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We’re in the early innings of AI, and the playbook for building companies is already changing. In this episode of SeedToScale, Shekhar Kirani, Partner at Accel, sits down with Jason Graefe, CVP of Microsoft’s AI Partner Catalyst Team, to unpack what’s actually changing in the AI era. From building products to winning enterprise customers, the playbook is being rewritten in real time. Jason brings a unique vantage point, working closely with some of the fastest-scaling AI companies globally, while also operating inside Microsoft at the forefront of AI transformation. The insights are practical, grounded, and directly relevant to founders building today. Here’s what we explore in this episode: • Why we’re still in the “early innings” of AI, and what that means for founders • The shift from horizontal AI tools to durable, workflow-driven products • Why the first enterprise sale is always a trust sale • How design partners can accelerate product-market fit • Speed as a moat: why faster iteration is defining winners • The role of “taste” in building products users actually stick with • Why go-to-market needs to be built from day one, not as an afterthought • The “golden age of margin”: reducing costs while creating entirely new products • India’s structural advantage in building and scaling AI startups If you’re a founder, builder, or operator trying to understand how to win in the AI cycle, this conversation is a clear, grounded playbook. Chapters: 0:00 - Introduction 0:58 - India’s startup energy and why this market stands out 2:07 - What’s changed since pre-COVID 3:18 - Global AI ecosystems and where India fits 4:42 - The rise of second-generation founders in India 6:05 - Why startups are scaling faster than ever 7:26 - From Flipkart to AI-native companies: the infra shift 9:12 - Is the AI market already crowded? 10:36 - Why we’re still in the early innings of AI 11:48 - AI in traditional industries: where we actually are 12:31 - The “golden age of margin” explained 13:52 - Startups hitting profitability faster with AI 15:04 - Moving atoms vs moving bits: what AI can’t disrupt easily 17:18 - Where the real opportunities still exist 18:42 - Horizontal vs vertical AI: speed vs durability 20:11 - Building AI products that adapt to enterprises 22:07 - Why personalization creates sticky products 23:34 - Software that feels like it’s built for you 25:02 - Enterprise AI adoption: two buyer behaviors 26:41 - Why the first sale is always a trust sale 28:06 - How to win your first design partners 29:52 - Enterprises are more open than ever to co-building 31:08 - Surviving rapid LLM evolution 32:14 - Taste: the ultimate differentiator in AI products 33:27 - Real-time feedback loops → faster product iteration 34:52 - Speed as the new moat 36:09 - Domain experts vs first-principles builders 37:42 - First-mover advantage in AI 39:03 - How product + GTM cycles are compressing 40:18 - Why GTM must be built from day one 42:06 - Experimentation in go-to-market 43:38 - India as a proving ground for global products 45:11 - Why early customers matter more than big logos 47:02 - Product-led vs forward-deployed models 48:36 - Selling outcomes, not software 50:07 - India’s structural advantage in AI talent 51:19 - The culture of learning driving adoption 52:27 - Outro Follow SeedToScale on LinkedIn: / seedtoscale Follow Shekhar Kirani on LinkedIn: / kirani Follow Jason Graefe on LinkedIn: / jason-graefe #SeedToScale #Microsoft #Accel #AI #AIFounders #Startups #ArtificialIntelligence #Product #GoToMarket #IndiaTech #AIStartups

In this episode of PitchCraft, Ixigo MD and Group CEO Aloke Bajpai joins early investor Shailesh Lakhani to revisit the company’s 2016 Series B deck, a moment that captured Ixigo at an inflection point in India’s evolving travel market. The conversation traces how Ixigo moved beyond being a travel meta-search engine by focusing relentlessly on solving customer pain points across flights, trains, and buses, while betting early on mobile growth and product-led innovation. Shailesh reflects on what built conviction after years of tracking the founders: disciplined execution, resilience through multiple crises, and the willingness to pivot from aggregation to owning transactions when customer experience demanded it. They unpack the strategic shifts, and long-term decisions that shaped Ixigo’s journey from startup to publicly listed travel technology leader.

Founders today are building in an environment shaped by constant technological shifts and evolving team dynamics. In this episode, Gokul Rajaram, Partner at Marathon Management Partners and early backer of companies like CRED, Figma, Curefit, and Postman, shares how he thinks about building startups that endure. Drawing on his experience as a product leader, investor, and board member, Gokul reflects on the patterns he’s seen across hundreds of companies. The conversation explores how founders navigate inflection points, scale teams responsibly, make irreversible decisions, and earn trust over time—with customers, teams, and investors. Gokul also speaks candidly about what tends to break early companies, and what quietly compounds when founders get the fundamentals right.

Behind every funding decision lies hours of evaluation founders never get to witness. This episode of SeedToScale offers a rare backstage pass into the room where ideas are dissected, and where a simple yes or no is anything but simple. Seasoned investors, Mukul Arora, Co-Managing Partner at Elevation Capital, and Rajan Anandan, Managing Director at Peak XV, sit for a discussion with Anand Daniel, Partner, Accel, to unpack what really happens, from the first cold email to the final investment committe vote. The conversation goes beyond the cliches and gets brutally honest about how thousands of startups get filtered.

“Founders need to stop assuming VCs are Excel junkies.” In this episode of PitchCraft, Pratik Agarwal, Partner at Accel, breaks down how investors really evaluate startups today. We’re no longer in a copy-paste playbook era. Founders are building unfamiliar ideas across AI, consumer, SaaS, fintech, and deep tech and investors are comparing radically different businesses side by side. In that world, numbers alone don’t create conviction. Pratik introduces the CORE framework, a universal pitch memo designed to help founders communicate what truly matters: • Change: What has shifted in the world that makes this idea inevitable now • Opportunity: Why this is a real, urgent problem with undeniable pull • Resilience: How the business can compound, defend itself, and become a default • Edge: The founder’s unique perspective and right to win In this episode. Pratik walks through how this framework is already being used, and why it works across geographies, stages, and sectors. If you’re a founder raising capital, refining your pitch deck, or struggling to get investors to really get your idea, this episode is your playbook.

Doctor visits are short. Health journeys are long. In this episode, Anuruddh Mishra, Founder & CEO of August AI, talks about building an AI-led health companion designed to support patients beyond brief clinical interactions. He shares how August is built to retain personal health context over time, stay available when questions come up, and help people make sense of scattered medical information across their journey. Watch the full episode for the complete conversation. Chapters: 0:09 - Intro 0:33 - What is an AI health companion 3:06 - As an engineer, why did you choose to get into this field related to health? 8:04 - Did you worry about ChatGPT being a competition? 10:15 - How do you look at benchmarks? 14:31 - How is it performing versus human doctors? 15:40 - Why are you a horizontal health AI platform? 17:53 - Where does August AI stand in terms of memory? 21:37 - Is August’s memory different from general purpose memory? 21:53 - Are there any general purpose memory tools or do you have to build everything in-house? 23:00 - How much did you spend on marketing? 24:15 - What did you do in the early days to get this magical market pull? 27:30 - How did you go about fundraising & was it challenging? 33:30 - Aren’t you worried about Google & ChatGPT coming at August with full force once they take notice? 36:00 - Can you help us walk through your version of the world filled with an abundance of clinical knowledge? 38:54 - How do you ensure that AI never crosses regulatory guardrails? 42:36 - In 10 years what will be inevitable with AI in healthcare? 44:36 - Outro Follow Anuruddh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anuruddhmishra/?originalSubdomain=in Follow Anagh Prasad on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anaghprasad/?originalSubdomain=in Follow SeedToScale on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/seedtoscale/ #DecodingAI #SeedToScale #Accel #Healthcare #Tech #Medical #Startup #Funding #Digital

Everyone’s talking about generative AI. Few talk about industrial AI: where the data meets the factory floor. In this episode of Decoding Manufacturing, Vipin Raghavan, Co-founder & CEO, Haber, explains how Haber is using AI to close the loop between lab and line, turning process data into real-time chemistry control and measurable profit impact. From automating dosing systems to building trust through prediction accuracy, Vipin breaks down what it takes to bring AI into legacy plants, why Haber prices by production output instead of licenses, and how vertical depth and reliability built a zero-churn business. He also talks about India’s manufacturing readiness, cultural differences in adoption, and what the road to autonomous factories really looks like. Chapters 00:00 – Intro: AI that augments, not replaces operators 02:57 – The three universal manufacturing challenges 07:25 – Why now: Connected factories and cheaper edge compute 09:59 – Trust before autonomy: Building accuracy first 13:52 – The pacemaker product and Haber’s zero churn 17:37 – Pricing by the tonne, not by the seat 21:46 – India vs West: Cultural adoption of industrial AI 24:36 – Building T-shaped talent 27:33 – The long road to near-autonomous factories Follow SeedToScale on LinkedIn for more insights: https://www.linkedin.com/company/seedtoscale Follow Vipin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vipin-raghavan-6142986/?originalSubdomain=in #AI #Manufacturing #Automation #Innovation #Technology #Sustainability #Industry #Data #DecodingManufacturing

Everyone’s talking about AI models. Few talk about the data that moves them forward. In this episode of Decoding AI, Jonathan Siddharth, Founder & CEO, Turing, explains how Turing evolved from a global developer platform into a research accelerator, fueling the world’s top labs and enterprises with bespoke, interdisciplinary training data. From RL gyms to post-training pipelines, Turing is engineering the human-in-the-loop systems that are quietly pushing us toward ASI. Chapters 00:00 – Intro: The Future of Intelligence 01:11 – From Stanford to Rover: Jonathan’s Founder Journey 07:05 – The Idea Behind Turing 09:28 – Why Post-Training Is the Real Edge in AI 12:49 – How the World’s Smartest Humans Move Models Forward 19:10 – Inside Alan: Turing’s Data Engine & Talent Network 21:17 – How Enterprises Build Their AI Advantage 25:28 – The 100× Productivity Shift Ahead 29:59 – Closing Thoughts: The Future of Work & Intelligence Follow Anand Daniel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ananddaniel/ Follow Jonathan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonsid/ Follow SeedToScale on LinkedIn for more updates: linkedin.com/company/seedtoscale #startup #ai #artificialintelligence #turing #data #ASI #artificialsuperintelligence #intelligence #aimodels

The next big shift in AI isn’t about models getting smarter, it’s about how we work. In this episode of Decoding AI, Aparna Chennapragada, Chief Product Officer for AI Experiences at Microsoft, shares how AI is transforming the workplace from tools that assist us to teammates that collaborate with us. Aparna draws from over two decades of product building. From Akamai’s internet backbone to Google’s AI-first products, like Lens, and now leading Microsoft’s AI strategy. Her insights go beyond features and hype, focusing instead on what it takes to build AI products that last. Here’s what we explore in this episode: • Why “adding AI” isn’t enough and what “AI-first” really means • How Microsoft is reimagining productivity for the AI era • What happens when the model starts to “eat the product” • Why trust, timing, and design are key to durable AI • Where founders can find the next big opportunities in AI, from context engineering to workflow intelligence If you’re a founder, builder, or product leader trying to understand where AI is headed next, this conversation is a roadmap. Chapters: 00:00 – Introduction 01:32 – Aparna’s journey: From Akamai to Google to Microsoft 05:20 – Lessons from building early AI products at Google 08:15 – Why the timing of AI adoption matters more than novelty 11:40 – The speed of AI change 15:05 – The shift from tools to teammates at Microsoft 19:30 – How AI is transforming productivity inside organisations 23:10 – The danger of “adding AI” vs. building AI-first 28:20 – What happens when the model eats the product 33:05 – Building moats: data, context, and trust 37:25 – AI products that last beyond hype 41:00 – Where founders can build next in AI 45:12 – Closing reflections Follow SeedToScale on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/seedtoscale/ Follow Anand Daniel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ananddaniel/ Follow Aparna on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aparnacd/ Follow SeedToScale on X: https://x.com/Seed2Scale #DecodingAI #SeedToScale #Microsoft #Accel #AI #ProductDesign #FutureOfWork #startup #aistartups #artificialintelligence #copilot #accel

Every metal behaves predictably, but carbon fiber doesn’t. Its strength depends on how every fiber is laid, making it one of the hardest materials to automate. That’s where Dhinesh Kanagaraj, Founder & CEO, Fabheads, comes in. Their breakthrough “adaptive tow placement” technology lets machines think like craftsmen, achieving fiber-level control at industrial speed. With software-driven automation and smarter material handling, Fabheads is achieving 3-10X productivity, up to 40% fewer rejections, and reduced waste. Watch this episode of Decoding Manufacturing to see how Fabheads is transforming carbon fiber manufacturing. Chapters: 0:24 - Intro 0:28 - Revolutionizing the carbon fiber industry 1:05 - Misconception about automating carbon fiber manufacturing 1:32 - The single most important breakthrough in tech stack 2:07 - Brief explanation of what Fabheds does 2:50 - Misconception about automating carbon fiber manufacturing 3:27 - The single most important breakthrough in tech stack 4:00 - Solving the gap in India’s composite manufacturing ecosystem 5:15 - Carbon fiber 3D printing for aerospace 7:41 - Demand for robotic composite system in a manual manufacturing led industry 8:21 - Elaborate on the tech stack 9:33 - The hardest technical milestone 10:17 - Comparison of robotic automation to traditional manual work 11:05 - The best yet underappreciated tech stack 12:13 - Reasons behind building end-to-end approach 13:52 - What keeps high profile clients engaged to Fabheads 10:39 - The economic structure of Fabheads 15:21 - Biggest growth challenge 16:43 - Operational challenges with expansion 17:58 - Building talent in a niche ecosystem 19:10 - Failures and early lessons 20:36 - Vertical vs horizontal Industries 22:17 - One belief that needed unlearning 23:22 - Success for Fabheads in 5 years down the line 24:06 - Outro Follow SeedToScale on LinkedIn for more insights: https://in.linkedin.com/company/seedt... Follow Dhinesh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhineshrk/?originalSubdomain=in #DecodingManufacturing #CarbonFiber #Automation #Engineering #Innovation #DeepTech #Composites #SeedToScale

For decades, India’s two-wheeler industry perfected manufacturing at scale, but not innovation. Then came Ather Energy. Tarun Mehta, Co-founder & CEO, shares how Ather built every layer of the EV stack, from battery architecture to charging infrastructure, entirely from scratch. From a lab at IIT Madras to India’s one of the largest electric two-wheeler brands, Ather’s story is one of conviction over conditions. Tarun and his team built what didn’t exist: suppliers, technology, and manufacturing processes, turning obstacles into opportunities. In this episode of Decoding Manufacturing, Tarun shares insights on building deep R&D culture, scaling hardware with precision, and the mindset required to design in India, not just make in India. Chapters: 0:24 - What led to the birth of Ather Energy? 2:23 - The biggest challenges in the early days 7:03 - Why did Ather decide to go full stack? 9:38 - When did it truly feel at ‘scale’? 10:53 - Balance of IP vs speed during scaling 12:15 - Defining decisions in Ather’s journey 13:23 - Views on the current ecosystem 14:57 - Flaws of early-stage hardware founders 20:12 - Hardware vs software-led future 22:11 - India’s manufacturing prowess 25:35 - Manufacturing vs global imports 26:28 - Advice to deep tech & advanced hardware founders 26:52 - Lowest point while building Ather 28:54 - The strongest belief from 5 years ago 29:36 - Doing Ather differently in 2025 Follow SeedToScale on LinkedIn for more insights: https://in.linkedin.com/company/seedt... Follow Tarun on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tarunsmehta/?originalSubdomain=in About Decoding Manufacturing: This series spotlights the audacious founders positioning India to lead the next industrial revolution by transforming deep tech into scalable manufacturing breakthroughs. #manufacturing #manufacturingprocess #AtherEnergy #DecodingManufacturing #AtherEnergy #Founder #EV #MadeInIndia #Innovation #manufacturing

What if a rocket engine could be 3D-printed in a single shot? What if a launch pad could move wherever permission is granted? That’s exactly what AgniKul is building. In this episode of Decoding Manufacturing, Srinath Ravichandran, Co-founder & CEO of AgniKul, shares how the team is reimagining rocket design and manufacturing from the ground up. From single-piece 3D-printed rocket engines to mobile launch pads, AgniKul is showing how India’s manufacturing ecosystem can power deep tech innovation at global scale. He also breaks down: • Why rockets had to be redesigned for today’s smaller satellites • How India’s private space ecosystem is maturing with clear policy support • Why space tech is the seedbed for India’s next manufacturing wave Chapters: 0:00 – Intro: Rockets for today’s satellites 1:26 – India’s ecosystem: from execution to design 3:03 – The shift: Designing in India & manufacturing maturity 4:41 – Policy clarity and long-time cycles in deeptech 6:15 – Why rockets had to be redesigned for small satellites 7:50 – Breakthrough: Single-piece 3D-printed rocket engines 10:25 – Innovation through young teams & first principles 11:11 – The real challenge: repeatability and process discipline 13:18 – Autopilot, scalability & mobile launch pads 15:27 – Building talent: balancing design and quality 17:13 – People, components, infra: what really matters 18:57 – Policy breakthrough: InSpace and private space in India 19:42 – Testing facilities, ISRO collaboration & documentation culture 25:12 – Patient capital and trust in Indian innovation 28:10 – Founder’s journey: from Wall Street to rockets Follow SeedToScale on LinkedIn for more insights: https://in.linkedin.com/company/seedtoscale Follow Srinath on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/srinath-ravichandran-09679a7/?originalSubdomain=in #AgniKul #SpaceTech #3DPrinting #RocketEngineering #DecodingManufacturing #SeedToScale #Accel #Innovation #indiamanufacturing

In this episode of PitchCraft Season 2, Gaurav Singh Kushwaha, Founder and CEO of BlueStone and Prashanth Prakash, Partner at Accel, revisit the 33-page idea-stage deck that launched one of India’s most enduring jewelry brands. Back in 2011, BlueStone didn’t even have a website or sales to show. It only had a conviction that India’s jewelry market was ripe for disruption. Gaurav reflects on the choices that shaped the pitch: why jewelry was one of the few categories resistant to horizontal marketplaces, how consumer behavior was shifting from family jewelers to brands, and why design had to be the company’s moat. Prashanth recalls why Accel took the leap at such an early stage: the scale of the opportunity, but more importantly, Gaurav’s clarity of thought and first-principles approach. From 3D renders that changed how jewelry was visualized online to home try-on that built trust, BlueStone redefined how Indians bought jewelry long before omnichannel became the norm. Together, they unpack the original deck, the debates it sparked, and how its early insights on design, differentiation, and consumer trust, still anchor the company as it stepped into the public markets in 2025.

In this episode of PitchCraft Season 2, Chandra Srikanth sits down with Harshil Mathur, Co-founder and CEO of Razorpay, and Vikram Vaidyanathan of Z47 to unpack the pitch deck that launched one of India’s most iconic fintech companies. Harshil looks back on Razorpay’s early days in 2014, when he and Co-founder Shashank Kumar were just two engineers trying to accept payments for a side project, only to realise how broken and outdated India’s digital payment infrastructure really was. Their first deck didn’t have polish or even a founder slide. But it had something better: clarity of problem, product conviction, and deep insight into why existing gateways weren’t working. Vikram shares why he invested in Razorpay when many others passed on the opportunity, thinking the space was crowded. What stood out wasn’t just the market; it was the mindset. Harshil and Shashank approached payments as a product and tech problem, not a financial one. That product-first thinking, combined with early proof of execution, became Razorpay’s differentiator. Together, they deconstruct how the original pitch came together, what mattered more than the slides, and how Razorpay’s core values—customer obsession, product depth, and technical rigor—have remained constant from their seed to scale.

In the debut episode of PitchCraft's Season 2, Chandra Srikanth speaks to Sriharsha Majety, Co-Founder and CEO of Swiggy, and Accel's Anand Daniel as they deconstruct the company's first pitch deck that laid the foundation for one of India's most iconic consumer tech companies. Harsha reflects on Swiggy’s early days in 2014, when the team put together a function-first deck built on a single insight: existing platforms didn’t solve the real consumer problem—getting food from your favourite restaurant delivered quickly. From day one, Swiggy differentiated itself by building its own delivery fleet and prioritizing reliability and speed over scale or polish. Anand shares why Accel backed Swiggy in 2015, even in a crowded market: the clarity of thought, deep consumer insight, and a relentless focus on experience. The founders didn’t pitch a marketplace—they pitched a logistics company with a sharp product lens. Swiggy launched with just a few handpicked restaurants, high-velocity dishes, and an app-first approach that showed early, real traction. Together, they break down how the pitch came together, what stood out in the deck, and how Swiggy’s founding principles—customer obsession, clarity, and operational discipline—have stayed intact from the seed round to the stock market.