Amazon Web Services has announced the launch of a new global initiative called AWS GenAI Loft in Bengaluru on Tuesday. Designed to foster innovation and promote Generative AI technology, GenAI Loft aims to put up pop-up spaces around the world where developers, startups and AI enthusiasts can connect and learn together. Starting with Bengaluru, the tour will run from July 29 to August 9. 

Attendees will be a part of workshops, hands-on training sessions, demos and network with AI experts and thought leaders. GenAI demos will be presented by AWS partners, Shellkode, Datastax, Ganit, Cloudthat, Ankercloud, Rapyder, GoML, along with demos on building and scaling generative AI applications using Partyrock.

“We are excited to commence the global tour of AWS GenAI Loft in Bengaluru, a hub for AI innovation in the country,” said Kumara Raghavan, head of startups at AWS India and South Asia. 

A recent study done by AWS in collaboration with Access Partnership found that even as the willingness for AI adoption is present, there’s a considerable gap in talent available. “Hiring AI-skilled talent is a priority for more than nine in ten (96%) employers in India, of which 79% can’t find the AI talent they need. The research also uncovered a training awareness gap, whereby 91% of employers indicated that they don’t know how to run an AI workforce training program. Meanwhile, 86% of workers said they aren’t sure about relevant career paths where AI skills are useful,” explained Raghavan. 

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With this initiative, Raghavan hopes that the gap becomes narrower. 

Participants will be given access to Amazon Bedrock, their platform which has a range of AI models from companies like Meta, Anthropic, Cohere and Mistral AI to build custom GenAI applications. “They’ll get to meet other peers and get to meet our experts. We have our own demos of our offering called Partyrock which allows you to build an app in,” he said.

AWS GenAI Loft is a part of AWS’ recent commitment of $230 million to bolster the GenAI ecosystem globally. The tour will move from Bengaluru to San Francisco, Sao Paulo, London and Paris. 

Aside from this, AWS also ran an accelerator program called ML Elevate where 35 startups were given $200,000 in credits along with accelerator-based coaching and guidance around their products, tools and strategies. 

Raghavan also underlined India’s significance in the AI global market. “What we have seen is startups coming across a variety of these stages and also in terms of the use cases. This is one of the reasons we have been investing significantly here. For example, Amazon Bedrock has been made available in the Mumbai region for customers who want to meet local compliance needs for fintech or other customers who are in the regulated space. We definitely see Indian startups in the AI space thriving, and it’s also a testament to the fact that the whole a lot that is the first stop,” he added.