iWorld
Jio Haptik brings in Prashant Rao as SVP – customer value & experience
Mumbai: Jio Haptik Technologies, a conversational AI company and a subsidiary of Reliance Jio Platforms, has brought Prashant Rao on board as senior vice president of customer value and experience. He will serve as the leader for the pre-sales/sales engineering, professional services, and customer success groups to drive consistent, frictionless value-driven outcomes in the customer journey.
In this role, Rao will spearhead the newly formed customer value and experience business unit, a cohesive organisation responsible for end-to-end customer onboarding and experience with a singular focus on maximising success, said the statement.
Rao comes with over 20 years of technology experience and has served with several prominent organisations across B2B SaaS, AI/ML, conversational AI, speech technologies, and GRC. Prior to Haptik, he was the leader for global services and customer success at Uniphore and also at MetricStream, working in multiple leadership roles and scaling the company’s business for close to a decade.
Leveraging his sharp technical skills and extensive experience, Rao made his way up the corporate ladder and even served with tech giants like Microsoft, Intel, and ANSR Consulting during the early part of his career, said the statement.
“Haptik’s customer value and experience function has been set up with a key element of our mission to become even more customer-centric than ever. Prashant has a proven record of success in both startups and large tech companies and his arrival marks a critical moment in Haptik’s growth journey,” said Haptik co-founder and CEO Aakrit Vaish. “I am confident that under his leadership, this group will be instrumental in driving customer delight across the depth and breadth of Haptik’s product portfolio to steer us towards becoming a global leader in the conversational AI economy.”
Over the years, Rao has played the role of a trusted advisor to customers and scaled high-performance teams to drive phenomenal business outcomes of SaaS product-led businesses. Being a startup champion and advisor, he is a known leader in the startup ecosystem of India and is well-revered in the digital transformation technology industry, which has helped him earn valuable experiences during his time in the field collaborating with customers and partners globally.
Speaking on the appointment, Prashant Rao said, “What co-founders Aakrit and Swapan have created in Haptik is truly special, embracing a growth-oriented work culture at the organization supported by the fueling energy of the team. I would look forward to building on this momentum and bolstering the vision of being the global category leader in the conversational economy and AI/ML technology.”
iWorld
OpenAI hits back at Elon Musk’s lawsuit ahead of trial
Company calls claims “baseless” and accuses Musk of trying to disrupt a rival.
MUMBAI: When the stakes are measured in billions and egos are involved, even Silicon Valley titans can turn a courtroom into a battlefield. OpenAI has issued a sharp public response to Elon Musk’s ongoing lawsuit, accusing the billionaire of filing the case to harass a competitor rather than address genuine concerns. In a strongly worded statement shared on its official X account, OpenAI described Musk’s allegations as “baseless” and suggested the lawsuit is an attempt to disrupt the company as the case heads toward trial later this month in Oakland, California.
The response comes after Musk’s legal team recently amended the complaint, proposing that any damages potentially exceeding $150 billion should go to OpenAI’s nonprofit entity rather than to Musk personally. OpenAI questioned the timing and motive behind this change, calling it a late-stage attempt to “pretend to change his tune” on the nonprofit structure.
The company further labelled the lawsuit a “harassment campaign”, arguing that Musk’s actions are driven by personal rivalry, ego, and a desire for greater control and financial upside.
At the heart of the dispute is Musk’s claim that OpenAI has abandoned its original nonprofit mission of developing artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity. A co-founder who left in 2018, Musk is seeking governance changes, including the removal of CEO Sam Altman from the nonprofit board, and the return of certain financial gains linked to Altman and President Greg Brockman.
OpenAI has firmly rejected these allegations, maintaining that its current hybrid structure, a public-benefit corporation overseen by a nonprofit parent remains true to its long-term goals. The company has also previously accused Musk of anti-competitive behaviour aimed at weakening its leadership.
As the case prepares for a jury trial, this public exchange highlights the deepening rift between two of the most influential figures in the AI revolution and raises broader questions about governance, mission, and power in the fast-moving world of artificial intelligence.
In the high-stakes game of AI, it seems the real drama isn’t just inside the models, it’s playing out in courtrooms too.
