Freshly’s quick commerce bet; How to harness the AI wave

Hello,

The era of industrialisation in software development is here.

At Amazon, which is pouring investments into generative AI, the culture of coding is apparently shifting rapidly–with the pace ramping up significantly, and the work becoming more routine, according to workers. 

For some, the use of AI tools is taking away the tedious parts of development. Others fear that it gives them even less time to think, and higher output goals to achieve. 

Meanwhile, Microsoft is looking to tighten its grip over the AI industry. At its annual Build conference this week, it unveiled a host of new products and partnerships with heavyweights including OpenAI, NVIDIA and xAI, showcasing its significant position at the heart of the AI sector. 

In other news, F1 fans are gearing up for some nailbiting action at the Monaco Grand Prix, with all its tight turns and old-school glamour. 

There’s already been some standout performances from Saturday’s qualifying session, with Lando Norris of McLaren producing a track-record lap time with his last attempt to beat Charles Leclerc to pole position.

F2 also had its highlights, with Kush Maini becoming the first Indian to taste victory at the iconic F2 Monaco GP Sprint Race.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Freshly’s quick commerce bet
• How to harness the AI wave

Here’s your trivia for today: Who is the only president from the United States to hold a patent?

Startup

Freshly’s quick commerce bet

Indian quick commerce platforms operate on a two-step supply chain. First, they source fresh produce from farmers directly at mandis, and second, they transfer it to a large centralised warehouse for quality check, labelling, and packing, after which it is dispatched for last mile delivery. 

While these platforms have mastered grocery delivery, they have fallen short in delivering perishable items. Established in May last year, Noida-based Freshly, a specialised quick commerce platform that delivers fresh fruits and vegetables within 10-15 minutes, aims to fill that gap. It gets its stocks from the mandi and directly delivers to consumers from its dark stores, skipping the tedious step of central warehousing in the middle. 

Specialised supply chain:

• Besides quick commerce players like Swiggy Instamart, Blinkit, and Zepto, Freshly competes with numerous offline modern retail chains and unorganised small vendors, who have their own set of pros and cons.
• According to Freshly, its focus on fruits and vegetables ensures it operates on better margins than larger players. 
• Yeshu Bansal, along with another former Blinkit executive, Parvesh Nehra, launched Freshly’s first dark store in Noida in July 2024. Freshly presently operates one store in Delhi-NCR and plans to scale to 40 stores by the end of 2025. 

DevSparks

How to harness the AI wave

The role of engineers, going forward, will be to teach AI to fill gaps in efficiency and help it become smarter, while constantly observing and monitoring the technology, concur technologists and founders from the startup community. 

In a session on 'Playbook: Building faster SDLCs with AI' at YourStory's DevSparks, panelists Ramkumar Venkatesan, CTO, Cashfree Payments; KB Shiv Kumar, EVP & CTO, Yotta; Dale Vaz, Founder & CEO, Sahi.com; and  Aditya Mohanty, Co-founder, The Product Folks; discussed practical ways in which developers can make the most of AI to heighten efficiency across design, planning, developing, testing, deployment, and maintenance.

AI percolation:

• Cashfree Payments, Yotta, Sahi and The Product Folks have all incorporated AI into their operations. AI is making its way into every team, and now, full stack means going all the way into user experience and the product, according to Cashfree Payments’ Venkatesan.
• According to the panelists, what AI does best is that it brings efficiency in communication. 
• With AI deployment rising in organisations, one of the biggest concerns of people is job security. The key takeaway is that one has to get on board with using AI tools, learn them, and become hands-on. 

News & updates

• Outage: Elon Musk’s social media platform X was largely restored for most users after an outage that impacted tens of thousands of users in the United States on Saturday, according to outage tracking website Downdetector.com. Following this, Musk said that he is “back to spending 24/7” at his companies.
• Shipping disruptions: Port congestion is worsening at key gateways in northern Europe and other hubs, according to a new report which suggests trade wars could spread maritime disruptions to Asia and the US and push up shipping rates.
• Sovereign fund: SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son has floated the idea of creating a joint US-Japan sovereign wealth fund to make large-scale investments in tech and infrastructure across the US. Under the wealth fund structure, the US Treasury and the Japanese ministry of finance would be joint owners and operators with a significant stake.

What you should watch out for

• Fed Chair speech: In the upcoming week, the market will be keeping a close eye on the US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech, scheduled on May 26. In his last speech, Powell stated that longer term interest rates are expected to be higher, given the frequent changes in tariff rates and persistent supply shocks, which could make it difficult for the Fed to balance its act.
• India Q4 GDP: Back home, investors and market participants are waiting on India’s GDP numbers for the fourth quarter of FY25 due on May 30. Most economists expect India to grow at more than 6.5% in Q4 FY25, supported by agriculture, hotels & transport, and construction sectors.

Who is the only president from the United States to hold a patent?

Answer: Abraham Lincoln. He received patent number 6,469 in 1849, for a device to buoy vessels over shoals.

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