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Reliance-Meta AI JV names Parminder Singh as CEO
REIL, backed 70 per cent by Reliance and 30 per cent by Meta, targets enterprise AI scale.
MUMBAI: India’s AI ambitions just found their chief navigator and the roadmap looks anything but small. Reliance Enterprise Intelligence Limited (REIL), the enterprise AI joint venture between Reliance Industries Limited (70 per cent) and Meta Platforms (30 per cent), has appointed Parminder Singh as its founding Chief Executive Officer, signalling a serious push to scale artificial intelligence adoption across Indian businesses.
The mandate is ambitious: fuse Meta’s AI capabilities with Reliance’s enterprise reach, AI compute infrastructure, and the nationwide connectivity of Jio to build a full-stack enterprise AI ecosystem. In simpler terms, REIL is positioning itself as both the engine and the highway for India’s AI journey.
Singh brings a heavyweight résumé to the role, with leadership stints across Google, Apple, Twitter, and IBM. His experience spans large-scale digital transformations across Asia-Pacific, most notably at Mediacorp, where he led an AI-driven overhaul as Chief Commercial and Digital Officer.
More recently, he co-founded Clayboxai, an advisory firm focused on building AI fluency within organisations, and Wekamp, an AI-powered community platform currently in pilot both signalling his continued focus on practical, enterprise-led AI adoption.
The appointment comes at a moment when India’s AI narrative is shifting from experimentation to execution. Akash Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Jio Infocomm, described enterprise AI as a “generational opportunity”, noting that Singh’s mix of global expertise and regional understanding makes him central to REIL’s next phase.
For Singh, the decision appears equally deliberate. A conversation with Ambani during a trip to New Zealand, he said, framed the opportunity as one that could shape the future of enterprise AI in India, a proposition difficult to ignore.
At its core, REIL is betting on a gap in the market, enterprises need not just cutting-edge technology, but a partner that understands local business realities. With Reliance’s scale and Meta’s AI backbone, the venture is positioning itself as that bridge.
If execution matches ambition, this is less about launching another tech venture and more about laying the groundwork for how Indian enterprises think, build, and scale with AI in the years ahead.
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Bob Iger joins Thrive Capital as adviser after Disney exit
Former Disney CEO returns to VC firm, stays on as Disney adviser till 2026.
MUMBAI: From castles to capital, Bob Iger isn’t done building just changing the blueprint. Bob Iger has taken on an advisory role at Thrive Capital, marking a return to the New York-based venture firm he briefly joined in 2022. Founded in 2009 by Josh Kushner, Thrive Capital has been positioning itself at the intersection of technology and long-term value creation, an area where Iger’s experience in scaling global entertainment businesses is expected to add weight. Kushner, 40, welcomed Iger back, highlighting his ability to blend technology with human-centric storytelling, particularly in an era increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence.
Iger is no stranger to Thrive. He had earlier joined the firm as a venture partner in September 2022, after stepping down as CEO of The Walt Disney Company and concluding his tenure as executive chairman in 2021. That stint, however, was short-lived. In November 2022, Disney’s board brought him back to steady the ship, replacing Bob Chapek following a turbulent period for the company.
Now, with his latest exit from Disney’s top job last month, Iger appears to be revisiting the venture world, this time with a clearer runway. Still, the Disney chapter isn’t entirely closed. Under his agreement with the company, he will remain until the end of 2026 as a senior adviser to new CEO Josh D’Amaro and will continue to serve on the board for his current term.
The move comes as venture firms increasingly seek operators with deep industry experience to navigate what Kushner described as “the most consequential technology shift” of the era, driven by AI. For Iger, whose career has hinged on blending creativity with scale, the transition from Hollywood to high-growth investing seems less like a pivot and more like a plot twist.
