Rahul Taneja, a partner at Lightspeed, believes that artificial intelligence (AI) is fundamentally reshaping various aspects of how tasks are performed.
However, he emphasises that we are still in the early stages of the AI cycle, despite the current hype surrounding it.
“The few of us who are deeply embedded in the ecosystem realise AI is unlike a lot of micro optimisations that you would have seen. AI is truly changing how a lot of things are done,” he said.
Tanja explained that has an impact on two or three different things, the first of which is productivity. “Many companies are working on copilots that assist their employees and make them a lot more efficient. AI is also impacting companies in domains like IT services, etc, which were solving for efficiency historically by offshoring, but now accelerating that efficiency using offshoring and the combination of AI,” Taneja stated in an interview with CNBC-TV18.
Taneja identifies two additional areas where AI is influencing change. Firstly, in the realm of creativity, AI is substantially reducing the time and increasing the productivity of content creation. Secondly, enterprises are increasingly utilising AI to enhance mechanical task performance, particularly in areas like financial services.
Harsha Kumar, another partner at Lightspeed, highlighted the emergence of generative AI in application layers for the consumer tech sector.
Harsha also notes the growing influence of generative AI in the gaming industry. Contrary to historical perceptions, she observes a significant shift in the willingness of Indian consumers to pay, particularly facilitated by micropayments and the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
Kumar supports her observations with statistics, indicating a notable increase in average in-app purchases in India over the past three years. She cites the example of the game BGMI, which achieved a revenue run rate of $16 million in India within six months of its launch.
Kumar sees generative AI as a catalyst for enhancing the gaming experience, automating live operations, and delivering personalized content, ultimately encouraging users to make more payments.
Despite challenges such as the 28% Goods and Services Tax (GST) on gaming, Kumar remains optimistic about the industry’s growth. She points out that the tax has not hindered founders, innovators, or investors from participating in the gaming space.
Kumar views online gaming as a market that was valued at $2 billion 2-3 years ago and is expected to reach $5 billion by the year 2025, representing a flourishing wave that she finds personally exciting.
Watch video for entire conversation.