Articles by Charles Assisi
First Principles | How Indian telcos are cracking the 5G challenge
It appears that an altogether different business model may emerge out of India even after the recent hiccups faced by the Adani Group once poised to emerge as a significant player in the enterprise telecom space.
Updated on Mar 25, 2023 05:32 PM IST
Why must we fight the good fight? Life Hacks by Charles Assisi
Altruism has always been difficult, so why did humans evolve to make room for it? Perhaps because selfishness offers dwindling returns, and would have made us a short-lived species.
Updated on Mar 25, 2023 03:37 PM IST
First Principles | Why SVB is an American problem and needs to remain so
The four-decade-old Silicon Valley Bank imploding has two simple lessons: One, ignore social media and two, one's loss is another's gain. Here's why
Updated on Mar 17, 2023 06:15 PM IST
Switching from fight mode: Life Hacks by Charles Assisi
Too many of us set out viewing each day as a fresh challenge, when the real battle is within. Can we find the strength to stay vulnerable?
Updated on Mar 11, 2023 03:23 PM IST
First Principles | Cross-border data transfer needs a whitelist and a blacklist
Public policy professionals suggest all countries be whitelisted. And to create a blacklist only for those countries that India needs to be wary about.
Published on Mar 11, 2023 11:04 AM IST
First Principles | On chips, Make in India may not be the way to go
While the current ‘blockading’ is one of China’s problems and explains the worldwide chip shortage, it is a pointer to what can go wrong with the ‘Make in India’ policy that hinges on an ambitious $300 billion electronics manufacturing goal.
Published on Mar 03, 2023 09:15 PM IST
No buddy knows how it turns out: Life Hacks by Charles Assisi
There are no rules or formal structures that govern friendships. It’s time to rethink how we imagine these bonds as enriching our lives.
Updated on Feb 25, 2023 03:21 PM IST
First Principles | UP(I) and away
When Singapore integrated the Unified Payments Interface this week, there was much to celebrate, for this system moved one more step towards becoming a global payment system.
Published on Feb 24, 2023 07:05 PM IST
First Principles | Some hard truths about emotional chatbots
Last week, when ChatGPT was integrated into search engine Bing, it had an ‘emotional meltdown’, raising key questions: Can AI have a mind of its own? And should AI be brought to the decision-making table?
Published on Feb 18, 2023 10:19 AM IST
Sulking won’t help. AIm higher, says Charles Assisi
It’s baffling to me that educational institutes and workplaces are trying to ban AI-driven language programs. They’re here to stay. That’s good news. One helped me write this piece.
Updated on Feb 11, 2023 04:54 PM IST
First Principles | Future tense for ‘The Office’
Bob Johansen, a professional futurist, says that as a “technology”, current offices are on the verge of obsolesce.
Updated on Feb 10, 2023 09:09 PM IST
First Principles | How to disconnect from work (but read the caveat)
With work-from-home blurring the boundaries of office hours, countries are stepping in to help workers disconnect from work. But veterans have one piece of advice: Do this only if you can afford it.
Updated on Feb 06, 2023 10:42 AM IST
Deep tech: Where India stands, and what’s at stake
The Cold Wars of the future will be fought over science and technology. Already, borders are quietly closing on intellectual property. As resources become scarcer and new challenges emerge, the world's major powers are preparing. Take a peek inside India’s race to catch up, and maybe speed ahead.
Updated on Feb 03, 2023 05:51 PM IST
Is efficiency the wrong answer?: Life Hacks by Charles Assisi
There’s a growing movement in support of slack, which frees a person from busy-ness. There’s no ‘time to work’ and ‘time to play’. It’s all time in which to engage with the world.
Updated on Jan 28, 2023 04:53 PM IST
First Principles | Bloodbath in Silicon Valley and its trickle-down effect
It appears that tech has hit the reset button, with layoffs in several large IT companies. What does this mean?
Updated on Jan 30, 2023 08:22 AM IST
What do they know about running, who only of running know
Mumbai Marathon might be a celebration of the spirit of the city but for many enthusiasts, who don’t necessarily make it to the podium, it remains a serious event and they don’t get the attention they deserve
Published on Jan 14, 2023 11:58 PM IST
How much time do you really have? Map it on a grid with Charles Assisi
New year resolutions are a routine reminder of the good news: We know what we must do to make our lives better. The bad news: We’re wasting time we really can’t afford to fritter away.
Updated on Jan 14, 2023 02:12 PM IST
First Principles | Seeking help from digital therapeutics
Applications are now being deployed to treat all kinds of addictions, issues such as Attention Deficit Disorders and mental health issues to include support and rehabilitation
Updated on Jan 07, 2023 06:32 PM IST
First Principles | 2023 could well be the year of this Musk-eteer
There is a view that while Musk may be a tech visionary, his competence lies in creating “hardware”. But to build and sustain “software” companies is a different game. The consensus view was that he is a bored, rich man. But bored, rich people aren’t stupid to blow up $44 billion to stay in the news
Updated on Dec 31, 2022 06:17 PM IST
First Principles | The cost of an idea is the courage to break away
While the internet made everything democratic, it also has become a place where the marginal cost of placing an idea or opinion in the public domain is zero
Updated on Dec 25, 2022 01:54 PM IST
To move forward, try going off-track: Life Hacks with Charles Assisi
Step counters, sleep aids, oximeters, heart-rate sensors and fitness metrics will only take you so far. The human body isn’t a machine. So aim for pleasure, not a perfect score.
Published on Dec 24, 2022 08:47 PM IST
First Principles | Hold on to jobs for life is dearer
The balance of power has shifted from employees to employers and will be more pronounced next year.
Published on Dec 17, 2022 08:49 PM IST
Twitter and the trust thermocline: When a dip can mark the beginning of an end
In nature, a thermocline is a zone within a lake or ocean where the temperature of the water suddenly drops. See how this principle can take effect in the worlds of work and branding.
Updated on Dec 10, 2022 10:23 PM IST
First Principles | Chat GPT is cool, but human ingenuity is cooler still
Chat GPT is not capable of independent thought or decision making. It is a tool that can assist humans in certain tasks, but it cannot replace the unique abilities of a human worker.
Published on Dec 10, 2022 06:28 PM IST
First Principles | How the chips fall in the battle for semiconductors
Why doesn’t India manufacture semiconductors? Why this question matters is because as things are, we are in the midst of one of the fiercest battles since World War II. Here's why
Updated on Dec 02, 2022 08:55 PM IST
First Principles | Multitasking just got a new meaning
The world stands on the cusp of change driven by demographics, governed by a not-so-simplistic relationship between the rise of technology and jobs, requiring people to adapt to ‘newer jobs’.
Updated on Nov 26, 2022 07:05 PM IST
Limiting loss: To live better, it may help to divest, says Charles Assisi
The concept of stop-loss offers lessons in how to walk away from any toxic situation, and invest instead in the things that really matter
Updated on Nov 26, 2022 12:49 AM IST
First Principles | Tech layoffs are the need of the hour
Why do funders insist founders let go of people in such large numbers? The answer depends on whom you turn to for pointers.
Published on Nov 18, 2022 08:34 PM IST
First Principles | Musk must smell the coffee
Twitter appears to be in chaos. Either Musk knows something most of us don’t, or he has lost the plot. To decode all this, we must begin at the beginning.
Published on Nov 11, 2022 05:46 PM IST
Not all decisions are one-way doors: Life Hacks by Charles Assisi
In a world of almost-endless options, decision fatigue can eat up time and mindspace. It helps to embrace the possibility of minor regrets.
Updated on Nov 05, 2022 02:28 PM IST
