The workplace landscape is undergoing a transformation, driven by the unprecedented velocity of artificial intelligence (AI) model development. While DeepSeek’s innovative, frugal approach to developing models has garnered attention, global players continue to make significant strides in making AI more relevant for both consumers and businesses.
This rapid evolution was highlighted when Mistral AI’s head of developer relations, Sophia Yang, unveiled the new Saba model on Tuesday, emphasising global localisation. “Mistral Saba is a 24B parameter model trained on meticulously curated datasets from across the Middle East and South Asia,” she explained. The model’s support for Arabic and multiple Indian languages serves as the foundation for its proficiency in Tamil and Malayalam.
The AI landscape continues to evolve rapidly. OpenAI updated its GPT-4o model, which CEO Sam Altman describes as “pretty good”. Meanwhile, Perplexity released its Deep Research tool last week, offering it free of use. “It excels at a range of expert-level tasks—from finance and marketing to product research,” according to the AI company. This approach stands in stark contrast to OpenAI’s $200 Pro subscription requirement, highlighted by its o3 model.
Voice interactions with AI are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Google Gemini recently added conversational memory retention and 14 new languages for Gemini Live conversations. Its competitor, Microsoft Copilot Voice, expanded its language support to include 40 more languages beyond English, Hindi, and Bengali, while also introducing a ‘Think Deeper’ feature based on OpenAI’s GPT-4o model.
The momentum of AI adoption is reflected in SenseAI’s Annual AI Report 2025. The artificial intelligence-focused fund for seed or pre-Series A startups notes that enterprises invested $13.8 billion in AI during 2024, a sixfold increase from 2023. Among AI startups, OpenAI, Anthropic, Stability AI, Midjourney, and Perplexity command the highest valuations and popularity.
Microsoft’s Chris Young, executive vice president of business development, strategy and ventures, noted: “Over the past year we’ve seen significant numbers of people and organisations moving from AI experimentation to more meaningful adoption. This is the start of a full-scale transformation.”
Consumer AI developments continue to advance. Amazon is expected to soon roll out its delayed revamp of a more capable Alexa assistant, while Apple plans to further enhance Siri and Apple Intelligence with an iOS 18.4 update next month. Google has made file analysis in Gemini available to free users, a feature previously restricted to paid subscribers, enhancing its workplace relevance.
The increasing accessibility of capable AI tools is driving rapid organisational adoption worldwide. According to SenseAI’s report, 60% of large companies globally are using generative AI, with 74% of these organisations already seeing substantial returns on investment. Microsoft’s data shows that generative AI usage among business leaders has increased from 55% to 75% in the past year.
Prakash Ramamurthy, chief product officer at software-as-a-service company Freshworks, noted: “Knowledge workers are seeing strong productivity gains at work. The AI era is firmly delivering on its promise to free up employees for higher-level work.” Their latest workplace report indicates that ChatGPT and generative AI search and image creation tools are becoming popular within organizational workflows.
The impact extends to creative work as well. Canva’s annual Visual Economy Report reveals that 90% of Indian businesses are using AI tools for visual content creation. Over 92% report improved quality, while 89% note faster production processes.
Google’s integration of AI capabilities into existing Workspace subscriptions appears well-timed. Pat McCarthy, vice president of Google Workspace, told HT, “The market previously forced customers to think about AI as a separate decision. We know for a fact that is not what customers want. They think about processes that exist inside of their businesses as being ubiquitous.”
Google reports that Workspace serves more than 10 million businesses globally, with 100,000 having integrated Gemini AI into their workflows.
Looking ahead, Sameer Raje, head for India and SAARC Region at Zoom Communications, predicts, “By the end of 2025, businesses that embrace this shift will be the ones leading the way in delivering not just great service but also exceptional experiences.”
The future of enterprise AI appears focused on advanced reasoning capabilities. OpenAI’s o1 employs logical steps toward solutions, while Microsoft’s Orca and Orca 2 use synthetic data to help smaller language models match larger ones’ performance. Google’s in-development Gemini Flash Thinking model aims to integrate stronger reasoning capabilities into responses. Anthropic is developing a ‘hybrid’ Claude model to compete with OpenAI’s o3-mini high reasoning model, capable of dynamically adjusting the computational power needed for responses.
Industry applications are already showing promise. L’Oréal has begun using IBM’s gen AI models to generate new cosmetic formulation data, focusing on sustainable raw materials and reducing energy and material waste. Meanwhile, xAI’s Grok 3 chatbot, released Tuesday, was promoted by Elon Musk as “the smartest AI on earth,” with hopes for its integration into workplace workflows.
