New Delhi: After conquering the world of Indian e-commerce and amassing a fortune, Binny Bansal is about to unleash his next venture onto the global stage. This brilliant mind, known for co-founding Flipkart and selling it to Walmart Inc., is assembling a powerhouse team of 15 AI experts, primarily AI professionals, with ambitious plans to expand rapidly.
Binny’s vision is to provide AI expertise, cutting-edge products, and services to corporate clients, following in the footsteps of giants like Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys. While the startup’s primary hub will be in Bengaluru, it’s strategically headquartered in Singapore, shrouded in secrecy for now, and poised to unveil its groundbreaking offerings in just a matter of months. And there’s more to come – the startup has its sights set on the United States as part of its grand expansion strategy.
With AI becoming the driving force in industries worldwide, thanks to innovative tools like Microsoft-backed OpenAI Inc.’s ChatGPT, there’s an insatiable demand for AI specialists. Binny Bansal’s masterstroke is to harness India’s vast English-speaking, youthful talent pool to shape the future of AI services.
While Binny remains tight-lipped about the precise offerings, one thing’s for sure: he’s targeting e-commerce sectors as the startup’s initial conquests. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The plan includes forays into financial services, data science, and analytics. The grand unveiling of their products and services, along with a full-scale marketing blitz, is scheduled for the second half of 2024.
Binny is now set to bridge the gap between cities, focusing on training talent and providing services from India’s smaller, cost-effective urban centres.
Binny Bansal and Flipkart Co-Founder Sachin Bansal both graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi and are former Amazon employees. They laid the foundation for Flipkart, India’s answer to online retail, well before Amazon’s foray into the Indian market. Binny played a pivotal role, from Chief Operating Officer to Chief Executive Officer, eventually selling a majority stake to Walmart in 2018 for a whopping $16 billion.
Binny’s story didn’t end there; he gradually divested his entire Flipkart stake to Walmart and began investing in tech startups. Today, he holds shares in Walmart-owned fintech company PhonePe and continues to be an influential figure on Flipkart’s board.
