AI Launches: Cybersecurity, AI Agents, product specs, business operating system, automobile, consumer & MSME lending, cloud, data streaming

The Tech Panda takes a look at recent launches in the superfast field of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Industry’s First Converged Application Delivery & Security Platform for the Hybrid Multicloud Infrastructures of the AI Era

F5 (NASDAQ: FFIV) introduced the F5 Application Delivery and Security Platform, the industry’s first Application Delivery Controller (ADC) solution that fully converges high-performance load balancing and traffic management with advanced app and API security capabilities into a single platform. With this platform, F5 is delivering on the promise of a new generation of ADCs—ADC 3.0—purpose-built to meet the extraordinary demands of modern and AI-powered applications.

“AI is accelerating innovation, but also intensifying the high costs, crushing complexity, and escalating cyber risks that have IT and security teams in crisis,” said François Locoh-Donou, President and CEO of F5. “F5 stands alone in its ability to address the challenges of hybrid multicloud architectures. The F5 Application Delivery and Security Platform represents a giant leap forward for organizations, enabling them to overcome complexity and unlock the full potential of AI.”

Features

• Complete delivery and security for every app?in a single platform that simplifies management for IT and security teams.
• Deployment anywhere in any form factor?to run seamlessly across today’s diverse IT environments.
• Single policy, unified management?across all locations to reduce complexity and improve efficiency.
• Rich analytics and insights?that are relevant and actionable to improve performance and strengthen the security of today’s complex applications.
• Fully programmable data planes?that?enable automated deployment and custom functionality so organizations can effectively adapt to changing needs.
• Full lifecycle automation?that allows teams to focus on delivering innovation and stop drowning in maintenance tasks.
• The platform is API-driven and enables consistent policies for every app, in every environment, across all form factors.

AI Agents: New Tools to Build Scalable and Trusted AI Agents

Databricks, the Data and AI company, announced new tools to help enterprises scale AI agents beyond the pilot phase to successful production with greater confidence, including for high-value use cases. While 85% of global enterprises now use Generative AI (GenAI), even the most advanced models struggle to deliver business-specific, accurate, and well-governed outputs, largely because they lack awareness of enterprise data. The new tools will empower organisations to deploy AI agents in high-value, mission-critical applications while ensuring accuracy, governance, and ease of use.

“Batch AI with AI Functions is streamlining our AI workflows. It’s allowing us to integrate large-scale AI inference with a simple SQL query—no infrastructure management needed. This will directly integrate into our pipelines cutting costs and reducing configuration burden. Since adopting it we’ve seen dramatic acceleration in our developer velocity when combining traditional ETL and data pipelining with AI inference workloads,” said Ian Cadieu, CTO of Altana, a customer of Databricks.

“Many enterprises still struggle to deploy AI agents in high-value use cases due to concerns around accuracy, governance, and security. For these organisations, it’s confidence, not just technology, that presents the biggest hurdle to extracting the full data intelligence benefits of Generative AI,” said Craig Wiley, Senior Director of Product for AI/ML, Databricks. “The new tools address these challenges head-on, enabling businesses to move beyond pilots and into full-scale production with AI agents they can trust.”

Features

• Centralised governance for all AI models: Integrate and manage both open source and commercial AI models all in one place with Mosaic AI Gateway support for custom LLM providers. The Mosaic AI Gateway provides unified governance, monitoring, and integration across all models.
• Simplified integration into existing app workflows: AI/BI Genie Conversational API suite enables developers to embed natural language-based chatbots directly into custom-built apps or popular productivity tools like Microsoft Teams, Sharepoint, and Slack. With the Genie API, users can programmatically submit prompts and receive insights just as they would in the Genie user interface. The API is stateful, allowing it to retain context across multiple follow-up questions within a conversation thread.
• Streamlined human-in-the-loop workflows: The upgraded Agent Evaluation Review App makes it easier for domain experts to provide targeted feedback, send traces for labelling, and customise evaluation criteria – all without needing spreadsheets or custom-built applications. By making it easier to collect structured feedback, teams can continuously refine AI agent performance and drive systematic accuracy improvements. This counters the issue facing practitioners who spend considerable time and effort trying to understand whether their agent will perform successfully in production. 
• Provision-Less Batch Inference: While model selection, governance, and evaluation are critical to building high-quality agents, simplifying the experience is also important for companies wanting to scale this technology across their business. This tool offers a new way to run batch inference with Mosaic AI using a single SQL query, eliminating the need to provision infrastructure while enabling seamless unstructured data integration.

Product Specs: AI tool to reduce effort required to analyze specifications by up to 80%

Continental is revolutionizing requirements management in product development with an innovative software application developed in-house. Until now, specification sheets – the catalogs of requirements from clients for the development of components, software or automotive systems, which usually contain hundreds of pages – were processed manually. Experts in requirements management have invested up to 37,500 working hours in requirement engineering over the course of a development project. As system development and the scope of specifications become increasingly complex, it is crucial to structure requirements management much more efficiently.

The innovative analysis tool was developed at Continental in close collaboration with Microsoft and NTT DATA, a global leader in digital business and technology services. “With the Microsoft Azure AI Services development platform, we are providing technology companies with an important tool for realizing highly complex processes such as product development more efficiently and in a more up-to-date manner with the support of artificial intelligence. Continental is showing how a crucial interface with the customer can be designed in a much more targeted, reliable and effective way by realigning requirements management,” says Joachim Franz, Automotive Industry Lead at Microsoft Germany.

The new digital tool was developed in Microsoft Azure AI Services. With the help of artificial intelligence, the tool can read and analyze extensive specifications in an uncomplicated and virtually error-free manner. Individual requirements and project tasks can be automatically assigned to the appropriate Continental development centers. This can reduce the effort required for a traditionally time-consuming step by up to 80 percent.

Features

• Training for the virtual tool takes less than an hour
• Important sections and terms in the task documents, which contain up to 30,000 individual requirements, are identified, extracted and assigned internally. The same repetitive steps are now completed automatically.
• Thanks to the AI support, engineers can complete many tasks much faster. This means that the new tool is not a replacement for employees, but an enabler for a creative work environment.
• It serves as an intelligent assistant, enhancing efficiency by automating repetitive tasks and enabling engineers to focus on high-value, strategic aspects of product engineering.

New Agentic AI skills and agents for Zoom AI Companion

Zoom Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZM) unveiled agentic AI Companion capabilities, new Zoom AI Companion skills, and AI updates across its platform, including Zoom Meetings, Zoom Team Chat, Zoom Docs, Zoom Phone, Zoom Whiteboard, Zoom Contact Center, industry solutions, and more.

“AI Companion is evolving from a personal assistant to being truly agentic, which signals a major leap forward in how AI can enhance productivity and collaboration at work,” said Smita Hashim, chief product officer at Zoom. “We’re delivering value for our customers through AI agents and agentic skills that solve real customer problems, helping them connect, collaborate, and get more done, all within the Zoom platform our users trust and love.”

Features

Zoom is elevating AI Companion across its entire platform through AI agentic skills, agents, and models to deliver high-quality results, help users improve productivity, and strengthen relationships. 

• AI Companion will help users get more done by executing on their behalf and managing multi-step actions with the knowledge of which agents and skills to tap into using reasoning and memory to make decisions, solve complex problems, and learn over time, along with task action and orchestration to execute and complete tasks. 
• Additional new agentic skills include calendar management to help schedule meetings and find a time that works for everyone, clip generation for fast clip creation, writing assistance for advanced document creation, and more. 
• AI Companion will also extend to specialized agents that power Zoom Business Services. For customer self-service, Zoom Virtual Agent leverages memory and reasoning skills to deliver empathetic and contextual conversations and task action to resolve complex issues from start to finish. With AI Studio, users can effortlessly create and deploy customizable virtual agents (available in beta later this spring). Zoom Revenue Accelerator users will also be able to benefit from a specialized agent for sales in the coming months to help increase revenue through automated insights, personalized outreach and enhanced prospecting.
• Coming soon, with Zoom’s open platform, users will be able to interact with third-party agents such as ServiceNow AI Agents and create their own custom agents with specific skill sets to address unique needs, such as streamlining sales RFPs or IT and HR service requests. AI Companion will know when to work with third-party and custom agents to take action and complete tasks. 

Custom AI Companion add-on will allow organizations to customize AI Companion with AI Studio by tailoring it to address their unique needs and drive efficiency. 

• Organizations will be able to create custom meeting templates and custom dictionarieswith vocabulary unique to their business or industry, incorporate information from their own data sources, including compatible third-party applications, and use AI Studio to expand AI Companion’s knowledge and skills to help drive decisions and actions and complete tasks. 
• Users will have access to a digital personal AI coach and custom meeting summary templates that will allow users to structure meeting summaries for specific industry verticals or use cases, such as one-on-one meetings, customer intake, or brainstorming meetings.
• Users will also have access to Custom Avatars for Zoom Clipsto help scale video clip creation and avoid multiple takes by using a personalized AI-generated avatar to create clips with a user-provided script. Custom Avatars will be included in the Custom AI Companion add-on and will also be available for purchase separately.
• The Custom AI Companion add-on is expected to be available for purchase in April for $12 per user per month (personal coach is expected to be available in June).

Cybersecurity: Complete 3D Runtime Defense for Cloud and AI

Silicon Valley-based Operant AI, a Runtime AI Application Defense Platform, is launching its presence in India, bringing a critical layer of security to India’s rapidly developing AI sector and the industries that engage with it, in order to fuel faster and safer AI innovation.

Operant’s unique cybersecurity technology offers complete 3D Runtime Defense for Cloud and AI, actively detecting and blocking the most common and costly attacks facing modern AI systems, including prompt injection, rogue agents, data poisoning, and data exfiltration.

Operant’s CEO and co-founder, Vrajesh Bhavsar said, “Today, as AI adoption accelerates,  ensuring critical security is more urgent than ever—not just to protect businesses, but also to safeguard their customers and end users from cyber threats and data breaches. At Operant, we’ve built a solution that does more than detect threats—it actively protects sensitive data such as citizenship IDs, bank account numbers, and API keys in real time. Our platform can identify and auto-redact private data before it ever leaves a company’s environment, ensuring robust data privacy while allowing organizations to scale their AI initiatives confidently and securely.”

Features

• In-line auto-redaction capabilities automatically redact private data before it ever leaves a company’s environment. This ensures that companies operating in privacy-conscious industries, such as BFSI and fintech, can leverage AI without compromising data security or regulatory compliance.
• While most “runtime” cybersecurity solutions only provide noisy visibility into a firehose of unactionable signals, Operant’s unique ability to prioritize, detect and block these modern attacks at runtime wherever they happen in the live application environment is pivotal to securing every cloud stack that has any connection to AI, whether that’s AI APIs, containerized models, or 3rd party containers using AI for tasks like data analysis.

Auto Retail Suite: A digital retail solution designed to revolutionize how used car dealerships operate

Spyne, AI-powered deep-tech platform for the automotive industry, has rolled out its groundbreaking Auto Retail Suite—a cutting-edge end-to-end digital retail solution designed to revolutionize how used car dealerships operate. Spyne’s technology will enable small and mid-sized dealerships to work in interconnected ecosystems that streamline every aspect of buying and selling cars while earning more profit and building better relationships with potential customers.

“The way cars are sold hasn’t changed much in decades, but the way customers buy has evolved dramatically. Dealerships are no longer just competing with the lot next door; they’re competing with digital-first experiences that set new customer expectations. We built the Auto Retail Suite to bridge this gap—to give every dealership, no matter its size, the tools to operate like the most advanced players in the industry. Our AI is not just an upgrade for the dealerships but a fundamental shift in how automotive retail should work. With this launch, we’re not just introducing a product—we’re introducing a smarter, more connected, and more profitable era for dealerships in the country,” said Sanjay Varnwal, CEO & Co-founder of Spyne.

Features

• Inventory AI: Helps dealerships manage inventory efficiently by extracting vehicle details, tracking pricing trends, and suggesting dynamic price adjustments. It also ensures vehicle inventory management, along with publishing high-quality visuals across digital platforms like website, social media, 3rd party marketplaces for maximum visibility.
• Studio AI: Enhances vehicle merchandising with AI-generated high-quality images, 360-degree spins, and automated marketing videos—without requiring a professional photographer or studio.
• Autoweb AI: Enables dealerships to create professional websites effortlessly with customizable templates, an intuitive drag-and-drop editor, and built-in SEO tools to attract more buyers.
• Connect AI: Improves customer engagement by tracking leads in real-time from across platforms, categorizing them into hot, cold, or active, providing smart follow-up suggestions, and engaging with potential customers using Agentic AI to increase conversion rates.

Business Operating System: Designed for the AI-driven future

GrowthJockey, India’s first full-stack Venture Architect company, has announced the launch of OttoPilot, a next-generation Business Operating System designed for the AI-driven future. OttoPilot is set to redefine how businesses operate by integrating AI-powered automation, modular flexibility, and real-time analytics into a unified platform. 

Ashutosh Kumar, CEO of GrowthJockey, emphasized the transformative potential of OttoPilot, “In the age of multiple AI agents, businesses today require more than just automation tools—they need an intelligent system that not only integrates with their operations but also enhances them. He highlighted that OttoPilot is designed to be a strategic partner for businesses, turning operational complexity into an opportunity for growth and innovation. The platform’s adaptability makes it suitable for startups looking to scale, as well as large enterprises seeking operational efficiency at a global level.”

Features

• Its AI-driven workflow automation allows businesses to anticipate market trends, optimize resource allocation, and improve customer engagement through personalized experiences.
• The integration of predictive analytics further strengthens decision-making capabilities, enabling companies to stay proactive rather than reactive in a competitive landscape.
• Its customizable workflows, which cater to industry-specific needs. Whether managing automotive dealership operations, streamlining healthcare processes, optimizing retail chain management, or enhancing customer service interactions, OttoPilot provides tailored solutions that improve efficiency and scalability.
• Its ability to seamlessly integrate with existing IT infrastructure ensures businesses can adopt the system without disrupting their current operations, making digital transformation a smooth and efficient process.
• Advanced AI integration, which not only automates routine tasks but also provides strategic insights that drive business growth. The platform’s security protocols ensure data integrity and reliability, making it a trusted solution for businesses handling sensitive information.
• Its user-centric design enhances accessibility, allowing teams to navigate and utilize its capabilities with ease, ensuring high adoption rates and operational success.

Cloud: A Comprehensive Suite of Tools to Safeguard AI for Businesses at Scale

Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE: NET), unveiled Cloudflare for AI, a suite of tools to provide comprehensive visibility, security and control for AI applications–from model deployment to usage and defense against abuse. Now, Cloudflare customers will be able to protect themselves against the most pressing threats facing today’s AI models, including employee misuse of tools, toxic prompts, personally identifiable information (PII) leakage, and other emerging vulnerabilities.

“Over the next decade, an organization’s AI strategy will determine its fate–innovators will thrive, and those who resist will disappear. The adage ‘move fast, break things’ has become the mantra as organizations race to implement new models and experiment with AI to drive innovation,” said Matthew Prince, co-founder and CEO at Cloudflare. “But there is often a missing link between experimentation and safety. Cloudflare for AI allows customers to move as fast as they want in whatever direction, with the necessary safeguards in place to enable rapid deployment and usage of AI. It solves customers’ most pressing concerns without putting the brakes on innovation.”

Features

• Discover all AI applications in use–both authorized and unauthorized
• Monitor and manage how employees and teams are using AI
• Stop employees and users from leaking or submitting sensitive information
• Detect prompt toxicity, sentiment and topics submitted by employees or users
• Develop powerful, scalable AI applications without sacrificing security
• Increase the resilience of AI applications

Consumer & MSME Lending: AI-Powered Underwriting Solution

Poonawalla Fincorp Limited (PFL), a Cyrus Poonawalla Group promoted NBFC, focused on Consumer & MSME Lending, has unveiled an industry-first AI-Powered Underwriting Solution. Developed in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay), this innovative solution integrates artificial intelligence with human intelligence to automate and streamline the credit evaluation process. 

Arvind Kapil, Managing Director & CEO of Poonawalla Fincorp, said, “At Poonawalla Fincorp we fully respect and understand the transformative impact of AI in reshaping the credit landscape. We are delighted to launch our groundbreaking solution, blending AI innovation and human judgment in credit underwriting. With this initiative, we position ourselves as paradigm pioneers, driving transformation in our industry.”

Features

It aims to accelerate credit decisions by ensuring efficient, accurate, scalable and risk-first approach. By analyzing multiple data points from loan applications, the solution empowers credit managers with faster decision-making capabilities while enhancing the company’s risk management framework.

Data streaming: Simplifying Real-Time AI Development

Confluent, the data streaming pioneer, announced new capabilities in Confluent Cloud for Apache Flink^® that streamline and simplify the process of developing real-time artificial intelligence (AI) applications. Flink Native Inference cuts through complex workflows by enabling teams to run any open source AI model directly in Confluent Cloud. Flink search unifies data access across multiple vector databases, streamlining discovery and retrieval within a single interface. And new built-in machine learning (ML) functions bring AI-driven use cases, such as forecasting and anomaly detection, directly into Flink SQL, making advanced data science effortless. Together these innovations redefine how businesses can harness AI for real-time customer engagement and decision-making. 

“Building real-time AI applications has been too complex for too long, requiring a maze of tools and deep expertise just to get started,” said Shaun Clowes, Chief Product Officer at Confluent. “With the latest advancements in Confluent Cloud for Apache Flink, we’re breaking down those barriers—bringing AI-powered streaming intelligence within reach of any team. What once required a patchwork of technologies can now be done seamlessly within our platform, with enterprise-level security and cost efficiencies baked in.” 

Features

• Flink Native Inference: Run open source AI models in Confluent Cloud without added infrastructure management. When working with ML models and data pipelines, developers often use separate tools and languages, leading to complex and fragmented workflows and outdated data. Flink Native Inference simplifies this by enabling teams to run open source or fine-tuned AI models directly in Confluent Cloud. This approach offers greater flexibility and cost savings. Plus, the data never leaves the platform for inference, adding a greater level of security.
• Flink search: Use just one interface to access data from multiple vector databases. Vector searches provide LLMs with the necessary context to prevent hallucinations and ensure trustworthy results. Flink search simplifies accessing real-time data from vector databases, such as MongoDB, Elasticsearch, and Pinecone. This eliminates the need for complex ETL processes or manual data consolidation, saving valuable time and resources while ensuring that data is contextual and always up to date.
• Built-in ML functions: Make data science skills accessible to more teams. Many data science solutions require highly specialized expertise, creating bottlenecks in the development cycles. Built-in ML functions simplify complex tasks, such as forecasting, anomaly detection, and real-time visualization, directly in Flink SQL. These features make real-time AI accessible to more developers, enabling teams to gain actionable insights faster and empowering businesses to make smarter decisions with greater speed and agility.