AI startups to focus on turning pilots into scalable products: Google India country manager Lobana

AI startups need to focus on converting pilots to full-fledged products that can scale and generate revenues, said Google India vice president and country manager Preeti Lobana.

“What matters now is not what looks impressive or sounds like a buzzword, but how that technology is deployed. Is it improving decision-making? Are we getting some efficiency? Is it augmenting our creativity? Are we really getting real value at scale?,” Lobana said at the Google AI Startups Conclave, and noted that India has the potential to create impactful innovations and take them to the global stage.

“Every major shift in technology — from mobiles to payments to ecommerce — succeeded because founders, governments, investors, customers, universities, platforms joined hands and moved together. AI would follow the same path,” she said on Thursday.


In India’s digital journey, while the earlier phase focussed on access and bringing people online, the next AI-driven phase will centre on building capabilities, she explained.

Earlier, ET had reported that Indian AI startups are attracting global venture capital firms. US-based Insight Venture Partners, Iconiq Capital, and Sierra Ventures are among the first movers, while First Round Capital, QuantumLight Capital, and some others are looking for investments.

According to Lobana, though India has abundant talent and ambition, founders face real hurdles when it comes to scaling up. In the AI space, a key challenge is access to advanced computing, along with the high cost of turning a successful prototype into a product that can be deployed at scale in India and overseas, and of reaching customers beyond the early adoption stage.

“We see pilots work really well, but do they scale? Our role at Google is to help navigate these transitions more smoothly,” she added, as the tech giant launched the Google Market Access Programme which aims to help Indian AI startups transition from pilot projects to long-term enterprise contracts.

This comes at a time when India is accelerating efforts to build a sovereign AI stack, and a dozen startups and institutions backed by the government’s IndiaAI Mission are preparing to launch indigenous foundation models. Many of these launches are timed around the India AI Impact Summit next month.