India needs its own big ideas'

Sabeer Bhatia, co-founder of Hotmail (acquired by Microsoft in 1997) and one of the early pioneers of the Internet startup boom, believes Indian entrepreneurs need to stop copying global models and start thinking independently.

- Sabeer Bhatia, co-founder of Hotmail

In a conversation with Ayanti Bera, Bhatia talks about the future of AI, why basic research matters, and how his new AI-powered entrepreneurship programme aims to nurture original thinkers. Excerpts:

How do you view the evolution of the Indian startup ecosystem compared to Silicon Valley in the early days?

The Indian startup ecosystem can't mirror what Silicon Valley did in the early Internet era because the Internet is now global. Products launched in the US are instantly available here. So, if we simply replicate or localise existing models, we're setting ourselves up for failure. These global giants can easily enter our markets and beat us. Indian entrepreneurs must think ahead and focus on what the next wave of businesses will be. That's where the real opportunity lies.

Are Indian startups building globally competitive SaaS companies?

For now, yes. But even SaaS as we know it is becoming obsolete.