It's a wrap: News this week (December 13-19)

There have been multiple developments this week on the tech front. From M&A Deals to TCS' Aurionpro’s new deal, here is a list of the most important updates for a quick catch-up:

TCS rolls out AI Compass across BaNCS

 Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), on Friday, unveiled an AI upgrade to its flagship TCS BaNCS platform with the launch of TCS BaNCS AI Compass, an advanced AI core designed to accelerate innovation for banks and securities services firms.

The upgrade brings together machine learning, deep learning and generative AI, along with a suite of pre-built intelligent agents, enabling financial institutions to optimise existing capabilities and generate actionable insights to improve operational efficiency and strengthen risk management.

Designed for technology and business decision-makers, TCS BaNCS AI Compass aims to drive the adoption of responsible and explainable AI, streamline workflows and unlock new growth opportunities. 

Major deals of the week

Cyient Semiconductors has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in Kinetic Technologies, a US-based power management and high-performance analogue semiconductor company, for a total consideration of up to $93 million.

Kinetic Technologies, a fabless power management and analogue semiconductor firm headquartered in San Jose, brings deep expertise in power conversion, protection and mixed-signal ICs, with more than 100 patents and long-standing relationships across global OEMs. Its R&D footprint spans Silicon Valley and Asia.

Further, HCLTech has decided to acquire the Telco Solutions business from Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), expanding its enterprise technology capabilities for global communication service providers. The transaction builds on a prior deal completed in 2024, when HCLTech acquired parts of HPE’s Communications Technology Group.

The Telco Solutions unit provides software and platforms that telecom operators use to manage and operate their networks. Its systems support more than one billion devices across over 200 deployments worldwide. The portfolio includes operations support systems, home subscriber server platforms, and 5G subscriber data management. It also provides automation tools that use artificial intelligence to monitor networks and adjust performance in real time.

Lastly, Freshworks has signed a definitive agreement to acquire US-based incident management platform FireHydrant for an undisclosed amount, as it looks to strengthen its artificial intelligence-led IT operations stack and expand its enterprise offerings.

The Chennai-founded company expects to close the transaction by March 2026, subject to customary closing conditions. Freshworks said the acquisition would combine its IT service management capabilities with FireHydrant’s incident management platform to build an AI-native solution aimed at preventing service disruptions and improving system reliability.

Aurionpro bags multi-year transaction banking deal from PSU bank

Aurionpro Solutions on Wednesday said it has won a multi-year transaction banking contract from a leading public sector bank, bolstering its presence in the fast-growing digital cash management and corporate banking technology market. In a regulatory filing, the company, without disclosing the bank’s name, said the PSU bank has selected Aurionpro’s iCashpro platform as its preferred transaction banking solution. The deal covers software licensing, implementation and a long-term annual maintenance contract (AMC). Aurionpro did not disclose the financial value of the order.

As part of the mandate, Aurionpro will help modernise the bank’s cash management infrastructure, spanning payments, collections, liquidity management, virtual accounts, reconciliation, mandates and real-time reporting. The platform will also support escrow management through Fintra, a business Aurionpro added following a recent acquisition.