Speaking to PTI on the sidelines of the release of a Prosus-BCG white paper on ‘AI for All — Catalysing Jobs, Growth, and Opportunity’ — at the AI Impact Summit, Prosus Global Head of AI and Data Science Euro Beinat said, “At this point, we do not want to make an announcement, but investments in Indian firms will continue. We are looking at India not just because it is large and in potential and there’s fast growth, because it’s a place where we can learn.”
Prosus — majority owned by South African company Naspers — is one of the biggest tech investors in the world. It has made investments in various Indian startups, including Meesho, PayU, and Swiggy.
During the World Economic Forum in Davos last month, Prosus CEO Fabrisio Bloisi said the company aims to make its India portfolio worth $50 billion in the next four years.
Beinat said announcements in this direction would be made soon.
Asked about any specific sector which is expected to see an AI boom in the country, the senior Prosus official said he does not want to become speculative.
“But I can say one thing, consumer industries are extremely important here, and everything that has to do with consumer industries is booming. That’s the area where we focus, and that’s where (we will continue to) invest,” he added.
Commenting on the AI Impact Summit, he said, “The summit is great… It’s so big and so many things are happening here (that) it’s very hard to digest. But it’s a phenomenal piece of work.”