Listen to today’s podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/silk-logic-small-business-daily/id1841930957
Small Business Daily Podcast — December 20, 2025
Today’s podcast episode was created from the following stories: a snapshot of how AI, marketing, design, and media are reshaping the way businesses build, sell, and serve. Let’s dive in.
Flipkart acquires majority stake in AI startup Minivet AI
By BL Bengaluru Bureau — December 19, 2025
Flipkart has taken a majority stake in Minivet AI to turn static product catalogs into video at scale and add conversational search, deepening its generative AI capabilities. The deal aims to boost engagement and conversions across Flipkart and its broader ecosystem as the company advances toward a public listing.
MediaMint buys US startup Taktical Digital
By BL Hyderabad Bureau — December 19, 2025
Hyderabad-based MediaMint acquired New York’s Taktical Digital to scale growth marketing services across North America and accelerate its shift to an Agentic AI-powered firm. Taktical’s media buying, creative, SEO, and GEO capabilities will plug into MediaMint’s 3,000-strong global workforce.
From McKinsey to PwC, here’s how elite consulting firms are racing to hire engineers — and train everyone else in AI
By Polly Thompson and Lakshmi Varanasi — December 19, 2025
AI is forcing a talent overhaul in consulting as firms pivot from advice to building and operating enterprise tools, ramping up hires of engineers and data experts while upskilling existing staff. Even as technical roles surge, firms say soft skills, judgment, and hybrid talent who can bridge business and tech are the new differentiators.
AI-aided design software startup Neural Concept raises $100M to accelerate product engineering
By Mike Wheatley — December 18, 2025
Switzerland’s Neural Concept raised $100 million to embed deep learning into CAD and simulation workflows, letting engineers explore tradeoffs earlier and cut costly iteration cycles. With 50+ enterprise customers across automotive, aerospace, energy, and manufacturing, it plans to launch a generative CAD feature and deepen software integrations.
Flipkart acquires majority stake in Minivet as part of its AI push
By Not specified — December 19, 2025
Reinforcing its visual-first strategy, Flipkart’s controlling stake in Minivet AI targets video-led discovery and conversational shopping at lower production costs. The move follows its Pinkvilla deal and progress on India domicile for an anticipated IPO, signaling a broader bet on immersive commerce.
AI tech helps semicon startups step up as they face chip goliaths
By Alenjith K Johny — December 19, 2025
AI is helping Indian semiconductor startups slash design cycles by months, automate scripting, and reduce team sizes, narrowing the gap with larger rivals. Despite EDA advances and government incentives, challenges persist around IP risk, limited data, and high foundry costs.
This streaming service will hit premium users with ads as soon as they open the app
By Aamir Siddiqui — December 19, 2025
NBCUniversal’s Peacock will roll out “Arrival Ads” on app startup for Premium-tier users, with ad-free viewing reserved for the pricier Premium Plus plan. The company also plans AI-timed ads during live sports, raising user-experience concerns as ad load intensifies.
Is Zendesk building a Glean competitor with its Unleash acquisition? Not exactly, but here’s what’s really happening
By Jason Lemkin — December 2025
Zendesk’s purchase of Unleash brings permission-aware enterprise search and AI agents into IT and HR service workflows—more a bundled, vertical play than a head-on Glean rival. By tying knowledge retrieval to case management and automation, Zendesk strengthens its AI-native service stack and pressures standalone tools in the mid-market.
Aether Holdings appoints experienced digital asset and capital markets executive Wayne Huo as independent director
By Not specified — December 19, 2025
Aether Holdings named Amber Group co-founder Wayne Huo to its board, adding deep digital-asset and capital-markets expertise. He will guide product strategy, governance, and the integration of AI with data across Aether’s investor-focused platforms.
Together, these stories show AI moving from experimentation to infrastructure—powering video-first commerce, retooling consulting talent, accelerating product design, reshaping semiconductors, and even redefining ad experiences and enterprise workflows. For small businesses, the signal is clear: adopt practical AI where it improves customer experience, speed, or cost—and watch how platform bundling may deliver “good enough” AI right where you already work.
