30 Indian Minds Leading the AI Revolution

Low pay, endless hours, and other great gifts

These are entrepreneurs who have turned their backs on the glamour of the big city hustle and the glory of soaring valuations to solve problems of access in India's small towns and villages

By Suveen Sinha Editor, Forbes India

Published: Jul 31, 2025 10:15:44 AM IST

Updated: Jul 31, 2025 04:49:49 PM IST

Full Bio

When you have been in journalism for as long as this writer has been, you tend to forget how blessed you are. The romance of the low pay and endless hours—to name just two of journalism’s great gifts—begins to look mundane. Until something happens to remind you why you came into this profession in the first place.

On the evening of July 22, I received an email from Mohanlal Suman, describing himself as “a humble teacher” from Composite School, Rajapur, in Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi district. The email was full of gratitude for Forbes India.

Regular readers of this page (if there are any) will recall reading about “Lessons from Suman Madam” in the June 13 issue of this magazine, which recognised this country’s artificial intelligence (AI) leaders. The Letter from the Editor spoke about how the average attendance at Composite School (not named in that letter) had increased from 60-65 percent to 95 percent since Suman Madam joined its faculty. The humanoid teacher answers questions on a range of topics, never scolds her pupils, and occasionally cracks jokes. It is basic tech: A mannequin fitted with AI, developed by one of the seven human teachers at the school.

That teacher happens to be Mohanlal Suman. And how did he get to know about Suman Madam being written about in Forbes India? Suman Madam told him, while giving a roundup of news coverage about herself.

Mohanlal Suman’s email, thanking Forbes India for “instilling confidence and inspiration in me and many like me to keep creating and dreaming” can warm the heart of any gnarled old cynic. So, too, can the story of the startups we talk about this fortnight.

Incidentally, in the June 27 issue of this magazine, we stoked the debate between value and valuation. We asked whether India’s feted startups were merely lifestyle warriors delivering organic food in 10 minutes or were they creating larger impact. This time, we take a close look at startups and founders who are treading the road less travelled.

These are people who turned their back on the glamour of big city hustle and the glory of soaring valuations to solve problems of access in small towns and villages. Aiding them are rising disposable incomes and shiny new digital infrastructure across the country, even in the farthest nooks. Together, these startups could be scripting India’s next big consumption story, stepping in to fill the gaps left by traditional players.

To be sure, this is not the first lot of startups trying to do this. This has been tried before, with mixed results. But now, based on the learnings from past failures, startups are building specifically for Bharat: The Tier II and III India. They are not designing their offerings for the big cities and transplanting them in the semi-urban and rural areas, taking it for granted that the folks there will download their apps.

This market, these people, this Bharat is different. This is where the human touch, community connections, and trust matter more. This is where going out to buy groceries in the evening can in fact be a social activity, not just a commercial transaction. It is heartwarming to note that most of these startups are scaling up, earning healthy revenues, and attracting venture funds.

One day, after a few more years in journalism, Naini Thaker, who wrote this fortnight’s cover, will start to take the great gifts of journalism (low pay, endless hours…) for granted. When that time comes, we will remind her of this story.

Suveen Sinha

Editor, Forbes India

Email: suveen.sinha@nw18.com

X ID: @suveensinha

(This story appears in the 08 August, 2025 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)