ET Soonicorns Summit 2025: “India lags behind the US, China in foundational tech”

The disconnect is jarring. Jonathan Ross from Groq visits Bengaluru. MIT researchers explore breakthrough AI concepts with Indian teams. A local team invents a transformer model that catches global attention. Yet, according to those closest to India’s startup ecosystem, there’s a strange absence of urgency among Indian entrepreneurs about the AI revolution unfolding around them.

“When I’m in the US, I see the tech happening there, and when I return to India, it often feels like going back in time,” said Raghunandan G, founder of Zolve, whose fintech company operates between both markets. “Global leaders see the potential here. But strangely, I don’t think people in India feel that same sense of urgency or possibility.”