India Shifts to Product Economy: A Deep-Tech Revolution

In an announcement at the AI-India Impact Summit, industry experts have heralded the transformation of India’s economy from being services-led to product-driven, propelled by investments in deep technology. Sudhir Sethi, Founder and Chairman of Chiratae Ventures, along with Arun Kumar, Chair of India Deep Tech Alliance and Managing Partner at Celesta Capital, stressed the promising potential that every facet of the technology sector now offers.

Sethi highlighted this shift by tracing the evolution of Indian entrepreneurs' backgrounds. He remarked on how, two decades ago, founders predominantly hailed from service companies such as HCL and Wipro. This evolved through talents emerging from the Indian wings of tech giants like Google and Microsoft and subsequently from Indian e-commerce entities like Flipkart, to now being driven by product design and engineering sectors.

Kumar pointed out the essential roles semiconductors, advanced manufacturing, and the integration of biology with computer science will play in the future. He also noted the importance of Global Capability Centres as hubs of innovation and emphasised the need for policy shifts to foster business growth, urging for an easier business environment, expedited regulations, and strategic government support through programs like the Research, Development and Innovation Fund.