Default Access Control Rules Created for Custom Tables quiz explained

Access control is a fundamental security concept. This question focuses on the default access control rules (ACLs) that are automatically created when a new custom table is defined.

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❓ Quiz Question

What access control rules are created by default when creating a custom table?

👉 Select 4 answers from the options below.

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✅ Correct Answers

✔ Create
✔ Read
✔ Write
✔ Delete

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❌ Incorrect Options

• Archive

• Access

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🔍 Detailed Explanation

When a custom table is created, the platform automatically generates a standard set of four access control rules. These rules define the most common interactions users can have with records in the table.

These default ACLs establish the baseline security model for the table.

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✔️ Automatically Created ACLs

🟢 Create

• Controls who can insert new records

• Evaluated when a user attempts to add a new entry

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🟢 Read

• Controls who can view records

• Applies to lists, forms, and related records

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🟢 Write

• Controls who can modify existing records

• Evaluated when saving changes to a record

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🟢 Delete

• Controls who can remove records

• Applied during record deletion

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❌ Why the Other Options Are Incorrect

🚫 Archive

• Archiving is a data lifecycle feature

• It is not part of the default access control rule set

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🚫 Access

• Not a valid default ACL type

• ACLs are action-based, not generic access rules

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🧠 Overall Explanation Summary

When a custom table is created, the system automatically generates four core ACLs:

Create, Read, Write, Delete

These ACLs provide a starting point for securing data and can be modified or extended as needed.

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🏁 Final Thoughts

For exam and real-world usage, remember:

• Every custom table starts with four default ACLs

• No extra rules are added unless configured manually

• Distractors often include archive or generic terms like access

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How to Start Creating an Application: Guided Application Creator quiz explained

Creating custom applications is a core capability of the platform. This question tests your understanding of where application development begins and helps distinguish foundational tools from unrelated platform features.

❓ Quiz Question

Which ServiceNow feature do you use to begin the creation of an application?

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✅ Correct Answer

✔ Guided Application Creator

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❌ Incorrect Options

• System Dictionary

• Configuration Management Database (CMDB)

• Integration Hub

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🔍 Detailed Explanation

The Guided Application Creator is the primary and recommended starting point for creating a new application. It provides a structured, step-by-step experience that helps developers set up an application quickly and correctly.

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✔️ Guided Application Creator

This is the correct answer.

• Designed specifically to start new applications

• Offers a guided setup with minimal configuration effort

• Allows applications to be usable immediately

• Supports both beginner and experienced developers

Using this feature, you can begin development without writing code and expand functionality later.

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🧩 What You Can Do with Guided Application Creator

When creating an application, the Guided Application Creator helps you:

1. Create an application record

2. Define user roles for access control

3. Designate data tables for storing information

4. Design user experiences for different roles and interfaces

After the initial setup, the application can be further enhanced using advanced development tools.

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🔁 Flexibility for Developers

• Applications created here can later be:

  • Extended with custom logic

  • Enhanced with automation

  • Opened and configured in development environments

This makes the Guided Application Creator ideal for both rapid development and long-term scalability.

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❌ Why the Other Options Are Incorrect

🚫 System Dictionary

• Used to define table fields and metadata

• Does not create applications

🚫 Configuration Management Database (CMDB)

• Stores infrastructure and service relationships

• Not related to application creation

🚫 Integration Hub

• Used for building integrations and automation

• Requires an existing application context

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🧠 Overall Explanation Summary

• The Guided Application Creator is the starting point for application creation

• It simplifies setup and accelerates development

• Other options support configuration, data, or integration—but not application creation

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🏁 Final Thoughts

For exam preparation and real-world usage, remember:

Applications begin with a guided setup—not with configuration tables or integration tools.

This distinction helps eliminate distractors quickly during certification exams.

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Service Catalogue Fulfilment Processes Quiz Explained

Understanding how ServiceNow fulfils service catalogue requests is foundational knowledge for administrators and certification candidates. This question focuses on identifying the available fulfilment process options and clarifies what is—and is not—used in real implementations.

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❓ Quiz Question

What options are available to define the fulfilment process for a service catalogue item?

👉 Select 3 answers from the options below.

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✅ Correct Answers

1. Flow

2. Workflow

3. Execution Plan

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❌ Incorrect Options

• Plan

• Roadmap

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🔍 Detailed Explanation

When a user orders a catalogue item, ServiceNow creates a request that follows a predefined fulfilment process. This process controls how approvals are handled, how tasks are created and assigned, and how the request is completed.

ServiceNow provides three supported ways to define this fulfilment process.

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✔️ 1. Flow

Flows are created using Flow Designer and represent the modern, recommended approach.

• No-code / low-code automation

• Handles approvals, tasks, notifications, and conditions

• Easy to read, maintain, and extend

✅ Best suited for: Most new implementations and future-proof designs.

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✔️ 2. Workflow

Workflows are the legacy automation method for fulfilment.

• Supports complex logic and branching paths

• Can stop or continue based on approvals or conditions

• Still widely used in existing implementations

⚠️ Note: While still supported, workflows are gradually being replaced by flows.

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✔️ 3. Execution Plan

Execution plans define simple, linear fulfilment processes.

• Describe how an item is procured, configured, or installed

• Consist of one or more predefined tasks

• No branching or complex logic

📌 Ideal for: Straightforward, task-based fulfilment scenarios.

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❌ Why the Other Options Are Incorrect

🚫 Plan

• Not a valid fulfilment mechanism for catalogue items

• Too generic and not a recognized ServiceNow fulfilment feature

🚫 Roadmap

• Typically used for strategic or planning purposes

• Has no role in request fulfilment automation

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🧠 Overall Explanation Summary

When preparing to fulfil catalogue item requests, administrators typically perform the following steps:

1. Set up fulfilment groups to assign request tasks

2. Define fulfilment processes using:

   • Flow Designer flows

   • Workflows

   • Execution plans

3. Assign the fulfilment process to catalogue items

Each fulfilment method serves a different use case, but all three are valid and supported.

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📊 Fulfilment Process Comparison Table

Feature / Aspect	Flow	Workflow	Execution Plan
Process Type	Visual, modern automation	Legacy automation	Linear task sequence
Complexity Support	Medium to high	High	Low
Branching Logic	Yes	Yes	No
Approvals	Yes	Yes	No
Task Assignment	Yes	Yes	Yes
Maintenance	Easy	Moderate	Very easy
Best Use Case	Most catalogue items	Existing complex setups	Simple fulfilment
Future-Ready	✅ Yes	⚠️ Limited	⚠️ Limited

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🧠 Quick Exam Tip Box (Optional for Blog)

Remember for exams:
✔ Fulfilment processes = Flow + Workflow + Execution Plan
✘ Ignore generic distractors like Plan or Roadmap

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🏁 Bonus: One-Line Memory Aid

Catalogue fulfilment follows either a modern flow, a legacy workflow, or a simple execution plan.

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📘 Additional Learning Resource

• Service Catalogue Request Fulfilment

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🏁 Final Thoughts

This question reinforces a key ServiceNow concept: multiple fulfilment mechanisms exist, and choosing the right one depends on complexity, maintainability, and future readiness.

For exam preparation:

• Remember Flow, Workflow, and Execution Plan

• Ignore generic-sounding distractors like Plan or Roadmap

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ServiceNow Admin Role Quiz Explained

ServiceNow role management is a critical topic that often appears in certification exams—and it can be tricky. In this article, we’ll break down a real ServiceNow quiz question related to the admin role, review the correct answers, analyze common mistakes, and provide a clear justification for each option.

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❓ Quiz Question

Which of the following is a true statement about the admin role?

👉 Select 3 answers from the options below.

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✅ Correct Answers

1. Non-admin users cannot add users to a group containing the admin role.

2. To grant the admin role to a user, the granting user must also have the admin role.

3. A user with only the admin role cannot grant the security_admin role to other users.

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❌ Incorrect / Commonly Misunderstood Options

• A user with only the user_admin role can grant the admin role to other users.

• A non-admin user with only the security_admin role can add a user to a group that contains the security_admin role.

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🔍 Detailed Explanation

Let’s walk through each statement and understand why it is correct or incorrect.

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✔️ 1. Non-admin users cannot add users to a group containing the admin role

This statement is true.

• The admin role is highly privileged.

• Only users who already have the admin role can manage group membership for groups that contain the admin role.

• This restriction prevents privilege escalation by non-admin users.

🔐 Key takeaway: Admin access is tightly controlled and cannot be indirectly granted via group management by non-admin users.

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✔️ 2. To grant the admin role to a user, the granting user must also have the admin role

This statement is true.

• ServiceNow enforces a same-role-or-higher rule.

• You cannot grant a role that you do not already possess.

• Therefore, only users with the admin role can grant the admin role to others.

📌 Exam tip: Role delegation always requires equal or higher privileges.

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✔️ 3. A user with only the admin role cannot grant the security_admin role to other users

This statement is true.

• The security_admin role is more sensitive than the standard admin role.

• Even admins cannot grant this role unless:

  1. They already have the admin role, and

  2. They elevate to security_admin explicitly.

🛡️ Why this matters: ServiceNow adds an extra layer of protection around security-related configurations.

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❌ 4. A user with only the user_admin role can grant the admin role to other users

This statement is false.

• The user_admin role allows management of users and groups.

• However, it does not allow granting the admin role.

• Granting admin access always requires the admin role itself.

🚫 Common pitfall: Assuming user_admin is powerful enough to grant all roles.

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❌ 5. A non-admin user with only the security_admin role can add a user to a group that contains the security_admin role

This statement is false.

• Even though security_admin is a powerful role, group management for privileged roles still requires admin access.

• Additionally, security_admin must be elevated and is session-based, not permanent.

⚠️ Important note: Security roles are controlled more strictly than standard administrative roles.

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🧠 Overall Summary

Here’s a consolidated view of the rules tested in this question:

• ❌ Non-admin users cannot manage admin group membership.

• ❌ The user_admin role cannot grant the admin role.

• ✅ To grant admin, you must already be admin.

• ❌ The admin role alone cannot grant security_admin.

• ✅ To grant security_admin, a user must:

  • Have the admin role

  • Elevate to security_admin before assigning it

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The elevation step is mandatory and time-bound, reinforcing ServiceNow’s defense-in-depth security model.

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🏁 Final Thoughts

Questions like this test not just memorization, but your understanding of ServiceNow’s security and role hierarchy. If you’re preparing for a CSA, CAD, or other advanced ServiceNow certifications, mastering these nuances is essential.

Happy learning 🚀

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Why ServiceNow Schedule Calendars Suddenly Stop Working (Even Without Role Changes)

Why ServiceNow Schedule Calendars Fail Unexpectedly

A user reports:

“Last month I could open the Schedule Calendar using ‘Show Schedule,’ but now I get a Security constraints prevent access message.”

No role changes.
No group changes.
No recent deployments touching On-Call.
Yet the calendar suddenly becomes inaccessible.

This scenario is far more common than it appears, and it usually isn’t a defect. It’s a data-level permission shift — a silent change that occurs underneath the roles and groups.

Let’s break it down.

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1. Schedule Access Is Not Controlled Only by Roles

Many ServiceNow users assume:

“If I’m in the right group and have on-call roles, I can access the schedule.”

But schedule access depends on ownership and underlying ACLs, especially on these tables:

• cmn_rota

• cmn_schedule

• cmn_schedule_span

If the owner group, schedule, or rota visibility shifts — even slightly — a user may lose access without any admin touching their roles.

Typical causes:

• Schedule ownership changed to a group the user is no longer part of

• Rota owner field updated accidentally

• A new ACL was introduced by another team or plugin

• A schedule was copied from another environment with different permissions

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2. “Show Schedule” Redirects to a Calendar UI Page — and That Page Enforces ACLs

The “Show Schedule” link loads a specific UI Page or UI Script that visually renders the calendar.
This page:

• Queries schedule records

• Loads rota and span data

• Renders only what the user is allowed to see

If the user fails even one ACL check on any related record (e.g., a span they cannot read), the entire page can fail with:

Security constraints prevent access to requested page

Even though the user:

• Has the same roles

• Has the same group membership

…they can still fail an ACL evaluation because the data they’re trying to view is now restricted.

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3. Why It “Used to Work” and “Now It Doesn’t”

This is the most confusing part for users.

Because someone changed:

• The schedule’s group

• The rota’s owner

• Span records’ permissions

• A schedule was overwritten or reimported

• A Dev→Test→Prod migration created mismatched access

These changes often happen silently:

• A rota owner edits the group

• Another support team updates a schedule

• Copy changes from one environment alter ownership

• A plugin update modifies ACL inheritance

No code change.
No role change.
But access breaks.

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4. The Quickest Way to Diagnose the Issue (Admin steps)

Step 1 — Test as the impacted user (Impersonate)

Try to open:

• the group

• the on-call schedule

• the specific rota

• the calendar UI Page

Find what fails.

Step 2 — Check these ACLs

Tables to review:

• cmn_schedule

• cmn_rota

• cmn_schedule_span

If any "read" ACL denies access → the calendar collapses completely.

Step 3 — Confirm schedule ownership

Check:

• Schedule → Group

• Rota → Group

• Coverage/Span → Owned by which group

If ownership belongs to a private group the user cannot see, the calendar stops loading.

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5. How to Prevent This Issue in the Future

A. Lock schedule ownership

Assign a single designated owner group for on-call schedules.
Restrict edit access.

B. Prevent accidental schedule overwrites

If teams import/export schedules across environments, enforce:

• Update sets with fixed ownership

• Restricted access to schedule tables

C. Build a diagnostic report

A simple report can flag:

• Schedules owned by private groups

• Rota records with mismatched permissions

• Spans that belong to inconsistent groups

D. Add a Knowledge Article for end-users

Instead of panic escalations, users understand:

• What the error means

• Why it occurs

• How to request access properly

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Conclusion

When “Show Schedule” suddenly stops working, it’s rarely a defect — it’s usually data-level permission drift. The underlying tables powering on-call scheduling are sensitive to ownership and group visibility, and even a small shift can break the UI Page.

With controlled ownership, regular audits, and a simple access troubleshooting checklist, this becomes a preventable issue.

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AI Won’t Steal Jobs, But Will Redefine Careers: Microsoft India Head Puneet Chandok

🤖 AI Won’t Steal Jobs, But Will Redefine Careers: Microsoft India Head Puneet Chandok

As artificial intelligence rapidly becomes embedded across industries, concerns about job losses continue to grow. Addressing these fears, Puneet Chandok, President of Microsoft India and South Asia, has offered a nuanced perspective: AI will not steal jobs outright, but it will fundamentally change how work is structured.

Speaking at the Microsoft AI Tour, Chandok said the current generation may be the last to experience stable, long-term careers in their traditional form, as AI reshapes roles, skills, and career paths.

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🧠 “AI Will Unbundle Jobs, Not Eliminate Them”

According to Chandok, AI’s real impact lies in breaking jobs into individual tasks rather than replacing entire roles.

Many modern jobs are a collection of repetitive, analytical, and creative tasks. AI systems are increasingly capable of handling:

• routine data processing

• information summarisation

• basic analysis and automation

However, human judgement, creativity, leadership, and problem-solving remain critical — meaning jobs evolve rather than disappear.

“AI will dissect and unbundle jobs,” Chandok explained, highlighting that automation will target tasks, not people.

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📉 The End of the ‘Learn Once, Work Forever’ Model

One of Chandok’s strongest messages was about the changing nature of careers.

He noted that earlier generations followed a relatively linear path:

• learn a skill early in life

• apply it consistently for decades

• retire from the same profession

In the AI era, this model no longer applies.

“You and I may be the last generation to have stable, long-term careers,” he said, stressing that professionals will likely move across multiple roles, domains, and skill sets during their working lives.

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🔄 Continuous Learning Is the New Job Security

Chandok emphasised that the real threat is not AI, but resistance to learning.

As AI tools become co-workers rather than replacements, professionals must:

• continuously reskill and upskill

• adapt to new tools and workflows

• rebundle skills as job requirements evolve

He described lifelong learning as the only sustainable form of career security in an AI-driven economy.

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🧑‍💻 How AI Is Changing the Workplace

AI is already transforming how organisations operate by:

• automating repetitive office tasks

• assisting with coding, documentation, and analysis

• enabling faster decision-making

• enhancing productivity across functions

Rather than replacing employees, AI increasingly acts as a copilot, helping workers focus on higher-value tasks.

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🌍 India’s Opportunity in the AI Era

Chandok’s remarks also underline a larger opportunity for India. With a young workforce and strong digital adoption, the country is well-positioned to:

• build AI-ready talent

• create new digital roles

• lead in responsible AI deployment

However, this advantage depends heavily on education, training, and mindset shifts across industries.

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📌 Why This Matters

The debate around AI and jobs often focuses on fear, but Chandok’s perspective reframes the conversation:

• Jobs won’t vanish overnight

• Career paths will become more dynamic

• Skills will matter more than titles

• Adaptability will outweigh experience alone

For individuals and organisations alike, embracing change early will determine success in the AI-first world.

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🧾 In Summary

Artificial intelligence is not a job destroyer — it is a job transformer. As Puneet Chandok explains, AI will reshape work by unbundling tasks, demanding continuous learning, and redefining long-term careers. Those who adapt, reskill, and collaborate with AI will remain relevant, while those who resist change may face challenges.

The future of work belongs not to machines alone — but to humans who learn to work alongside them.

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Wipro & Google Cloud Expand Partnership: Gemini AI Deployment Explained

Wipro Expands Google Cloud Pact to Deploy Gemini AI Across Global Operations

IT services giant Wipro has announced a significant expansion of its strategic partnership with Google Cloud, committing to deploy Gemini Enterprise — Google Cloud’s next-generation agentic AI platform — across its worldwide operations. 

The move aims to accelerate decision-making, improve business efficiency, and enhance employee experience by embedding advanced AI capabilities directly into core corporate functions such as finance, HR, sales, delivery, and customer support. 

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🔍 What Is Gemini Enterprise?

Gemini Enterprise is Google Cloud’s enterprise-ready AI suite designed to support intelligent automation and AI agents across organizations. It combines natural language interfaces, secure enterprise-grade controls, and tools for building custom AI workflows — enabling businesses to interact with data and applications using conversational AI and deploy production-ready AI agents at scale. 

This platform is part of Google’s broader effort to push agentic AI into enterprise applications — where AI agents can perform tasks, make recommendations, and automate workflows with minimal human intervention.

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📊 Wipro’s ‘Client Zero’ Strategy

Wipro is adopting a Client Zero approach, meaning it implements and validates AI solutions internally before offering them to clients. This way, Wipro ensures its AI tools are robust, scalable, and ready for real-world enterprise use. 

Using this strategy, the company will:

• Integrate Gemini Enterprise across internal operations to boost efficiency

• Validate and optimize AI solutions before commercial rollout

• Package tested solutions into its Wipro Intelligence™ suite for clients

• Help customers shift from pilot AI projects to secure, production-ready deployments 

This enhances both workforce productivity and client delivery capabilities.

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🌐 Google Cloud Gemini Experience Zone

As part of the expanded partnership, Google Cloud and Wipro inaugurated the Google Cloud Gemini Experience Zone at Wipro’s Partner Labs in Bengaluru. 

This facility allows enterprise customers — including those in healthcare, banking, insurance, retail, communications, and manufacturing — to explore more than 200 production-ready AI agents and experience joint solutions firsthand. 

By providing hands-on access to these AI agents, the Experience Zone helps enterprises identify value-driven use cases and accelerate AI transformation.

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🧩 Broadening the AI Ecosystem

In addition to the Google Cloud pact, Wipro also launched a Microsoft Innovation Hub at the same Partner Labs site under a new three-year partnership with Microsoft. 

Together, this dual-cloud strategy aims to:

• Fast-track AI adoption in areas such as financial services, manufacturing, healthcare, retail, and airports

• Co-develop industry-specific AI solutions

• Provide enterprises with hybrid AI capabilities across cloud platforms 

This move reflects Wipro’s broader vision to leverage multiple cloud ecosystems to deliver flexible, scalable AI solutions.

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📌 Why This Matters

📈 Accelerating Enterprise AI Adoption

Deploying Gemini AI extensively within Wipro’s own operations — and then bringing those learnings to clients — helps bridge the gap between AI experimentation and real-world production use.

🤝 Strengthening Cloud Partnerships

The expanded pact deepens ties with Google Cloud while also building strategic relationships with other hyperscalers like Microsoft, indicating a pluralistic approach to enterprise AI transformation.

🧠 Driving Digital Transformation

By embedding AI into essential business functions, Wipro aims to drive efficiency, agility, and innovation across global enterprises, setting a benchmark for responsible and scalable AI adoption. 

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📊 In Summary

Wipro’s expansion of its partnership with Google Cloud to deploy Gemini Enterprise AI marks a major step in transforming operational efficiency and enterprise AI adoption. Through internal deployment, experience-based learning, and co-development of scalable AI solutions, Wipro and Google Cloud are positioning themselves at the forefront of next-generation enterprise AI innovation.

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OpenAI GPT-5.2 Launch: Features, Capabilities & Pricing Explained

OpenAI Unveils GPT-5.2: What’s New and What It Means for AI Users

OpenAI has officially launched GPT-5.2, the latest iteration in its Generative Pretrained Transformer series, featuring significant improvements in reasoning, speed, real-world task performance, and professional workflows. 

Partnering with industry leaders like Microsoft and Nvidia, this release represents a continued push by OpenAI to maintain leadership in advanced artificial intelligence. 

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🔍 Key Features & Capabilities

🧠 Improved Reasoning and Long-Context Understanding

GPT-5.2 exhibits stronger reasoning abilities over extended inputs, making it better suited for:

• Deep analysis

• Long document summarisation

• Complex multi-source workflows

This is enabled by a substantial extension in context processing compared to prior versions. 

📊 Real-World Task Performance

OpenAI reports that GPT-5.2 outperforms human professionals on knowledge work benchmarks covering 44 occupations, including creating presentations and spreadsheets more efficiently. 

GPT-5.2’s Thinking variant produces results faster and more accurately than previous generations, and shows a meaningful lift in overall quality. 

💻 Enhanced Coding and Software Engineering

GPT-5.2 sets new performance standards on software engineering benchmarks, demonstrating stronger capabilities in:

• Debugging

• Multi-language code generation

• Complex feature implementation
  compared to its predecessor GPT-5.1.

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💡 Model Variants and Access

GPT-5.2 is available in three primary variants:

Variant	Primary Use Case
Instant	Fast responses, general assistance, translations
Thinking	In-depth analysis, reasoning, coding
Pro	High-complexity tasks and professional workloads

All variants are accessible under paid OpenAI subscription plans — including Plus, Pro, Business, and Enterprise — with gradual rollout across regions. 

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💰 Pricing Overview

OpenAI has introduced token-based pricing for GPT-5.2’s API usage:

• $1.75 per million input tokens

• $14 per million output tokens

• 90% discount on cached inputs

This reflects the premium performance capabilities of the model compared with earlier versions. 

These pricing structures apply primarily to developers and enterprise users leveraging GPT-5.2 for AI-driven applications, workflows, and platforms.

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📈 Competitive Context

The launch of GPT-5.2 comes amid intensified competition from other large AI models — notably Google’s Gemini line — with industry benchmarks showing AI firms aggressively innovating in reasoning, coding, and multi-modal tasks. 

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🧠 Why This Matters

🎯 Productivity Amplification

GPT-5.2’s improvements make it a powerful co-pilot for tasks that previously required manual expert effort — from summarisation to generating structured outputs like spreadsheets and code.

🛠 Developer and Enterprise Value

The expanded reasoning power and advanced performance benchmarks open new possibilities for embedding GPT-5.2 in internal tools, applications, and business processes.

🌍 AI Evolution

This release demonstrates that generative AI is rapidly moving toward more capable, context-aware systems that can assist across domains — from technical coding to professional knowledge workflows.

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🧾 In Summary

OpenAI’s GPT-5.2 represents a meaningful step forward in generative AI. By combining stronger reasoning capabilities with enhanced task performance and a structured pricing model, it expands the practical utility of large AI models across professional, developer, and enterprise environments. As adoption spreads, GPT-5.2 is positioned to influence productivity tools, coding assistants, and real-world problem-solving workflows.

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Reddit Challenges Australia’s Groundbreaking Under-16 Social Media Ban: Tech, Law & Free Speech Explained

Reddit Challenges Australia’s World-First Under-16 Social Media Ban

California-based online platform Reddit has filed a legal challenge in Australia’s High Court against the country’s newly enacted law that bans users under the age of 16 from holding accounts on major social media platforms. 

This legislation, considered the first of its kind worldwide, took effect recently and represents a major moment in how governments attempt to regulate youth access to social media.

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📌 What the Law Says

Under the new Social Media Minimum Age (SMMA) law, platforms such as Reddit, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X (formerly Twitter), Snapchat, Threads, Twitch and Kick must take “reasonable steps” to prevent Australians under 16 from maintaining accounts. 

Failure to comply can result in fines of up to A$49.5 million (approximately $33 million) per platform. 

Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, is responsible for enforcing the law and has already begun issuing compliance notices to the affected platforms.

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⚖️ Why Reddit Is Suing

In its court filing, Reddit argues that the law is:

✔ Unconstitutional because it infringes on Australia’s implied freedom of political communication,
✔ Imprecise or misapplied to Reddit’s community-forum model, which it says isn’t traditional “social media,”
✔ Potentially leading to intrusive age-verification measures that could affect adults as well as minors, and
✔ Creating a patchwork of platform inclusion that doesn’t reflect real user behaviour. 

Reddit’s legal action follows a similar challenge filed by the Digital Freedom Project, a Sydney-based rights group representing two teenagers. 

Despite lodging the lawsuit, Reddit says it will continue to comply with the law while the court reviews the case. 

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🧠 Core Issues Highlighted

🔍 Age Verification and Privacy

The law doesn’t specify how platforms must verify ages, leaving companies to consider methods such as:

• biometric age estimation (e.g., analyzing video selfies),

• uploading government IDs,

• or cross-referencing existing data.

Platforms argue these measures could be privacy invasive and technically challenging. 

💬 Free Expression and Political Communication

Reddit contends that restricting accounts for teens could inadvertently curtail access to information and youth participation in public discourse, a key consideration when evaluating constitutional rights.

🧑‍💻 Platform Inclusion Criteria

Reddit also disputes its classification as a “social media” platform under the law, noting its forum-style model and largely adult user base.

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🏛️ Government Position

Officials in the Albanese government have defended the law, framing it as a measure to protect children from online harms. While they have reiterated support for the regulation, detailed public comments remain limited due to the court challenge. 

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🕒 What’s Next

A preliminary High Court hearing has been set to organise the full hearing schedule early in 2026. It remains to be seen whether Reddit’s challenge will be heard jointly with the Digital Freedom Project case or separately. 

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📊 Why This Matters to Tech and Policy

This development is significant for several reasons:

• Technology regulation: Australia’s law may set a global precedent for age-based access controls.

• Privacy vs safety balance: Platforms are wrestling with how to protect users without compromising privacy.

• Legal interpretations of digital rights: Free speech and political communication are now central in tech legal battles.

• Technical compliance challenges: Platforms must develop scalable age-verification solutions or face penalties.

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🧾 Summary

Reddit’s legal challenge against Australia’s under-16 social media law represents a critical intersection of tech policy, digital rights, regulatory compliance, and platform governance. As courts begin to scrutinise this groundbreaking regulation, the outcomes may influence how other countries approach online safety and youth access to digital platforms.

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