Meesho

Building AI Products for Indian Users Exposes the Hard Limits of Scale, Access and Cost

India’s AI opportunity is large, but the route to mass adoption is narrower than the hype suggests. For startups, the real test is not whether models can impress early users, but whether they can work reliably across low-cost devices, uneven connectivity, and price-sensitive markets. That tension is now shaping product strategy across sectors, from commerce to customer support, as founders weigh voice interfaces, local-language design, and infrastructure costs against the economics of serving millions of users.