Binny Bansal Set to Take Off with AI-Powered Stealth Startup!

After amassing a substantial wealth in the Indian e-commerce industry, billionaire Binny Bansal is now venturing into the AI-as-a-service sector with a startup that aims to cater to customers worldwide. This move allows him to tap into the rapidly expanding market segment.

Bansal, who co-founded online retailer Flipkart and sold it to Walmart Inc., has hired 15 experts — mostly artificial intelligence researchers — for the project and plans to add more quickly, according to people familiar with the matter. He wants to offer AI capabilities, products and services to corporate clients, mimicking the business model of outsourcing providers such as Tata Consultancy Services Ltd and Infosys Ltd, the people said, asking not to be named because the company is not yet public.

The startup is headquartered in Bengaluru and headquartered in Singapore, where it is stealthy for now and will launch its offering within months, the people said. It also plans to expand into the United States, one of the people said.

Companies around the world are looking to harness artificial intelligence, encouraged by new tools such as Microsoft Corp.-backed OpenAI Inc.’s ChatGPT chatbot. This has led to a huge demand for AI experts, and Bansal aims to tap into India’s vast English-speaking, youthful talent pool. population to train more experts for new types of artificial intelligence services.

While Bansal is playing his cards close to his vest on exactly what products he plans to offer, he will target the legal and e-commerce industries first, one of the people said. The startup also plans to offer services in the fields of financial services and data science and analytics. Its goal is to put the products and services into use and start marketing in the second half of 2024.

Bansal, 40, declined to comment.

The billionaire moved to Singapore after selling his Bengaluru-based internet company and now commutes between cities. The AI startup focuses on training talent and providing services from small towns in India where the cost of living is lower.

Bansal and his Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal (no relation) graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, and worked at Amazon.com Inc. before quitting in their mid-20s. They founded Flipkart as a more local Indian e-tailer, inspired by Amazon, nearly six years before the Seattle giant entered the country’s retail market. Binny became Flipkart’s COO and then CEO before selling a majority stake in the company to Walmart in 2018 for $16 billion.

Binny gradually sold his entire stake in Flipkart to Walmart and started investing in tech startups in recent years. He owns shares in Walmart-owned fintech PhonePe Pvt and remains on Flipkart’s board.

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