MAM
Health insurance platform Plum appoints Mukul Kanchan as its head of finance
Mumbai: Plum, an employee health insurance platform, has appointed Mukul Kanchan as its head of finance. Mukul has assumed charge from June 2022 and will be working closely with the founders to solve complexities as the business scales up at a faster clip. Mukul will support scaling the business with sustainability, building financial prudence and robustness, acquisition initiatives, and fundraising. He will also strengthen risk management practices and compliances at Plum.
Mukul is an investment banker and a private equity investment professional. He comes with over 16 years of experience in leading finance, M&A and business development functions in prominent start-ups and global corporations such as Clix Capital, D. E. Shaw & Co, E&Y and Aten Capital among others. In his earlier role as CFO at Clix, Mukul drove the acquisition of GE Capital India entities in 2016 which was later renamed as Clix, simplified the legal entity structure of the group, drove M&As and partnerships, and led the overall finance function.
On his new role as head of finance at Plum, Mukul Kanchan said, “In a world of high-growth tech start-ups, a finance leader must become a strategic partner to their CEOs. From staying conservative to displaying aggression, from valuing cost-cutting to chasing opportunity cost, from controller to being an enabler, and from playing by the book to writing a new playbook, the new age finance leaders must act as a catalyst for growth and aspire to change the game.”
Plum co-founder and CEO Abhishek Poddar said, “Mukul is a highly adept finance leader and will be an invaluable asset to Plum’s leadership team. Having worked at some of the most robust financial services organisations, not only does he bring the expertise needed to run our finance function, he also has a critical understanding of what it takes to drive growth and operational excellence. Having worked with Mukul for some time now, I have experienced his superior intellect and leadership abilities and am excited to work closely with him as we execute the next phase of Plum’s journey.”
Digital
India leads global adoption of ChatGPT Images 2.0 in first week
From anime avatars to fantasy covers, users turn AI visuals into culture
NEW DELHI: India has emerged as the largest user base for ChatGPT Images 2.0, just a week after its launch by OpenAI, underlining the country’s growing influence on global internet trends.
While the tool was introduced as an advanced image-generation upgrade within ChatGPT, Indian users are quickly reshaping its purpose. Instead of sticking to productivity-led use cases, many are embracing it as a creative playground for self-expression, storytelling and online identity.
From anime-style portraits and cinematic headshots to tarot-inspired visuals and fictional newspaper front pages, the model is being used to create highly stylised, shareable content. Features such as accurate text rendering, multilingual prompts and the ability to generate detailed visuals with minimal input have helped drive rapid adoption.
What sets the latest model apart is its ability to “think” through prompts, generating multiple outputs and adapting to context, including real-time web inputs. But the bigger story lies in how users are engaging with it.
In India, trends are already taking shape. Popular formats include dramatic studio-style lighting edits, LinkedIn-ready headshots, manga-inspired avatars, soft pastel “spring” aesthetics, AI-led fashion moodboards, paparazzi-style visuals and fantasy newspaper covers. Users are also restoring old photographs, creating tarot-style imagery and experimenting with futuristic design concepts.
Local flavour is adding another layer. Prompts such as cinematic portrait collages and Y2K-inspired romantic edits are gaining traction, blending global aesthetics with distinctly Indian internet culture.
The surge reflects a broader shift in how AI tools are being used in the country, moving beyond utility to creativity. As younger users, creators and social media enthusiasts experiment with new visual formats, AI-generated imagery is increasingly becoming part of everyday digital expression.
If early trends hold, ChatGPT Images 2.0 may not just be a tech upgrade but a cultural moment, giving millions a new visual language to play with online.
