Google India VP, Preeti Lobana, has urged AI startups to shift their focus from pilot projects to developing scalable products that can generate revenue. Speaking at the Google AI Startups Conclave in New Delhi on Thursday, January 15, 2026, Lobana emphasized the importance of deploying AI technology in ways that improve decision-making, increase efficiency, augment creativity, and deliver real value at scale.
Lobana highlighted that India possesses the potential to create impactful innovations and bring them to the global stage. She drew parallels with previous technological shifts, such as mobile technology, payments, and e-commerce, noting that their success stemmed from the collaborative efforts of founders, governments, investors, customers, universities, and platforms. She believes AI will follow a similar trajectory.
According to Lobana, India's digital journey is entering an AI-driven phase that centers around capability building, moving beyond the initial focus on access and bringing people online. While Indian AI startups are attracting global venture capital firms, founders still face hurdles in scaling up their operations. These challenges include access to advanced computing and the high costs associated with transforming prototypes into scalable products for both domestic and international markets.
To address these challenges, Google has launched the 'Google Market Access Programme,' an initiative designed to assist Indian AI startups in scaling their products for enterprise adoption. The program aims to leverage Google's distribution network and provide access to key international markets. Startups participating in the program will also have access to Google's AI models, including the Gemini models for complex reasoning and the Gemma family of models for open research. The Google Market Access Program is designed for AI-first startups that have moved beyond the prototype phase and are ready to scale responsibly. It aims to support founders with enterprise readiness through a curriculum on global enterprise selling, complex pricing models, and international buyer psychology, as well as provide access to Google’s global network of CIOs and CXOs.
At the conclave, Google introduced MedGemma 1.5, an open AI model designed for complex healthcare applications, and FunctionGemma, a lightweight model optimized for function calling that enables the development of on-device, agent-based systems. Google is also investing in physical infrastructure, such as the 1-gigawatt Global AI Hub in Visakhapatnam, and providing high-quality datasets through Project Vaani, which has made over 27,000 hours of data for over 100 Indic languages freely available.
According to a joint report by Google and Inc42, India's AI market is projected to reach $126 billion by 2030, with over 47% of enterprises already transitioning pilot projects into production. The report also suggests that AI agents tested and proven in India are robust enough for the global market.
Lobana joined Google in 2016 and has held various leadership roles, bringing over 30 years of experience in the technology and financial sectors. She succeeded Sanjay Gupta as Google India's Country Manager and VP.
