AI start-ups focus on affordable personalisation
Artificial intelligence has moved beyond novelty in everyday routines. Many people now rely on AI assistants to write emails, resolve customer service problems, or consume content without noticing the technology behind it. While enthusiasm for these tools continues, doubts persist about whether AI truly solves problems or simply rebrands existing solutions with new terminology.
Greater access and personalization
From the user’s perspective, new consumer AI start-ups have dramatically improved affordability and personalisation across many services. Historically, services like personal assistants, stylists or wealth advisers are premium offerings due to high human costs. AI changes this equation by making these affordable to the mass market while enabling consistent quality outcomes.
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More importantly, AI enables personalisation at scale. Instead of blanket solutions designed for cohorts of “similar” users, products can adapt to the individual—learning from past behaviour and preferences. Though price sensitivity is high in India, a growing middle-class and time-rich consumers are creating deep opportunity pools for consumer AI. Think of an AI tutor that adjusts its teaching style based on how you learn rather than how the class learns.
For most users, the difference between AI-first and AI-enabled products is irrelevant. Adoption happens when AI quietly runs in the background and solves real problems significantly better than existing alternatives. AI has a natural advantage in areas where expertise is scarce, expensive and/or specialised and can often enhance the effectiveness of human specialists.
The shift is visible across multiple industries. In education, perhaps the most obvious frontier, learning is inherently feedback-driven and traditionally reliant on human attention—making it expensive and difficult to scale while maintaining quality. AI changes this by enabling real-time assessment, correction and personalised learning journeys at scale. Language learning and exam preparation are especially promising with start-ups like Supernova and Disha AI leveraging AI well for personalising user journeys.
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Reshaping life
The rise of multimodal AI has also reshaped content. AI tools can now generate, remix and personalise content across formats—entertainment, learning, shopping, etc. Chai Shots, which uses AI to create micro drama series, blurs the line between creators and consumers by democratising content creation.
AI assistants are also emerging as companions offering conversation, guidance and emotional support without social friction and fear of judgement. Rumik AI has seen strong engagement and retention since its AI companion has a plethora of context about its users and converses with empathy. In professional settings, it is reshaping networks by improving access to experts, enabling faster discovery of relevant individuals, and accelerating hiring and collaboration.
When it comes to commerce, AI’s role is increasingly about curation and decision support. Traditional marketplaces have solved access but created clutter. AI can help users handle abundance—by recommending what is ‘right for me’, acting as stylists or personal shoppers. We are also seeing similar capabilities in categories like health coaches, financial advisers, and travel agents—where the value of informed, personalised decision-making is high. 30Sundays is an AI-run platform that provides personalised holiday planning.
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Obstacles remain. Monetization is still uncertain for many consumer AI startups, which face high server costs, distribution expenses, and competition for talent. Only a small number have achieved strong engagement, retention, and revenue. In India, cost sensitivity is a barrier, though the expanding middle class presents a significant opportunity. The ease of developing AI products has also raised expectations—success now requires constant innovation and execution.
Legal and ethical concerns add complexity. Users may not always recognize when they interact with AI, and over-reliance on AI personas poses risks. The intelligence is here, and consumers are experiencing useful products and services like never before. Shoppin, an AI-powered fashion discovery
