Prof. Gandhi lays emphasis on data-centric AI approaches
Industrial AI is constrained less by model sophistication and more by the maturity of the underlying data ecosystem, says Suresh Kadambari, Vice President – Product Development at Octave which has approximately 7,200 employees in 45 countries.
“Large-scale enterprises require structured, context-aware, and interoperable data foundations supported by embedded governance, domain-aligned architecture, and continuously refined data operations,” he said as Octave, in partnership with IIIT Hyderabad and Hyderabad Software Enterprise Association (HYSEA), hosted the May 2026 edition of the HYSEA TechForward Series on 22 May 2026 in Hyderabad.
“Only through resilient and intelligently managed data infrastructure can AI progress from experimental capability to dependable enterprise-grade industrial intelligence,” he underlined
Kadambari provided industry perspective on AI deployment and data transformation at the 23rd edition of TechForward, an industry-research monthly talk series, brought together a curated group of over two hundred industry leaders, academic researchers, enterprise technologists, and AI practitioners to deliberate on one of the most critical enablers of Industrial AI adoption – data readiness at scale.
Sekhar Konidena, Vice President – Product and Services, Octave, elaborated, “Industrial AI is not primarily an algorithm challenge—it is a data challenge. The organizations that scale AI successfully will be those that build unified, trusted, and continuously evolving data foundations, treating data with the same strategic rigor as their core industrial operations. Industry-academia collaborations like this are essential to defining what truly AI-ready enterprises look like in practice”.
Themed “Industrial AI: The Data Challenge”, the seminar focused on AI-ready data foundations, under the guiding tagline: “What it takes to get industrial data into a state where AI delivers reliable value.” The discussions highlighted how Industrial AI success is increasingly determined not just by algorithmic sophistication, but by the quality, structure, governance, and contextual integrity of underlying industrial data systems.
Across the seminar session and roundtable discussions, participants examined the persistent challenges faced by industrial enterprises, including fragmented and siloed data landscapes, legacy OT-IT integration barriers, inconsistent data standards, limited contextual labeling of machine and process data, and the difficulty of scaling AI pipelines across heterogeneous operational environments. The dialogue also emphasized that without strong data engineering and governance frameworks, AI deployments in industrial settings risk becoming brittle, non-replicable, or difficult to scale across business units.
The event was chaired by Sekhar Konidena, Vice President – Product and Services, Octave, who spoke on Octave’s work in solving real-world industrial challenges.
The academic keynote was delivered by Prof. Vineet Gandhi, Associate Professor at IIIT Hyderabad. His address underscored the intersection of research and industry needs in building robust, generalizable AI systems for complex industrial environments, with particular emphasis on data-centric AI approaches and the importance of structured representations of real-world industrial signals.
Prof. Ramesh Loganathan, Professor & Dean of Research/Innovation Outreach, IIIT Hyderabad, shared, “As the IT industry moves up the value chain, intensifying the engagement between industry and academic research is a critical need. This TechForward seminar series is an attempt at seeding these conversations, which is why this is a travelling series.”
He noted that bridging the gap between academic research and industrial deployment requires sustained collaboration, particularly in the areas of data-centric AI design, robust annotation strategies, and domain-aware model development for industrial applications.
The HYSEA TechForward Series continued to serve as a strategic platform for fostering collaboration between academia, industry, and innovation ecosystems.
Flt Lt. Bipin Pendyala, President, HYSEA, said, “Tech Forward has evolved into a strong platform that brings together industry, academia, and startups to shape conversations around emerging technologies. Over the past two years, the series has successfully connected research, innovation, and enterprise needs to address real-world business challenges.
“As AI reshapes the global technology landscape, Hyderabad is uniquely positioned to lead with its strong enterprise ecosystem, research depth, and innovation culture. We thank Octave for partnering with us for the May 2026 edition and contributing to the vision of building AI-ready industrial and enterprise ecosystems.”
The May 2026 edition had 200+ technology leaders, researchers and AI practitioners to examine data readiness as the foundation of Industrial AI. The participants were led by technology leaders, enterprise architects, members of Hyderabad’s deep-tech ecosystem and students, reinforcing the city’s growing role as a hub for industrial AI innovation and digital transformation.
Octave provides mission-critical software that empowers organizations to make informed decisions across every stage of the asset lifecycle – Design, Build, Operate and Protect – where performance, safety and reliability are non-negotiable and failure is not an option.
Turning complex operational data into actionable intelligence, Octave connects expertise, real-world conditions and enterprise-scale insight to improve performance, resilience and incident response where it matters most. Fiinews.com
