IIITH and NIFTEM-K Sign MoU to Strengthen Industry–Academic Collaboration
The International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad (IIITH) and the National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management, Kundli (NIFTEM-K) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to foster collaboration between academia and industry through joint initiatives in research, training, and innovation. The agreement aims to bring together expertise from both institutions in food technology, computing, sensing, artificial intelligence (AI), computer vision, blockchain, drones, and robotics. The collaboration will focus on developing technologies for agricultural produce grading using computer vision-based sensing, food and product traceability and provenance through blockchain, bio-sensors for detecting adulteration and counterfeits, and AI/ML for large-scale sensor data processing. The MoU was signed during a visit by Prof. Harinder Singh Oberoi, Director, NIFTEM-K, and Prof. Vinkel Kumar Arora to IIIT Hyderabad.
IIITH and TalentSprint launch a cutting-edge certificate programme to prepare professionals for the GenAI revolution
IIITH, India’s premier research-led institute in information technology has collaborated with TalentSprint, Part of Accenture, a leading global education company powered by AI, to offer advanced programs for professionals seeking to lead in the era of Generative AI (GenAI). Building on the success of legacy AIML programme, which has trained and transformed thousands of professionals in advanced AI and machine learning, the launch of this Certificate Programme in Generative AI and Prompt Engineering marks a decisive step forward in creating a future-ready AI workforce. Generative AI is transforming the world today. From writing code and developing products to automating customer experiences, GenAI has become central to how industries innovate and scale. According to recent reports, over 78% of global organizations are actively exploring or investing in GenAI capabilities.
Prof. Sandeep K Shukla on IIITH’s unique model
IIIT Hyderabad offers undergraduate programmes exclusively in Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE) and Computer Science and Engineering (CSE). The institute runs two flagship undergraduate tracks: a four-year BTech program with an annual intake of about 250-300 students, and a five-year dual degree programme (BTech + MS by Research) that admits around 100 students each year. The dual degree, modelled on the US system, requires a research thesis and is designed to nurture bright undergraduates into research pathways from the very beginning. At the postgraduate level, IIIT Hyderabad offers MTech programmes that are strongly industry-focused and particularly popular among students from private colleges who seek advanced skills and better career opportunities. About one-third of MTech entrants have work experience, often using the programme as a springboard for career progression. Admissions to MTech are through IIIT’s own PG entrance exam, with fees of Rs 4.5 lakhs per year and an annual intake of around 100 students.
IIIT Hyderabad’s Pivotal Role in BharatGen: Leading India’s Push for Sovereign AI and Indic LLMs
IIIT Hyderabad is driving BharatGen’s sovereign AI mission with Indic Vision-Language Models like Patram and eVikrAI, backed by Rs. 988.6 crore from MeitY to build multi-language AI for India. India’s sovereign AI efforts received a major boost with the government-backed BharatGen initiative, supported by Rs. 988.6 crore from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). Among the academic partners in the consortium, the International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad (IIITH) is playing a central role in advancing Indic Vision-Language Models (VLMs).BharatGen is led by IIT Bombay under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS). It brings together institutions including IIITH, IIT Mandi, IIT Kanpur, IIT Hyderabad, IIM Indore, and IIT Madras. The initiative is designed to build India-specific solutions that make AI accessible across multiple Indian languages, addressing the country’s linguistic diversity.
NAMS–IIITH Orientation Course on AI for Medical Professionals Concludes Successfully
The 2nd Edition of the Orientation Course on AI for Medical Professionals, jointly organized by NAMS, iHub-Data, and IIITH, concluded on September 21 with a day-long offline valedictory session held simultaneously in Delhi and Hyderabad. Launched on June 15, this 12-week program introduced 110 participants from India, the U.S., the U.K., Romania, Cambodia, and the UAE to the fundamentals and applications of AI in healthcare. Delivered through pre-recorded lectures, live Q&A sessions, tutorials, and no-code AI demonstrations, the course simplified complex AI concepts for medical professionals from non-technical backgrounds. The valedictory session featured the Course Report by Prof. Bapi Raju, closing remarks by Prof. Sandeep Shukla, Director, IIIT Hyderabad, and Padma Shri Dr. D. Behera, President, NAMS, along with addresses by Padma Shri Dr. Yogesh Chawla and Prof. Y.K. Gupta, Principal Advisor, GARDP. Certificates will be jointly issued by NAMS, iHub-Data, and IIIT Hyderabad.
IIITH and Hexaware host innovation challenge on Agentic AI for Life Sciences
CIE@IIITH in collaboration with Hexaware Technologies, hosted the AI for Life Sciences Challenge Finale, a platform to reimagine the future of clinical trials with Agentic AI at 18 Sept. The challenge concluded with a full-day event at IIITH featuring startup pitches, mentor immersion, jury evaluations, and an industry plenary panel on “Building Agentic AI in Healthcare – Science & Commercialization.” The challenge received 130 applications, with 30 startups shortlisted, 17 advancing to Round 2, and 13 making it to the finale. Finalists presented innovations including CSR automation with co-drafting agents, clinical site management and data process automation, agentic AI lifecycle platforms, data harmonization with knowledge insights, and schema-bound CSR automation with auditability. The top five finalists were Astra AI, Ciberts AI, Pentacure, Optimum Data, and Microgrid. Ciberts AI was declared the winner, receiving a ₹8 Lakh PoC Grant and productization support from Hexaware.
Prof. Sandeep K Shukla highlights key challenges for India’s DeepTech on National Engineers Day
While celebrating National Engineers’ Day, experts emphasise the need for collaboration, risk-taking, and ethical frameworks to build a sustainable and responsible DeepTech ecosystem for India’s future. From a decade when “everyone wanted to be an engineer” to what is now being hailed as India’s Techade, the journey of engineering as a profession has seen a remarkable transformation. Today, it’s just as likely to mean algorithms, data models, or neural networks. Prof Sandeep K. Shukla says: “The problem in India that the DeepTech startups are facing today is not so much on the funding side, but on the side of acceptance of their products by the government entities, PSUs, and larger corporations in general. While there are enough programs and schemes from the government to incubate, there are no concomitant changes in the policy or incentivization in accepting DeepTech products in place of well-established products.”
IIITH’s Social Tech Incubator launches cohort of GreenTech Startups with EPAM Systems: Leverages AI, IoT, Robotics and GIS
AIC-IIITH has launched the 3rd Akash EPAM Social Impact Innovation Program (ESIIP) to support GreenTech startups in areas like Green Energy, Smart Cities, Climate Tech, Sustainable Agriculture, and Mobility. The program also leverages IIITH’s strong research ecosystem to drive cutting-edge innovation in areas like AI/ML, Robotics, GIS etc to advance India’s UN SDG commitments with a focus on Climate Action (SDG 13). The program recognizes the importance of research-led tech and entrepreneurial innovation towards sustainable climate action. Startup-led innovation is a critical driver of climate action, especially in developing countries like India. Yet an analysis by Cambridge Associates shows that Emerging Market Greentech startups attract only 9% of total investment in the sector. As per AIC-IIITH’s research, a mere ~0.2% of total CSR spending has been spent on Innovation.
IIITH students triumph at ACM-ICPC World Finals
SubtasksWhere, IIIT Hyderabad’s winning team of competitive programmers climbed to 73rd world ranking in the ACM –ICPC World Finals, gaining a place on the Honors list , for solving 6 or more programming problems. It was a sweet sense of accomplishment for the IIIT Hyderabad coding team comprising of Shiven Sinha, Hari Aakash K and Sushil Raaja Umasudhan, at the recently concluded 2025 ICPC World Finals. Hosted by ADA University at Baku in Azerbaijan, the algorithmic programming competition challenges university students to grapple complex real-world problems within a tight timeframe. The global contest featuring 73,083 students from 103 countries, tested the creativity, teamwork and problem solving skills of 140 shortlisted teams from 3,424 universities. Held between August 31 and September 5, the ICPC venues included three iconic architectural wonders including the futuristically designed Heydar Aliyev Center by Ar. Zaha Hadid, the Baku Convention Center and the Baku Expo Center.
IDD: A Dataset That Is Driving India-Specific Solutions
From taking root as a foundational step towards autonomous driving research, the Indian Driving Dataset continues to evolve to tackle a plethora of problems that are India-specific. Two wheelers, 3-wheelers – both motorized and non-motorized, trucks, cars, pedestrians, animals and more make up the heterogeneity that is uniquely Indian. It is this unstructured feature of Indian traffic that prompted researchers at International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad (IIITH) to address research in autonomous navigation a little differently. They were quick to recognise that in the West, such technology catered to well-delineated roads, well-defined categories of vehicles, adherence to traffic rules and so on. “Most of the smart vehicles are designed for Western roads. They are tested, calibrated and verified on Western roads. We knew our roads are different but how different? We wanted to capture those differences objectively and decided to begin with the creation of a dataset,” explains Prof. C V Jawahar of the beginnings of the Indian Driving Dataset.