As India’s artificial intelligence (AI) startup ecosystem gathers momentum, the Wadhwani School of Data Science and AI (WSAI) at IIT Madras has launched a week-long entrepreneurship programme to help aspiring founders convert AI concepts into commercially viable businesses.
The ‘Building a Successful AI Startup’ programme, scheduled from August 10 to 14 at the IIT Madras campus, is designed to equip entrepreneurs, researchers, students and early-stage startups with the practical skills needed to build, validate and scale AI ventures.
Applications for the in-person programme are open until July 27.
Bridging innovation and entrepreneurship
While India has emerged as one of the world’s fastest-growing AI markets, many promising technologies developed in research institutions fail to reach commercial scale due to gaps in product development, market validation and fundraising.
The IIT Madras initiative seeks to bridge this gap by providing participants with hands-on exposure to every stage of the startup journey, from identifying customer problems and building a minimum viable product (MVP) to refining business models, raising capital and pitching to investors.
The programme will be led by Lakshmi Shankar, General Partner at Together Fund and former Vice President of Google Search. He has also held leadership roles at Twitter, IBM and EY, and is a Sloan Fellow from Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Learning from real startup journeys
The bootcamp will combine classroom sessions with practical exercises and case discussions based on real-world AI startups.
Participants will explore topics such as customer discovery, market validation, product-market fit, user acquisition strategies, revenue models, fundraising, term-sheet negotiations and scaling AI businesses.
The programme will conclude with a Pitch Day, where participants will present their startup ideas before a panel of investors. The winning team will receive ₹4 lakh to support the development of its AI venture.
Expanding India’s AI ecosystem
The programme is open to final-year BTech, MTech and PhD students, faculty members, researchers, engineers, product managers, aspiring entrepreneurs and early-stage AI startups looking to commercialise AI-driven innovations.
The initiative reflects IIT Madras’ growing focus on fostering entrepreneurship alongside research, as India seeks to strengthen its position as a global hub for artificial intelligence, deep technology and innovation-led startups.
With increasing investor interest in AI-driven businesses and supportive government policies for deep-tech ventures, programmes that combine technical expertise with entrepreneurial training are expected to play a key role in nurturing the country’s next generation of AI founders.