"The Fear of the Nokia Fate"
Last week, we hosted a Round Table in Pune for CallHippo on “The Future of Business Communication.” The room was packed with folks from big call centers and IT giants, all trying their best to look very futuristic 😁 .
The hot topic? AI. And somewhere between the coffee breaks we collectively coined a term: The Fear of the Nokia Fate.
Here’s the gist: Every organization is throwing money at AI like it's a Black Friday sale. Why? FOMO. Everyone’s terrified of missing out on the next big thing, even though most of them don’t have a clue what they’re actually trying to achieve.
Now, here's the kicker: Every time someone in the organization dares to ask, “Hey, should we maybe figure out our goals before burning more money on AI?” another person stands up and dramatically says, “Remember Nokia?” Cue collective gasps.
The Nokia legend goes like this: Nokia didn’t embrace smartphones fast enough and poof!—they vanished into the corporate Bermuda Triangle. Never mind that the story is oversimplified; it’s the mic-drop moment in every AI debate. Nobody argues after the Nokia card is played.
And that’s how we arrived at The Fear of the Nokia Fate—the corporate boogeyman ensuring that AI budgets stay bloated and slightly aimless. Because nobody wants to be the next Nokia.
Here are the people who were there at the round table and contributed to coining this term:
Kanchan Patwardhan-Deshpande, Rahul Mergu (CISM) (CCISO), Kiran Mirajkar, Sikandar Pathan, Krishna Badwane, Anurag Agrawal, Achal Chhajed DHIRAJ SHISAT, Abdullah Parkar, Parvez Chhapgar, Gaurav Sharma, Chirayu Patel, Komal Chavan
Last week, we hosted a Round Table in Pune for CallHippo on “The Future of Business Communication.” The room was packed with folks from big call centers and IT giants, all trying their best to look very futuristic 😁 .
The hot topic? AI. And somewhere between the coffee breaks we collectively coined a term: The Fear of the Nokia Fate.
Here’s the gist: Every organization is throwing money at AI like it's a Black Friday sale. Why? FOMO. Everyone’s terrified of missing out on the next big thing, even though most of them don’t have a clue what they’re actually trying to achieve.
Now, here's the kicker: Every time someone in the organization dares to ask, “Hey, should we maybe figure out our goals before burning more money on AI?” another person stands up and dramatically says, “Remember Nokia?” Cue collective gasps.
The Nokia legend goes like this: Nokia didn’t embrace smartphones fast enough and poof!—they vanished into the corporate Bermuda Triangle. Never mind that the story is oversimplified; it’s the mic-drop moment in every AI debate. Nobody argues after the Nokia card is played.
And that’s how we arrived at The Fear of the Nokia Fate—the corporate boogeyman ensuring that AI budgets stay bloated and slightly aimless. Because nobody wants to be the next Nokia.
Here are the people who were there at the round table and contributed to coining this term:
Kanchan Patwardhan-Deshpande, Rahul Mergu (CISM) (CCISO), Kiran Mirajkar, Sikandar Pathan, Krishna Badwane, Anurag Agrawal, Achal Chhajed DHIRAJ SHISAT, Abdullah Parkar, Parvez Chhapgar, Gaurav Sharma, Chirayu Patel, Komal Chavan
The eChai Effect - In Their Words
"For me, eChai is a second home. I've been associated with it since the early days, when it was already setting a different tone for how startup communities could work. As a traditional business owner entering the new-age D2C space, eChai supported me in every direction. Over the years, it became my window to the startup world — and also gave me lifelong friends who continue to show up, for business and beyond."
Pankaj Bhimani
Founder, 58miles
"I attended my first eChai event 3 yrs back, and no one knew me in the market. Over the next three years, eChai didn’t only help me with knowledge or networking, but it gave me an identity from being unknown to now being recognized by a group of inspirational entrepreneurs connected with eChai, who have been gracious enough to acknowledge me and Digipple."
Viraj Rajani
Co-Founder, Digipple
"eChai is playing biggest role in my personal and professional life together. Its a community where i meet like minded people to share idea and learn from their idea. Even while playing cricket i learn something and i implement something new from that learning. Its my entry point for building network in different countries where my base is not established yet. Personally my only fun activity day in a week is eChai cricket and social."
yash shah
Chairman, ES Group of Companies
eChai Partner Brands
eChai Ventures partners with select brands as their growth partner - working together to explore new ideas, open doors, and build momentum across the startup ecosystem.
