Digital
Kogo AI wins Accenture Ventures’ Tech Next 2025
MUMBAI–Kogo AI, a leader in Private Agentic AI infrastructure, has won the Accenture Ventures Tech Next Challenge 2025, held at the Accenture Innovation Hub in Bengaluru on 7 August. The event, themed “Autonomous AI: The Future is Now,” spotlighted autonomous AI solutions. From over 700 global applications, 300 startups advanced to the shortlist, and 15 made it to the finals.
Participants were evaluated on solution maturity, originality, market impact, team strength, business plan, and competitive edge. Kogo emerged as a winner with its Private Full Stack Agentic AI Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) designed for regulated sectors. By combining a low-code/no-code interface, transparent pricing, scalability, and native responsible AI, Kogo’s platform directly addressed the event’s focus.
“Honoured for Kogo AI to be among the winners at the 2025 Accenture Ventures Tech Next Challenge, standing alongside some of the brightest minds in autonomous AI,” said Kogo AI co-founder & CEO Raj K Gopalakrishna. “This recognition validates our mission to bring Private, Responsible, Full-Stack Agentic AI to enterprises globally — solving real-world problems with innovation, scalability, and impact. A big thank you to Accenture Ventures, the jury, and all the ecosystem partners for this platform, and congratulations to my fellow winners!”
Digital
OpenAI’s Stargate lead Peter Hoeschele exits with two senior leaders
Trio behind compute push set to join new startup amid leadership reshuffle
SAN FRANCISCO: Peter Hoeschele, a key figure behind OpenAI’s early Stargate data centre initiative, has exited the company, according to a report by The Information.
The departure is part of a broader leadership shift, with two other senior executives, Shamez Hemani and Anuj Saharan, also set to leave in the coming days. All three are expected to join the same new startup, although details about the venture remain under wraps.
The trio played a central role in OpenAI’s Stargate effort, an initiative aimed at building large-scale data centre capacity in-house to reduce reliance on external infrastructure providers. Their exits mark a notable moment for the company’s compute strategy as it continues to scale rapidly.
OpenAI spokesperson said in a statement to The Information, “We’re grateful for the contributions Peter, Shamez, and Anuj have made to OpenAI and wish them the very best in what comes next.” The company also pointed to the recent appointment of Sachin Katti to lead its industrial compute organisation, signalling continuity in its infrastructure roadmap.
OpenAI has indicated that it does not plan to directly replace Hoeschele’s role, suggesting a possible restructuring of responsibilities within the team.
As competition intensifies in the race to build next-generation AI systems, leadership changes in core infrastructure teams are likely to draw close attention. For now, the spotlight shifts to what this departing trio builds next, and how OpenAI adapts as it scales its ambitions.
