The current global expenditure for domain-specific AI solutions is $5 billion and is growing at a CAGR of 40%.
The report titled “Vibe50 Emerging Vertical AI Startups,” launched on July 10 by the AI startup accelerator Upekkha, highlighted that Indian companies hold structural advantages rising out of close to 20 years of IT services that have created over 100,000 engineers who understand both US enterprise workflows and Indian operations realities.
“They are building vertical AI at a fraction of the cost of Bay Area teams. When you combine it with proven cross-border GTM advantage, you get a machine unmatched,” the report said.
“The next $10 billion outcomes in AI will come from companies solving real workflow problems in specific industries,” the report noted.
The vertical AI solutions focus on building proprietary platforms and automating entire workflows across industries, such as finance, healthcare, manufacturing, logistics, and energy.
One of the biggest challenges in the adoption of AI was the lack of clarity on how technology was evolving. “Not just Indian enterprises, but also those in the US were adopting it slowly,” said Thiyagarajan Maruthavanan, managing partner, Upekkha, addressing media persons during the report launch. That is beginning to change, he said, as more clarity is emerging and companies are opening up their purse strings.
The revenue growth for AI startups has also been significant, with companies like Anthropic reporting annual revenues of $4 billion, up from $1 billion it reported at the beginning of the year.
The report noted that along with enterprise readiness and more clarity, compute cost is going down, resulting in vertical AI adoption across industries. “Indian startups are uniquely positioned to lead this revolution given their talent density, cost advantages, and global mindset,” the report said.
