In the dynamic realm of artificial intelligence, stories of innovation and ambition continue to emerge. One such narrative centers around Aravind Srinivas, an Indian-origin entrepreneur who once walked the halls of Google, and is now at the helm of Perplexity AI, a company poised to challenge the dominance of OpenAI's ChatGPT.
Srinivas' journey began in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, where his mother instilled in him the dream of studying at IIT Madras. This dream took root, and he graduated from IIT Madras in 2017 with dual degrees in Electrical Engineering. His pursuit of knowledge led him to the University of California, Berkeley, where he pursued a Ph.D. in Artificial Intelligence. Even before his doctoral studies, Srinivas cultivated his passion for AI by teaching himself Python, participating in Kaggle competitions, and interning with deep learning pioneer Yoshua Bengio. Despite a minor GPA setback that prevented him from switching to a Computer Science major at IIT, Aravind found alternative ways to fuel his machine learning interests.
In 2022, Srinivas, along with Denis Yarats, Johnny Ho, and Andy Konwinski, launched Perplexity AI in San Francisco. Their vision was to create a search engine that provides transparent, conversational answers with citations, distinguishing itself from traditional search engines and large language model (LLM) chatbots. This concept arrived at an opportune moment, coinciding with the global surge in generative AI. Perplexity AI quickly carved out a niche by integrating real-time search with AI-generated responses. By July 2025, Perplexity AI's valuation had soared to $18 billion.
Another Indian-origin techie making waves in the AI landscape is Yash Kumar. An alumnus of IIT Hyderabad, Kumar is leading OpenAI's ChatGPT Agent project. This innovative tool empowers ChatGPT to independently perform digital tasks without constant user intervention. Kumar joined OpenAI in 2023 and is based at the company's San Francisco headquarters. Previously, he spent eight years at Google and also held a leadership position at DoorDash, overseeing engineering, product, and design teams at Scratch. ChatGPT Agents can manage calendars, summarize meetings, and plan meals, with user confirmation sought for critical actions.
However, not all stories of Indian-origin tech leaders have been positive. Varun Mohan, the co-founder of AI startup Windsurf, faced criticism for leaving the company to join Google's DeepMind. This decision effectively derailed a $3 billion acquisition deal with OpenAI. Mohan's move sparked controversy, with some labeling him a "generational villain" for abandoning his team during a crucial transition. Despite Windsurf being salvaged by Cognition in a last-minute deal, the incident cast a shadow over Mohan's reputation. Mohan's academic background includes a dual-degree program at MIT, where he studied Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
These narratives highlight the significant presence and influence of Indian-origin individuals in the field of artificial intelligence. From Aravind Srinivas' quest to create a ChatGPT alternative to Yash Kumar's leadership in developing AI agents, and the cautionary tale of Varun Mohan, these stories reflect the diverse paths and complex dynamics within the AI industry.
*Note: There is another Indian origin AI expert named Sarath Chandar who is an associate professor at Polytechnique Montreal. He leads the Chandar Research Lab and is a Core Academic Member at Mila. Chandar holds a Canada CIFAR AI Chair and the Canada Research Chair in Lifelong Machine Learning. His research interests include lifelong learning, deep learning, optimization, reinforcement learning, and natural language processing.
