.3% in FY27.
This estimate, in the ministry’s October economic review, is slightly above the forecast of 7.1% by the Reserve Bank of India, released earlier this month. The ministry has also flagged inflation risks, besides geopolitical tensions, energy price volatility, and tighter global financial conditions. But India is “well-positioned” to sustain its growth trajectory, it noted.
Meanwhile, Zoho’s Sridhar Vembu has a word of caution for all of us: one smart person using AI can do the work of ten.
“The risk is getting ever more real. This does not mean 90% of people working on a computer will have no work at all… What it does mean is a rebalancing across the economy and that is painful when we go through it,” he wrote on X.
We have to accept this and be prepared, said Vembu, who has spoken candidly in recent times on AI, jobs, and the overall state of the tech industry. At TechSparks, YourStory’s flagship summit, Vembu had said that AI could outperform 90% of coders in six months.
In other news, private equity firm One Planet Partners has partnered with Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank to launch a Rs 3,000 crore fund. The fund will focus on high-growth businesses benefiting from India's energy transition, mobility, and manufacturing-led industrial expansion.
In today’s newsletter:
- Pine Labs Q2 net profit soars 6.5x
- Cognizant trims 2026 growth outlook
Here’s your trivia for today: Which tech company once announced a job listing for ‘Pokemon Master’ as part of an April Fools’ joke? (Scroll down for the answer)
Earnings
Pine Labs Q2 net profit soars 6.5x
Pine Labs’ net profit rose 6.5 times to Rs 38.6 crore in the second quarter of FY27, while revenue grew 24% year on year to Rs 806 crore. The fintech company had reported a net profit of Rs 6 crore and revenue of Rs 650 crore in the second quarter of the previous fiscal year.
Quarterly highlights:
- Pine Labs’ online payments business grew by over 45% year on year, while gross transaction value rose 140%, driven by expansion into agentic commerce, cross-border payments, small and medium businesses, and government segments.
- According to the company, AI agents now contribute to around 89% of code changes. The company plans to reinvest the resulting efficiency gains in new products, geographies and categories while maintaining a strong EBITDA profile.
- The fintech firm’s international business spans more than 22 markets. Revenue from Southeast Asia grew by around 40% YoY, while its UAE business crossed one lakh daily transactions.
Corporate
Cognizant trims 2026 growth outlook
US-headquartered IT services company Cognizant saw its net profit more than double in the third quarter of 2026 while revenue grew by 4.6%. It reported a net profit of $627 million for the third quarter of 2026, compared with $274 million in the same period in 2025, recording a growth of 129%. Revenue was $5.66 billion in Q3 of 2026, compared with $5.41 billion in the year-ago quarter.
However, the company has trimmed the upper end of its annual growth guidance for 2026.
Key takeaways:
- The financial services segment recorded a YoY growth of 12.3%, while communications, media & technology rose 10.7%. But products and resources saw a marginal dip of 0.8%, and healthcare fell 0.9%.
- The North America market grew by 5.8%, followed by Europe at 2.2% and the rest of the world at 1.4%.
- The company has revised its annual revenue growth guidance from 4-5.5% to 4-4.4%, indicating the growth challenges IT services companies continue to face.
News & updates
- AI acquisition: SaaS major Freshworks has acquired Israel-based AI startup Robusta Dev, an incident intelligence engine that uses AI to investigate tech disruptions, identify root causes, and recommend remediation actions. The acquisition is expected to strengthen the capabilities of Freshservice—Freshworks’ IT service management platform—in incident management and IT operations.
- Startup incubation: Bengaluru-based AI-powered cybersecurity and threat intelligence company CloudSEK has launched CloudSEK Launchpad, a 12-week incubation programme for early-stage cybersecurity startups. The first cohort will have 10 companies, each eligible for up to $5,000 in AI model credits.
- New report: India’s new-age manufacturing sector could benefit significantly from a $3 trillion global AI infrastructure investment cycle, according to a report by Avendus Capital. The investment banking firm says defence and aerospace, space technology, robotics and automation, semiconductors, energy transition, and advanced materials will drive India’s next phase of industrial growth.
Which tech company once announced a job listing for ‘Pokemon Master’ as part of an April Fools’ joke?
Answer: Google
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