Global AI Conclave 2024: Indian SaaS founders talk about their GenAI strategy

SaaS founders (From Left to Right) - Arvind Parthiban, cofounder SuperOps; Srividhya Srinivasan, cofounder Amagi, Aakrit Vaish, advisor IndiaAI Mission; Khadim Batti,cofounder Whatfix

From customer support service to specific functions like workflow automation, the generative artificial intelligence revolution isn't just knocking at the door of SaaS companies – it's already transformed their businesses, said multiple SaaS founders at the Moneycontrol Global AI Conclave held on November 22 in Bengaluru.

As generative AI reshapes the software landscape, leading SaaS firms are racing to adapt, facing crucial decisions about everything from talent acquisition to their fundamental business models.

"We were investing in building vision models even before ChatGPT was rolled out because we saw value in that. We looked at our current software stack and how we could involve AI in all those functions. We created training modules for all our key engineers to help them see how we can integrate AI in all our engineering functions," said Khadim Batti, cofounder and CEO of Whatfix.

Softbank-backed Whatfix, a business-to-business digital adoption platform, is building its own generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) vision model for its customers, which will be disruptive.

The firm is also building AI Labs to train its engineers to innovate their existing functions with AI.

“We created a separate environment itself to learn and use AI. We set up AI Lab and within that AI teams started working on some moonshots within AI that we can take advantage of,” Batti added.

Similarly, SuperOps, an IT services automation and remote management startup, is using AI to drive value to its customers, which is helping in their monetisation strategies.

"We are positioning our AI products as a value-add for our users, instead of straightaway introducing separate pricing. Rather than positioning it as an AI cost, we are letting our customers try it and see how they can drive value. Then we charge them, which they are happy to pay," said Arvind Parthiban, cofounder of SuperOps.

MediaTech SaaS unicorn Amagi is also experimenting and introducing AI functions into its offerings.

"For a media-based company, we cover all functions from when content gets captured on camera to what you see on television. When we look at AI, our generative AI investments should either result in cost optimization for customers or revenue addition for us. For example, we can use predictive AI analysis for advertising," said Srividhya Srinivasan, cofounder of Amagi.

Amagi was founded by Baskar Subramanian, Srinivasan KA and Srividhya Srinivasan in 2008. Other areas of implementing AI include automating workflows like scheduling ads and programs etc, Srinivasan added.

Aakrit Vaish who is the advisor to IndiaAI Mission as well as an investor at PeerCheque said that SaaS is getting rebranded.

"Every function is now getting rebranded as agents. I don't see anything getting killed, but everything is getting adapted and rebranded as AI-first or Agent-first. India has a massive opportunity for services-led AI, which we are seeing play out now," said Vaish at the conclave.