India's largest school board, CBSE, has announced that students as young as Class 3 will begin learning Artificial Intelligence.
This isn't the first time. The board rolled out an AI elective for Class 9 in 2019, long before generative AI was a household name. Now, the goal is to make "AI thinking" as fundamental as grammar.
We dive into this massive national experiment, exploring what "learning AI" means for a third grader—it’s less about building chatbots and more about "computational thinking." And the real test ahead isn’t the syllabus; it’s whether India can train millions of teachers, many still unsure about using the tools they’re now expected to teach.
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What does it take to perform at your best — not once, but over and over again? Olympian Nisha Millet has spent her life answering that question.
In sport, as in business, success isn’t about one big win — it’s about showing up, even when it’s hard. From the pressures of competing at the Olympics to building a career as a coach and entrepreneur, Nisha shares what the pool taught her about focus, resilience, and managing performance under pressure.
In this episode, we explore how elite athletes think about consistency, how they recover from failure, and what leaders everywhere can learn from the mindset of those who compete for fractions of a second.
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Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.
SoftBank just sold about $5.8 billion worth of Nvidia shares earlier this week. The move frees up cash for new AI bets and comes as AI stocks power most of this year’s market rally. Nvidia’s rise has been spectacular but so have the warnings about overheating.
Some analysts see a rotation coming: money could move from pricey tech giants to steadier markets.
And that’s where India enters the picture. It’s grown slower, but on stronger fundamentals like broad demand, digital momentum, real earnings.
The question now is simple: when the AI fever cools, can India keep its calm?
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Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.
When Ozempic began changing how the world lost weight, most slimming companies panicked. But VLCC didn’t. Backed by Carlyle, it’s opening more clinics than ever before.
Because to Carlyle, Ozempic isn’t a threat—it’s just another doorway into India’s beauty economy.
In this episode, we look at how VLCC’s new owners are turning an existential challenge into expansion, why its products are taking a back seat to real estate, and what the future of India’s weight-loss industry looks like in the age of GLP-1 drugs.
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In 2025, the University of Southampton became the first British university to open a campus in India. It was more than a milestone.
After a single policy change, foreign universities are rushing to claim their place in India’s higher-education market. States are competing to host them, and universities are chasing new revenue abroad. Everyone seems to be winning.
But beneath the glossy partnerships and big promises, what does this experiment really mean for students? And what happens when a “foreign degree” no longer means going abroad?
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Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.
Across India, lenders like HDFC and Kotak are repurposing the same algorithms that once judged credit risk to run hyper-personalised marketing campaigns.
These systems now predict who’s ready for a credit card, or insurance plan by studying every transaction, payment, and habit — turning customer data into personalised sales pitches.
The RBI has drawn clear lines for how AI can be used in lending. But when it comes to marketing, the rules are still fuzzy. That leaves space for India’s biggest banks to experiment—and for AI to quietly reshape how finance sells itself.
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Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.
India’s quick-commerce poster child, Zepto, is racing to the public markets after a festive season high. The company clocked 20 lakh daily orders during Diwali — coming only second to Blinkit. But behind that surge lies a far more complicated story: leadership churn, regulatory heat, and a business model that’s still chasing profitability.
In this episode, we unpack Zepto’s dual reality — a startup celebrating record growth while quietly firefighting internal challenges. From FDA raids on dark stores and government warnings on “dark patterns,” to its clean-up act and pre-IPO tightening, we explore how Zepto is trying to look investor-ready in a year that’s tested its resilience.
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Remember Blackberry? The phone that once ruled business meetings and earned the nickname “Crackberry”? It’s making a comeback—but this time, not in your pocket.
In this episode, we dive into Blackberry’s surprising pivot from smartphones to car software. Its QNX system now runs the brains of over 250 million vehicles worldwide, powering everything from navigation to safety. And the nerve centre of this quiet comeback? India.
With its Hyderabad hub, partnerships with Mahindra, Tata Motors, and Tata Elxsi, and a growing EV ecosystem, India is where Blackberry’s next growth story is being coded. From BBM to EVs, this is the story of how a fallen tech icon found new life—on the road.
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Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.
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When your insurance card suddenly stops working, it is not just a glitch. It is the symptom of a deeper crisis in Indian healthcare.
Hospitals say insurers have failed to update reimbursement rates despite medical inflation. Insurers say hospitals are inflating bills and resisting standardization.
Millions of policyholders are caught between them, forced to pay out of pocket for care they thought was covered.
How did India’s healthcare system end up in this deadlock. And who really decides what your treatment is worth?
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Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.
🎧 The Ken's premium podcasts are now available on Spotify! Subscribers can now listen to all episodes of Two by Two, First Principles, Zero Shot, 90,000 Hours and Make India Competitive Again on the streaming platform
Groww, the platform that turned stock trading into an everyday habit, is gearing up for India’s biggest-ever broking IPO. On paper, it’s flying high — profits have tripled, revenues have surged past ₹4,000 crore, and competitors like Zerodha and Angel One are feeling the lagging behind.
But look closer, and the shine dulls a little. A big chunk of Groww’s recent gains comes from one-time accounting adjustments, while its active user base and broking income are already slowing. To keep the engine running, Groww is betting on a new frontier — lending — even as rivals crowd the same space.
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Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.
🎧 The Ken's premium podcasts are now available on Spotify! Subscribers can now listen to all episodes of Two by Two, First Principles, Zero Shot, 90,000 Hours and Make India Competitive Again on the streaming platform
Lenskart changed how India buys glasses. It made eyewear affordable, stylish, and available on every street corner. But behind that success is a story of shortcuts. Cheap acetate frames, thinner coatings, and rushed prescriptions have left many customers questioning the quality they once trusted.
As the company prepares to close a massive IPO, its promise of clarity is facing some uncomfortable scrutiny.
In this episode we look at how Lenskart built its empire on affordability and what that means for the people who actually wear its glasses.
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Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.
🎧 The Ken's premium podcasts are now available on Spotify! Subscribers can now listen to all episodes of Two by Two, First Principles, Zero Shot, 90,000 Hours and Make India Competitive Again on the streaming platform
Last week, ChatGPT launched its own AI browser — a tool that promises to surf the web for you. It can summarise articles, add chocolates to your cart, or even tell you which email to reply to first (though… not always correctly).
OpenAI’s vision is clear: make ChatGPT the centre of your digital life. But are users buying in? From buggy app integrations with Canva and Spotify to real concerns around privacy and data access, this episode explores why AI-powered tools aren’t quite the game-changers they claim to be — yet. And why OpenAI keeps rolling them out anyway.
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Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.
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Ola’s ride-hailing business is losing speed. Its market share has dropped from 45% in 2018 to around a quarter today and investors are running out of patience. Some even explored a merger with Rapido in late 2024 but the talks collapsed.
Bhavish Aggarwal’s focus on Ola Electric and his reluctance to sell have kept the cab business in limbo. Leadership churn, shrinking cash reserves, and a collapsing valuation have added to the strain.
So why can’t investors leave and why is Aggarwal refusing to let go?
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Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.
🎧 The Ken's premium podcasts are now available on Spotify! Subscribers can now listen to all episodes of Two by Two, First Principles, Zero Shot, 90,000 Hours and Make India Competitive Again on the streaming platform
If you’ve ever used a Classmate notebook or a Doms pencil, you’ve already been an unwitting part of one of India’s quietest rivalries in action.
For years, ITC ruled the stationery aisle — backed by its giant paper mills and powerful brands. But Gujarat-based Doms is catching up fast.
Since its 2023 IPO, Doms’ sales have surged, its stock has tripled, and it’s closing in on ITC’s notebook empire.
With everything made in-house and a perfectionist at the helm, Doms is turning pencils into profit, and giving one of India’s biggest conglomerates a run for its money.
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Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.
🎧 The Ken's premium podcasts are now available on Spotify! Subscribers can now listen to all episodes of Two by Two, First Principles, Zero Shot, 90,000 Hours and Make India Competitive Again on the streaming platform
LG Electronics India just pulled off a record-breaking IPO, drawing bids worth over 4 lakh crore rupees. Investors love its dominance in consumer electronics and its unrivaled retail network. For decades, LG has built trust through deep relationships with local retailers, flexible margins, and a people-first culture.
But as the company shifts toward profit maximization and premium products, those same relationships could be tested.
Can a business built on generosity stay efficient enough to compete with rivals like Samsung and Whirlpool?
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Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.
Accenture is reinventing itself. Literally. Its new “Reinvention Services” division, led by former Americas CEO Manish Sharma, is supposed to make Accenture the best version of itself for clients.
But inside the company? "Reinvention" signals a deep internal culling after nearly 11,000 job cuts. The layoffs, however are also fuelling a new kind of hiring boom elsewhere.
The Big Four—Deloitte, PwC, EY, and KPMG—are seizing the moment. As they race to turn themselves into AI and tech transformation powerhouses, corporate restructuring at tech-services giants like Accenture and IBM just made hiring tech talent a whole lot easier for the Big Four.
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Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.</strong></em>
Trump hiked H-1B visa fees overnight. For Indian students and engineers, it was a shock. For GCC employees, it was a chance to step up.
While global capability centres handle tech, ops, and innovation, final decisions usually stay in the US. Senior employees started to wonder: could the visa disruption finally shift some power to India?
In this episode, we explore why GCCs’ leap from execution to strategy is still far from guaranteed.
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Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.
Meesho is preparing for one of India’s most watched IPOs. The company built its success in small-town India, where trust matters more than speed.
Over 75% of its orders are still paid in cash on delivery. That approach helped Meesho win millions of new shoppers and grow faster than bigger rivals. But it also ties up cash and squeezes margins, making investors uneasy.
Now Meesho is working with Razorpay to encourage more prepaid payments and faster settlements.
But can a company that grew by trusting cash-first customers convince them to go digital without losing their loyalty?
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Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.
At 2 a.m. in Bangalore, a call-centre agent is resolving flight refunds with a new kind of colleague — one that never sleeps.
AI copilots are now embedded across India’s BPM sector, watching every click and keystroke to improve their own efficiency. For firms like Capgemini and Genpact, the real prize isn’t labour anymore — it’s workflow data.
Because in the race toward “agentic AI,” whoever owns the data, wins. And India, for all its scaled up manpower, might be training the machines that will one day replace it.
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Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.
Is the AI revolution already running out of steam?
Despite years of hype about a world transformed by smart tools and endless innovation, the data tells a quieter story. The growth is flat, the excitement is fading, and there have been fewer breakthroughs than expected. Has AI already peaked or are we just looking in the wrong places?
In today's episode, we dive into one of The Ken’s most thought-provoking essays by Praveen Gopala Krishnan, 'What does an AI bubble burst look like?'
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Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.