e-commerce
Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma receives the Horasis-KPMG Indian Business Leader of the Year award for Entrepreneurship
MUMBAI: Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder-CEO of Paytm, India’s digital payments leader, has been felicitated with “Business Leader of the Year Award for Entrepreneurship” by Horasis- KPMG. The award ceremony was held in Segovia, Spain and was attended by global business leaders and corporates.
From being a small-town boy from Aligarh who bought second-hand tech magazines to the founder of one of India’s most trusted technology brands, Vijay Shekhar Sharma has come a long way. His conviction could win Jack Ma (Alibaba Group), Masayoshi Son (Softbank) and Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathway) to invest in his firm.
Paytm is India’s only super app which has all online and offline payment use-cases, it’s success has also become a Harvard case study, making India proud. His achievements include building India’s first profitable payments bank and fastest growing wealth management offering with Paytm Money. His success inspires a whole generation of entrepreneurs — those who may not necessarily have a pedigree background — but who believe that they can dream big even if they are from a village with patchy internet or mobile connectivity. Paytm’s business growth has attracted various global companies to replicate its model to expand its presence in India.
Looking forward to a cashless India, Vijay’s dream is to bring half a billion Indians to the mainstream economy. His dream is to build India’s first $100 Bn firm, a company that would make the nation proud.
e-commerce
American Express to acquire AI startup Hyper to boost automation
Deal targets expense management as AI reshapes corporate spending tools.
MUMBAI: From receipts to robots, the expense sheet is getting a brain upgrade as American Express moves to bring artificial intelligence into the heart of corporate spending. The company has announced plans to acquire Hyper, a relatively young but fast-rising startup founded in 2022 that builds AI-powered agents capable of organising expenses, generating reports, verifying compliance with budgets and policies, and nudging users with timely reminders. The deal, expected to close in the second quarter of 2026, underscores a growing shift among financial institutions to automate traditionally manual, time-heavy workflows.
Hyper counts Sam Altman among its backers, adding a layer of Silicon Valley credibility to the acquisition. While financial details remain undisclosed, the strategic intent is clear: deepen automation capabilities and sharpen American Express’s position in the competitive corporate spending ecosystem.
The two companies are not strangers. They previously collaborated in 2024 on a co-branded credit card product, suggesting that the acquisition is less a cold buy and more an extension of an existing relationship. With this move, American Express is effectively bringing that capability in-house, aiming to embed AI directly into its commercial services stack.
Chief executive Stephen Squeri had already signalled the direction of travel in a recent shareholder letter, describing AI as a “structural shift” in how businesses operate. The Hyper acquisition appears to be a direct response to that shift, particularly in expense management, where processes such as approvals, compliance checks and reporting remain ripe for automation.
Alongside the acquisition, the company is also expanding its product suite. A recently launched business credit card offers cashback and benefits at an annual fee of $295, with another card expected later this year moves that complement its broader push into commercial services.
Taken together, the strategy points to a future where managing expenses may require fewer spreadsheets and more algorithms. For American Express, the bet is simple, if businesses are rethinking how work gets done, the tools that power that work need to evolve just as quickly.
