Maruti Suzuki onboards five startups to boost AI, operational efficiency
New Delhi, June 29
Maruti Suzuki India on Monday said that it onboarded five startups to co-develop artificial intelligence-driven and sustainability-focused solutions aimed at improving operational efficiency, customer experience and business processes.
The selected startups -- MiniMines, Easework AI, Sarvam AI, Siftly and CodeMate AI -- are winners of the fifth cohort of the Maruti Suzuki Incubation Programme (MSIP), which is conducted in partnership with the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore's startup incubator, NSRCEL.
Maruti Suzuki Managing Director and CEO Hisashi Takeuchi said the company has been actively collaborating with startups to develop practical solutions for real-world business challenges.
"We are delighted to collaborate with five more startups. One of these startups, MiniMines, will support us in safely recycling end-of-life batteries, while the other four startups will help improve customer engagement and drive efficiency across our business operations," he said.
According to the company, MiniMines will develop environment-friendly recycling solutions for end-of-life lithium-ion batteries and extraction of valuable materials.
Easework AI will automate procurement workflows for indirect consumables using agentic AI, while Sarvam AI will build multilingual generative AI agents to enhance customer interactions across multiple touchpoints.
Siftly will leverage generative AI to improve brand visibility, and CodeMate AI will develop AI-powered solutions to accelerate software application development for business operations.
The incubation programme, launched in August 2020, aims to nurture technology-enabled startups working on future mobility solutions, the auto firm said.
NSRCEL supports the initiative by identifying promising early-stage startups and providing mentorship along with access to IIM Bangalore's entrepreneurial ecosystem.
The company said it has built multiple innovation programmes over the past seven years to support startups developing solutions for the automotive and mobility sector.
So far, Maruti Suzuki has screened around 7,400 startups, engaged with more than 250 and onboarded 38 as business partners.
— IANS
Reader Comments
Maruti Suzuki is clearly serious about innovation with 7,400 startups screened! Hope these AI solutions actually improve customer service at dealerships though - still waiting for better after-sales experience. 😅
India's automotive sector is really stepping up in AI. Maruti Suzuki partnering with IIM Bangalore's NSRCEL shows how academia and industry can drive practical innovation. The focus on lithium-ion battery recycling is timely given the EV push.
Easework AI automating procurement and CodeMate AI speeding up software development - this is exactly what Indian manufacturing needs. But I hope Maruti also focuses on skilling workers alongside these tech upgrades. Automation shouldn't leave people behind.
Interesting move by Maruti Suzuki. The multilingual AI agents from Sarvam AI could be a game-changer for customer engagement in India's regional markets. Battery recycling startup MiniMines also addresses environmental concerns - sustainability and efficiency go hand in hand.
Maruti's incubation program since 2020 has created a nice ecosystem for startups. Onboarding 38 business partners out of 7,400 screened is a good hit rate. But I'd like to see more transparency on how these AI solutions actually impact cost savings for customers.
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