Information technology company Infosys is reportedly expanding its artificial intelligence (AI) offerings with Small Language Models (SLMs) tailored to specific business needs, as customer demand grows for more affordable and accessible AI solutions. Speaking at the Bengaluru Tech Summit 2024, Infosys's Head of AI, revealed that many clients are requesting custom SLMs for their unique contexts, Moneycontrol reported.
Also Read: AI to Drive Financial Inclusion for Billions, Says Infosys Chairman: Report
SLMs for Specific Business Needs
In October, the company launched two SLMs, developed using the Nvidia AI stack for banking and IT-specific applications in collaboration with Sarvam AI. These models are designed to leverage industry-specific data, with plans to offer them as a service for businesses to build upon.
"Infosys just launched two small language models about a month back. And a lot of our customers are saying, can you develop it for my context," said Balakrishna D R, Head of AI at Infosys, according to the report.
SLMs are Gaining Traction in India
SLMs, trained on more specific datasets than Large Language Models (LLMs), are gaining traction in India due to their cost-effectiveness, as opposed to LLMs, which face concerns over high costs and privacy. The IT major reportedly said it plans to make foundational SLMs available as a service to businesses that can build solutions on top of them.
Infosys sees significant opportunities in this space, particularly in guiding enterprises through the complexities of AI adoption, including responsible data management and scalable solutions, the report said.
Also Read: Infosys Research Reveals Companies Anticipate Up to 40 Percent Productivity Gains from Enterprise AI
"These are the opportunities for us that we can actually help the entire world out of AI, coming from home (India)," Balakrishna reportedly added saying that from a service perspective, AI presents a significant opportunity for the Indian IT industry, given its enterprise customer base.
Challenges in AI Adoption for Enterprises
This is because enterprises face multiple challenges when adopting AI, such as identifying optimal use cases to maximise return on investment (RoI), managing internal data responsibly, and ensuring solutions remain sustainable in the face of rapidly evolving technology, the report further added.
"It is not the data that is there on the internet; it is data that they have in the enterprise. How would they actually leverage that? They have to figure out how to use this in a responsible manner," Balakrishna reportedly said.
Also Read: Infosys Partners with Zooplus for AI-Powered E-Commerce Transformation
Industry Blueprints
Citing Infosys as an example, he reportedly highlighted that the company has developed industry blueprints for 23 different sectors, guiding enterprises on data strategies, responsible AI adoption, and scalable platforms.
"I think the Indian IT industries, many of them based in Bangalore, can actually help the entire world adopt AI. And I think that's where we see the opportunity and that's what we are actually working for."
Nandan Nilekani, Infosys chairman and Aadhaar architect, also recently emphasised India's success in building efficient SLM with two billion parameters, advocating for low-cost and impactful AI solutions over larger, resource-intensive models.
