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While markets like the US are mostly using GenAI for customer support in a bid to cut costs, India Inc. is using them as an opportunity to grow revenues, generate business leads and sales support, Yellow.ai cofounder and chief executive Raghu Ravinutala told ET.
Founded in 2016 in Bengaluru, Yellow.ai is backed by Sapphire Ventures, Westbridge Capital, Salesforce Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners, among investors. It has raised about $102 million in funding so far, as per Tracxn.
Among its clients, Bajaj Auto Finance has generated over 100 leads using the San Mateo, California-headquartered company’s GenAI chatbot, and a leading non-banking financier saw over 400 auto-loan applications, Ravinutala noted. A top two-wheeler maker sold motorcycles worth about Rs 1 crore in the first day of launch through the GenAI assistant while a leading finance company secured potential customers or sales leads worth about $100 million.
Ravinutala said Yellow.ai is considering a public listing in the US by 2026-27 by when the market is expected to recover from the current subdued macroeconomic climate. The company expects to turn profitable this year.
Yellow.ai has been witnessing a surge in demand for its GenAI offerings since the quarter ended October. At the time, it rolled out around 100 bots across financial services, travel, retail and ecommerce, and technology sectors. The company follows the February to January period as its financial year.
“Q4 (the quarter ending January) is the largest quarter we are ever having for India in terms of platform ARR (annual recurring revenue) and India is also leading in terms of the GenAI adoption on the Yellow.ai platform,” Ravinutala said.
The company expects the Indian market to grow more than 60% next year, when revenue from India is expected to be $20-30 million with the overall global revenue at $60-70 million run rate. It is currently at a $30-40 million revenue run rate globally, growing at 60-70% annually. In FY25, it expects revenue to double.
According to research by Adobe, most companies in India are cutting marketing and customer experience budgets, with 42% having done so and 37% planning to do so over the next year. Nearly 60% plan to deploy GenAI in these areas.
The global macroeconomic slowdown coupled with companies’ increased urgency to adopt GenAI has created growth opportunities for Yellow.ai. “They (customers) are looking at cutting costs, and our core value proposition is reducing cost and customer support by replacing agents and humans through automation,” Ravinutala said.
Automation and efficiencies from GenAI have also enabled the company to proceed with a measured approach to hiring and employee strength, Ravinutala said. The company cut about 13% of its workforce at the start of 2023. It currently has 680 employees, of which about 570 are based in India.
“Over the next few years, we don’t see this (employee strength) going to 1,000-2,000,” Ravinutala said.
