Lord Karan Bilimoria, Founder and Chairman, Cobra Beer said, “One of my favourite sayings is, good judgment comes from experience, and experience, comes from bad judgment…reports Asian Lite News
India Global Forum’s UK-India Week 2023 culminated with the Founders and Funders Retreat in Windsor on June 30. The second edition of the exclusive retreat in Windsor Park witnessed founders and funders from the United Kingdom and India engage in conversations across the themes of emerging technologies, financing future technology, and inspiring journeys.
Artificial intelligence was the key focus of discussions, as participants delved into the collaborative potential of AI, its impact across sectors and the convergence of sports, media, and social networks in the tech era.
Agam Khare, Founder, Absolute cast the debate as one between Artificial Intelligence and Nature’s Intelligence. “Everything we are talking about AI or computing power will never be able to beat the complexity that nature presents to us. For example, if you expand your DNA, you could go to the moon and come back fifteen hundred times…The real intelligence is Natural Intelligence, Nature’s Intelligence. AI is good, but AI is just a tool to Nature’s Intelligence. Nature’s Intelligence is four and half billion years old. AI is less than a hundred years old. To think that something that is less than a hundred years old can beat something that is four billion years is a bit of an extension. Nature’s intelligence is the future.”
Builder.ai Co-founder Sachin Duggal stated, “There is a massive information paradox with AI. There are about 500 experts on AI, yet hundred thousand people claiming to be experts and trying to define policy. You have a massive information paradox where you are making decisions in a vacuum without really understanding the security implications. Regulation is about bringing the right people to the room.”
Dr Marsha Quallo-Wright, Deputy Director for Critical National Infrastructure, National Cyber Security Center, UK, speaking about security concerns said, “Understanding technology from a security perspective is vital; resilience includes security but extends beyond it when it comes to AI.”
Founders and Funders Retreat also witnessed the first-ever ‘IGF Pitchers and Punters’ – where British startups pitched their ideas Indian investors and ‘Shark the Tank’ which saw founders pitch their idea to the audience.
Sanjay Nayar, General Partner, Sorin Investments spoke about the worst pitches he’s ever heard and said the key takeaway was, “Real world solutions to some real world problems.” Similarly, Shanti Mohan, Founder, LetsVenture, said, “Solve for your current market first and then look globally”.
Lord Karan Bilimoria, Founder and Chairman, Cobra Beer said, “One of my favourite sayings is, good judgment comes from experience, and experience, comes from bad judgment. There’s no shortcut to making the mistakes, and I made many, many mistakes, but looking back on it, I think my life has actually been an Indo-British partnership.”
The final act of the evening was Inspiring Journeys, which featured the incredible stories of four women entrepreneurs from remote villages in the Indian Union Territory of Ladakh, and Olympic boxing medallist Mary Kom.
Nima Goos Goos Co-founders Padma Angmo and Rigzin Angmo, and Co-founders of Ladakh Brew Deachen Chusket and Jigmet Angmo recalled their entrepreneurial journey and wanting to put Ladakhi traditions on the global map. Rigzin Angmo said, “Ladakh has an abundance of high-nutrient crops & herbs but sadly not in the market. We started our business to share the goodness of Ladakh.”
Boxing legend Mary Kom sharing the reason behind her sporting success said, “I have been fighting for 20 years. I am a mother to 4 children. Becoming a champion is not easy. But if our mind is focussed on our work and profession, then nobody can stop us.”
Speaking about her foundation that provides boxing training to underprivileged children she reminisced, “I thought what will I do after retirement. I will not stay at home. I thought I will do something for my country. I just want to give back to my country. Initially I didn’t have any money from sponsors, corporates, govt reward money was very less. But I thought it was the right time and I started the foundation even though we did not have proper infrastructure. We started in the fields…. Now, I have a proper boxing ring, hostel, gym, and world champions from my academy.”
Reflecting on the week, and IGF’s journey, Founder and Chairman Manoj Ladwa said,” The biggest lesson is two things – one is follow your passion and secondly, perseverance. You’ve just got to keep at it if you’re passionate.
“My entrepreneurial journey actually started as a lawyer. I started my first law firm when I was 27. When I pivoted and set up this platform, that was actually nothing to do being an entrepreneur. I was really upset about how India was being portrayed to the world as a glass half-empty. So, I wanted to set up something where like-minded people could get together and say, yeah there are issues, there are cracks. But overall, on balance, the glass is actually half full or bit more than half full. It was an emotional reaction that led to where we are now.”
The retreat was the culmination of UK-India Week – six days of curated panel discussions, keynote speeches, and exclusive networking opportunities with over 150 speakers and 2,000+ participants spread across 12 marque events in London and Windsor.