Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal is all set to capitalize on the demand for artificial intelligence and start his own AI company to serve corporate clients around the world, according to a Bloomberg report, citing sources.
Bansal, who co-founded online retailer Flipkart and sold it to Walmart Inc., wants to offer AI talent, products and services to corporate customers, emulating the business model of outsourcing providers like TCS and Infosys.
As per the report, the team has hired 15 people, mostly AI scientists, and plans to add more staff to roll out offerings within the next few months.
The 40-year-old billionaire is reportedly looking to tap the country’s large English-speaking young population to train more experts for new AI services, which is high on demand nowadays. The focus will be on “training talent and offering services” from smaller cities in India. The startup also plans to offer services in the fields of financial services and data science and analytics.
Regarding the new beginning, details on the exact products were not available, but the launch is expected in the second half of 2024. The new venture will be based in Bengaluru, but headquartered in Singapore, and according to sources, has plans to expand to the US.
However, one of the sources said it plans to target the legal and e-commerce industries first. The next moves will likely be in the analytics, data science and financial services sectors, they added.
Bansal co-founded Flipkart with his IIT-Delhi colleague Sanchin Bansal, with whom he worked at Amazon Inc. before quitting. Binny Bansal was Flipkart’s CEO when he sold his entire majority stake in the company to Walmart for $16 billion in 2018.
