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Recently I am observing Hotel industry is busy in selling value add services like SPA but
- There is no simple first aid kit either in Room or on floor.
- There is hardly any arrangement of ‘On Call’ emergency doctor.
I am finding this gap in customer experience from 3 star to 7 star hotels.
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Over the last few years, we have been working towards making innovation more systematic.
Over the last few years, we have been working towards making innovation more systematic.
Not occasional breakthroughs, but a way of consistently translating ideas into outcomes.
I am delighted to share that we have filed our 36th patent application for Purple Fabric – the Precision Business Impact AI Platform. And during the year, Intellect has filed over 100 patent applications. We are seeking patent protection not just in India but in major Global markets.
These are not just numbers.
They reflect a system we have been consciously building.
A system where research, legal, product and engineering teams come together to continuously identify, articulate and protect ideas. What I often refer to as a patent factory.
This has been enabled by a research team of 1200 technologists, with over 100 inventors already documented and many more who will emerge through this journey.
Alongside this, we have built a strong product creation capability, where these ideas are translated into real enterprise platforms.
This combination matters.
Because innovation is not just about thinking. It is about building, validating and scaling.
Purple Fabric represents this shift. From AI as automation to AI as Precision Business Impact. Where intelligence is embedded into enterprise workflows to deliver measurable outcomes.
Innovation, when approached with discipline, can be made repeatable.
My congratulations to all the inventors and teams who are part of this journey.
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36 Patents for Purple Fabric: Engineering the Future of Precision AI
Over the last few years, we have been working towards making innovation more systematic.
Not occasional breakthroughs, but a way of consistently translating ideas into outcomes.
I am delighted to share that we have filed our 36th patent application for Purple Fabric – the Precision Business Impact AI Platform. And during the year, Intellect has filed over 100 patent applications. We are seeking patent protection not just in India but in major Global markets.
These are not just numbers.
They reflect a system we have been consciously building.
A system where research, legal, product and engineering teams come together to continuously identify, articulate and protect ideas. What I often refer to as a patent factory.
This has been enabled by a research team of 1200 technologists, with over 100 inventors already documented and many more who will emerge through this journey.
Alongside this, we have built a strong product creation capability, where these ideas are translated into real enterprise platforms.
This combination matters.
Because innovation is not just about thinking. It is about building, validating and scaling
Purple Fabric represents this shift. From AI as automation to AI as Precision Business Impact. Where intelligence is embedded into enterprise workflows to deliver measurable outcomes.
Innovation, when approached with discipline, can be made repeatable.
My congratulations to all the inventors and teams who are part of this journey.
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One of the most important shifts we are witnessing today is this.
One of the most important shifts we are witnessing today is this.
AI is not about automation. AI is about reimagining the future.
And if that is true, then education itself must be reimagined.
As we mark the 13th anniversary of the 8012 FinTech Design Center, I had the opportunity to engage with students at the Design Spark Challenge 2026 organised by School of Design Thinking. What stood out was not just the solutions they built, but the way they approached problems.
Most of the time, we solve problems that are given to us.
This time, students chose to examine problems within their own ecosystem -their learning, their institutions, and their experience as students. That shift is important.
Because the future of education will not be defined by how content is delivered, but by how problems are framed.
In the age of AI, knowledge is no longer scarce. It is instantly accessible. What becomes critical is the ability to understand the problem, frame it correctly, and design meaningful solutions.
This is where Design Thinking plays a central role.
What I observed over 24 hours was not just learning. It was acceleration.
Students moved from:
- understanding the problem
- to framing the problem
- to defining the solution
- to building and testing
- to finally storytelling their ideas
This entire cycle, which typically takes months in academic or enterprise environments, was experienced in just 24 hours.
That is the real insight.
The capacity to learn, think, and execute is far greater than we assume. What limits us is not capability, but structure, approach, and often, distraction. When structured thinking meets the right tools, the outcome is fundamentally different.
With platforms like Purple Fabric, students were able to move beyond simple use cases and begin thinking in terms of orchestrated, intelligent systems – not automation, but reimagination.
Equally important was what they learned about themselves.
Time management.
Team collaboration.
Breaking down complexity.And most importantly, understanding how their own mind works.
If we can help students observe how they think, how they learn, and how they solve problems, we are not just preparing them for jobs.
We are preparing them to shape the future. Because the real opportunity in the AI era is not limited to jobs.
It lies in the ability to solve problems at scale.
India, with its diversity and complexity, offers one of the largest problem landscapes in the world. The question is whether we are preparing students to engage with it meaningfully.
Design Thinking provides that lens. AI amplifies that capability.
Together, they can redefine how we learn, build, and create impact.
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Beyond Programs: 13 Years of Architecting a Culture of Design
As we mark 13 years of the 8012 FinTech Design Center, I find myself reflecting not just on 2013, but on a journey that began around 2009, when we were asking a fundamental question at Polaris: how do we transform from a services organisation into a Product and Technology Institution…to be agenda setters.
Between 2009 and 2011, we initiated the Unmukt program to understand the art & science of human thinking, engaging over 1100 associates. While it created energy, the impact was not as enduring as we had expected and that was a defining learning, as it made us realise that thinking cannot be transformed through programs alone, but requires a continuous environment.
This led to the creation of the Design Center as an Inspirational Space, where thinking could be experienced through persona maps, empathy maps, patterns and anti-patterns, and by connecting the dots. The Center took nearly 15 months to design, with multiple iterations, and another 9 months to build.
When it came alive in 2013, it marked a shift in how we approached problems and contributed to the evolution of Intellect Design Arena Ltd in 2014 as a Product and Technology Institution.
Organising the Thinking Space We learnt that transformation begins with organising the thinking space, because most challenges arise not from lack of intelligence, but from lack of structure in thinking. By bringing structure across imagination, learning, performance, effectiveness, influence and contribution, we moved from reactive to designed thinking.
Expanding the Performance Space
As thinking became organised, it led to expanding the performance space, where we moved beyond incremental problem solving to applying First Principles Thinking and questioning the fundamentals of systems and complexity.
Impacting Business Outcomes through Design Thinking When thinking is organised and performance is expanded, the outcome is measurable business impact. This is reflected in platforms like eMACH.ai and Purple Fabric, which are outcomes of applying Design Thinking as a discipline to solve complex enterprise problems.
Over the last 13 yrs, more than 1lakh people have experienced the Center, and the real impact has been in how it has helped individuals/ institutions rethink their own thinking.
Design with AI The next phase is about extending Design Thinking into the era of AI, where the focus is on designing intelligence that is precise, contextual and capable of delivering real business outcomes. Through Purple Fabric, with participation from global institutions, we are moving towards Business Impact (Precision) AI
As we enter this next phase, I would leave you with a question, and I would be keen to hear your thoughts:
Are we still experimenting with AI, or are we truly using it to create measurable business impact? Where do you see your organisation today?
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The Future of Education: Moving from Content Delivery to Problem Discovery
One of the most important shifts we are witnessing today is this.
AI is not about automation. AI is about reimagining the future. And if that is true, then education itself must be reimagined.
As we mark the 13th anniversary of the 8012 FinTech Design Center, I had the opportunity to engage with students at the Design Spark Challenge 2026 organised by School of Design Thinking. What stood out was not just the solutions they built, but the way they approached problems.
Most of the time, we solve problems that are given to us.
This time, students chose to examine problems within their own ecosystem -their learning, their institutions, and their experience as students. That shift is important
Because the future of education will not be defined by how content is delivered, but by how problems are framed.
In the age of AI, knowledge is no longer scarce. It is instantly accessible. What becomes critical is the ability to understand the problem, frame it correctly, and design meaningful solutions
This is where Design Thinking plays a central role.
What I observed over 24 hours was not just learning. It was acceleration.
Students moved from:
- understanding the problem
- to framing the problem
- to defining the solution
- to building and testing
- to finally storytelling their ideas
This entire cycle, which typically takes months in academic or enterprise environments, was experienced in just 24 hours.
That is the real insight.
The capacity to learn, think, and execute is far greater than we assume. What limits us is not capability, but structure, approach, and often, distraction. When structured thinking meets the right tools, the outcome is fundamentally different.
With platforms like Purple Fabric, students were able to move beyond simple use cases and begin thinking in terms of orchestrated, intelligent systems – not automation, but reimagination.
Equally important was what they learned about themselves. Time management. Team collaboration. Breaking down complexity.
And most importantly, understanding how their own mind works.
If we can help students observe how they think, how they learn, and how they solve problems, we are not just preparing them for jobs.
We are preparing them to shape the future. Because the real opportunity in the AI era is not limited to jobs.
It lies in the ability to solve problems at scale.
India, with its diversity and complexity, offers one of the largest problem landscapes in the world. The question is whether we are preparing students to engage with it meaningfully.
Design Thinking provides that lens. AI amplifies that capability.
Together, they can redefine how we learn, build, and create impact.
Intellect Design Arena Ltd Purple Fabric Dr. Anbu Rathinavel
ABOUT ME
Hello, my name is Arun Jain. I am a design thinker living in Chennai, India. This is my blog, where I post my thoughts, technology trends and tips about the fintech world and many more.