Aravind Srinivas, CEO and cofounder of AI search startup Perplexity, urged Indian entrepreneurs to reimagine their role not just as managers of global firms, but as builders of companies that start in India and scale worldwide. Srinivas made these remarks in an interview with The Economic Times.
An IIT-Madras alumnus, Srinivas leads one of Silicon Valley’s most closely watched AI ventures, valued at $20 billion, and backed by investors including Jeff Bezos, SoftBank Vision Fund, and Nvidia. Perplexity’s Indian market has seen rapid adoption, partly driven by a partnership with Bharti Airtel bundling its Pro service with telecom plans.
Srinivas challenged the narrative that Indian talent is best suited for climbing the corporate ladder abroad. “Indians are not just meant for managing and climbing up the ladder to being CEOs … I want India to show the world that we can build companies,” he said. He drew inspiration from tech leaders like Jensen Huang, noting that immigrants have scaled companies from scratch and asking why Indian founders can’t aim for similarly audacious goals.
Discussing mentorship and leadership, Srinivas revealed that Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, acts as a sounding board and advisor, despite Perplexity and Microsoft existing as competitors. “We speak almost once a month,” he said, highlighting the long-term value in strategic relationships.
While acknowledging challenges such as immigration constraints and trust networks, Srinivas expressed confidence in the meritocratic ethos of Silicon Valley. “Almost all successful companies here came from someone thinking differently, questioning the status quo, and executing relentlessly,” he said.
He encouraged Indian founders to aim for global icon status similar to how Indian cricketers became legends—not through self-promotion, but through impactful work.
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