According to Seema Rao, managing director for top partners India & corporate development at Google, the main difficulty facing Indian AI companies is not developing products but rather turning robust technology into commercial income.
Turning Technology Into Revenue
Google created the Market Access Program on January 15 to assist close the gap for AI businesses that have found product-market fit but are having trouble growing their revenues.
A day ago, Rao told Moneycontrol that product development is no longer the main obstacle for Indian entrepreneurs since they have access to top-notch AI technologies, people, and infrastructure. Securing major business clients, especially those outside of India, is where the true deficit is.
The Commercial Chasm For Startups
“There is a big gap between ‘I have a terrific product’ and really selling it to global corporations,” Rao said, referring to it as a “commercial chasm” that affects a startup’s capacity to grow and get further investment rounds.
According to her, the market access program will concentrate on giving entrepreneurs access to CXO-level networks, allowing startups with corporate sales skills, and increasing trust, security, and dependability for the global market.
Beyond Mentorship And Advice
This program is more than merely advising. We see it as a path to help companies obtain a seat at the table, engage in dialogue, submit a pitch, and perhaps win a contract,” she said.
Preparing For The Global Market
Preparing for the market
Given the complexity and variety of the native market, Rao said that Indian entrepreneurs developing for India are often “global ready” from a product viewpoint. In areas like the US and Europe, where decision-making objectives are different, they still need assistance interpreting their presentation, sales motion, and go-to-market strategy for buyers.
“Your product may function internationally in the same manner as it does in India, but access is difficult. How do you enter such discussions? How are such networks opened?According to Rao, “there is a translation engine that sits in between because the vocabulary that an Indian buyer understands is quite different from what a US or Israeli customer looks for, particularly around size, dependability, and security.” Access to those global corporate talks is still difficult, even if everything may be operating well,” she said.
🚀 Google Market Access Program Highlights
- Launch Date: January 15
- Target Startups: AI firms with product-market fit
- Main Goal: Scale enterprise and global revenues
- Core Focus: CXO access, trust, security, and sales enablement
- Problem Addressed: Gap between innovation and commercialization
Global Immersion And Client Access
In order to assist founders in interacting directly with global business clients, the program, which is anticipated to onboard 20–30 firms in its initial cohort, will also include global market immersion.
Google also revealed MedGemma 1.5 and FunctionGemma, two new members of the Gemma open model family.
New AI Models From Google
Google believes that MedGemma 1.5 will allow companies to collaborate with high-dimensional medical imaging on a large scale. FunctionGemma is a lightweight model that has been optimized for agent-based systems, on-device, function calling, and other applications.
🌏 Google’s AI Support Ecosystem
- Focus Areas: Infrastructure, skills, market access
- Key Priority: Trust, security, and global credibility
- Use Cases: Population-scale and enterprise AI solutions
- Founder Support: From prototypes to global scale
- Vision: Sustainable revenue-driven AI growth
India’s Deep Tech Momentum
Preeti Lobana, Google’s Country Manager for India, said that Indian businesses are developing significant deep technologies and using AI to address population-scale issues at the announcement of these programs in New Delhi on Thursday. Google’s goal is to help them with everything from infrastructure and skills to market access and trust.
“While the road from laboratories to prototypes has gotten relatively robust over the past few years, many firms still struggle with the scaling journey. The Google Market Access Program is meant to solve this difficulty faced by founders,” she said.
Frequently asked questions
1. According to Google, what is the main obstacle facing Indian AI startups?
Google claims that turning powerful AI technology into enterprise-level income, particularly internationally, is the largest difficulty rather than product development.
2. What is the Market Access Program of Google?
In order to assist AI companies with product-market fit in scaling corporate sales and gaining access to international clients, a new initiative was introduced on January 15.
3. For whom is the program intended?
The initiative focuses on AI businesses that have functional solutions but have challenges with corporate sales, go-to-market strategy, and international customer access.
4. Why are Indian entrepreneurs having trouble with corporate sales?
Startups often lack access to CXO networks, corporate trust, security validation, and knowledge of global buyer needs, despite the fact that their goods are internationally competitive.
5. How would Google assist certain startups?
Google will provide global market immersion, CXO-level introductions, corporate sales enablement, and assistance for dependability, security, and trust.
Conclusion
Infrastructure, skill, and technology are no longer barriers for Indian AI firms. The true challenge is bridging the “commercial divide” between business adoption and product innovation, as Google emphasizes.
With the introduction of the Market Access Program, Google hopes to assist entrepreneurs in going beyond prototypes and pilots in order to get international corporate contracts, increase revenue, and open up long-term development prospects in foreign markets.
Disclaimer:
This article is for informational purposes only and is based on publicly available statements. It does not constitute business, financial, or investment advice.
