Ola’s Founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal announced that the company will be shifting its entire workload from Microsoft’s Azure cloud to its own Krutrim cloud within the next week. This decision follows criticism of LinkedIn, owned by Microsoft, for removing his post on pronoun usage, which Aggarwal perceived as imposing a political ideology. He emphasized the importance of India developing its own tech and AI.
In a blog post, Aggarwal stated, “Since LinkedIn is owned by Microsoft and Ola is a big Azure customer, we’ve decided to move our workload to our Krutrim cloud. It’s a challenge, but my team is excited about it.” He extended an offer to developers wanting to move from Azure, providing a year of free cloud usage on Krutrim.
The conflict arose when LinkedIn’s AI referred to Aggarwal using “they” instead of “he,” prompting him to question the AI’s neutrality. Aggarwal emphasized the need for India to create its own tech, including a DPI (digital public infrastructure) social media framework, rooted in Indian values and law.
Aggarwal highlighted Ola’s commitment to diversity, running one of the largest women-only automotive plants and planning significant growth in women employment. He criticized Western approaches to inclusivity, stating, “Our culture didn’t need pronouns to be inclusive for thousands of years.”
He concluded by advocating for Indian tech platforms, expressing concern about governance by Western Big Tech, and stating, “I want to confront this forced ideology as a free-thinking Indian and do what I can in my capacity.“
