Software major Tech Mahindra on Thursday announced a partnership with global management consulting firm Gao Feng Advisory Company to set up a joint Artificial Intelligence (AI) lab in Shanghai.

The lab will work in the areas of futuristic digital technologies including AI chatbot Services, smart process automation, Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), image recognition and processing, Machine Learning (ML) and Predictive Analytics. 

"China has become breeding ground for the adoption of new technologies and innovation. We are operating our engineering services business for more than 15 years in China with over 500 engagements and feel that we can provide solutions to the complex problems of our customers," said Karthikeyan Natarajan, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Integrated Engineering Solutions, Tech Mahindra.

The lab will combine Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) and Mixed Reality (MR) technologies to develop solutions for manufacturing industry and reduce maintenance cost, accelerate manufacturing automation and digital manufacturing initiatives.

"Our AI Lab in Shanghai will enable customers to reduce their product development cost through Agile/Devops process methodologies and AI-based testing and automation frameworks," Natarajan added.

The lab will leverage Tech Mahindra's RPA (Robotic Process Automation) and IoT frameworks and ecosystem to develop AI chatbot for customer applications.

Gao Feng Advisory Company is a global strategy and management consulting firm with strong roots in China.

"The partnership with Tech Mahindra and setting up of AI lab allows Gao Feng to offer our clients a broad set of capabilities beyond those typically found among strategy consultancies, leveraging deep expertise in the area of Artificial intelligence, IoT and Predictive Analytics," noted Dr Edward Tse, Founder and CEO of Gao Feng.

Tech Mahindra is part of the $19 billion Mahindra Group that employs more than 200,000 people in over 100 countries. 

Tech Mahindra itself is a $4.5 billion company with 115,850 professionals across 90 countries, helping over 864 global customers including Fortune 500 companies.